the conspiracy of wanting a large home with a plot of land? or we could have cramped conditions like Manhattan but trains everywhere!
I don't think that's true any more. Young people prefer to drive less nowadays. Lots of evidence backs up th idea that young people will be driving far less than the generation before them.
But nobody has figured out how to build enough roads to accommodate them. If it wasn't for traffic, everybody would love driving... but since traffic/accidents/notenoughroad will always be future problems, people have discovered that more efficient/less mistake-prone options are not only viable, they're preferred.
I would love to take the Metro bus to work every day...unfortunately my 20 minute drive morning and afternoon would be a 45 minute trip if I did.
I did for the last 4 years or so. I got a new job last month and my schedule changed, so I've started driving. I tried to keep taking the bus, but it was taking me almost 2 hours to get from Allen Pkwy to Kingwood (assuming the local bus even showed up at all). I drive and the trip now takes about 40 minutes.
Let Houston naturally develop. Let us suffer the consequences of our myopia. I admire your zeal, da1, but why care so much for those who scorn people like you and anyone advocating better mass transportation? I guarantee you that people will get fed up of living in their cars with traffic all the time. Then, they'll come to their senses, and vote for better rapid transit buses and/or heavy rail etc. This city's lack of proper planning had a price, and soon it'll be time to face the consequences. Even the staunchest conservatives know the current situation is unsustainable. There are too many one-driver cars on the roads. Imposing a higher gasoline tax, getting rid of free parking, increasing tolls, and other measures that discourage the status quo may speed things up for Houstonians to seek better mass transit. However, people should always have options. Let those who wish to drive their cars pay a premium even when mass transportation gets better.
Not at all, in fact in this thread we have two conservatives advocating for change. My post was a generalization. In my personal experience and that of my social circle, most of the conservatives we know either want to make it very expensive for the average person to drive (since they are wealthy and can afford it) to reduce the number of cars on the road, or they get very passionate about personal freedoms. The second type hold their automobiles on the same level as their firearms. They say they hate the thugs and homeless bums that ride on public transport, and they love the independence of sitting in their own car (as do I). Thus, they don't wish the status quo to change.
I definitely agree with you. Any educated or informed person will say the same. However, the same can't be said for the average Houstonian. My cynical solution is let the free market decide: if you're too apathetic and/or ignorant to vote for better mass transit, then you will pay the price down the road (pun intended). Some people only learn when they suffer the fate the Cassandra's of this world keep shouting about. I've been hearing people like da1 for many years now, and people only mock them or refuse to listen to them. If Houston has elected the path of cars and crappy METRO, then it will suffer the ignominy of sitting in a parking lot on 290, 288, 59 S, etc. /rant
Mass transit is cool as long as it's functional. But I can't ever imagine taking a bus/train for 1.5 hrs if I can drive it in 40 min. Functional? Train from downtown Denton to directly in front of Fair Park (state fair) on the other side of D a bit. Just over an hour there and no parking $. That's freaking functional! Deck, you guys have been overwhelmed for at least a decade! But love taking that 85 mph bypass these days when in a hurry. Most times though we're riding down 281 on the trike.
and now we figured out its unsustainable without some serious upgrades to mass transit. new times require change, right?
I guess I'm a little of both. I'm all for mass transit if it makes sense for the Houston we have and not the Houston we should have built 200 years ago. If I live in Cypress and work in the Woodlands, how is light rail going to help me? Not everyone works downtown. When I worked downtown, I took the park and ride everyday even though I have a high end sports car I love to drive. I'm not against it. It's this 'if you build it they will come' attitude that is scary because, just like in Field of Dreams, we might lose our farm.
Young people that live in the city where public transportation is pretty much centered around them. It has less to do with age and more to do with convenience. If traffic is so bad or gas is so expensive to where public transport is more convenient and of course people will prefer that.
If they put me in charge of solving the problem, I'm entirely confident that I could solve it. But it would take a lot more than widening freeways and talking about mass transit. Any solution should address highway design and traffic, and should also provide real substitutes for the highways. High occupancy lanes and the like are gimmicks.
