On 07/26/2012 12:41 PM, turquoiseb wrote: > I'm still clearly in the "honeymoon period" w.r.t. my > new town. I just love it. > > Sometimes it's the Little Things. Like how the primary > mode of transportation is the bicycle. You are actually > penalized to some extent for living in the Centrum of > Leiden and having a car. To park it, you have to get a > permit, which costs 40 Euros a quarter for the first > car, and 80 Euros per quarter for the second car. It > is a policy clearly aimed at reducing the amount of > auto traffic and presence within Leiden, and it is > clearly working. > > Living here, a car is superfluous. I still have my old > but eternal Peugeot 306, but it will probably remain > sitting in its parking space for the full duration of > my first parking permit. I will probably never need it. > Everything I need is within walking or biking distance, > and both walking and biking are more fun than driving. > It's sort of a no-brainer. If this happens, and I wind > up not needing my car for a full quarter of the year, > I will most likely sell the car. > > My story is kinda normal around here. Now compare it to > the story of moving to a new community in most places > in the United States. In how many of them could you > live a quality life without a car? > > One of the reasons that I enjoy staying in touch with > the Fairfield community is that I sense that -- should > the shit hit the fan and autos not really be as avail- > able or affordable as they are today -- you could prob- > ably get by, and comfortably, without a car in Fairfield. > > I like that in a town. I could say that about several > of the places I've lived, including tiny little Sauve, > France, or much larger Sitges, Spain, or even larger > still Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's really *neat* to live > in a town that you can live in successfully and > comfortably without a car. > > All of that said, the "takeaway" I have from my walk > tonight is still the silence. > > On foot, on a bicycle, or probably even in a car, this > is one of the most *silent* burbs I've ever lived in. > Whatever is going on on the surface of life -- dogs > barking, the rare car horn honking, party boats on > the river blaring tasteless music at high volumes -- > *whatever*, the silence is still there. > > It's like there is nothing in the environment that > can *overshadow* the silence. > > I have no explanation for how this could be, only > that it seems to be.
Let me guess, the city is probably fairly flat and no hills to climb with a bike? Hills would sure put a damper on biking. It does around here. If I even want to walk to the nearby shopping center it is at the top of the hill and not even a decent sidewalk going all the way up. Still a few brave souls brave it with a bike which is dangerous because there are some blind corners and avoiding the cyclist could result in an head on. This is a community that seems to have a high proportion of Priuses. Maybe it's because it's a refinery community and people are more in tune with the politics of oil. There are even a few driving smart cars these days. No you can't catch a bus from the bottom on the hill to the top. There is no bus route there (too narrow of streets). And I'm sure the city would have problems trying to get an easement to build a protected walkway up the hill. And of course in a community of mostly 30 and 40 somethings with kids a lot like to drive big honkin' pickups and SUVs that have never seen an "off road" or even carried a "big load". IOW, those are penis extensions. Let's face it, Europe is compact. It's easier to do mass transit there and walk places. Not so much for the good ol' USA. After all it was built with a "cowboy" mentality.
