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From: AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Daytime running light popularity
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2024 10:31:18 -0600
Organization: Yellow Jersey, Ltd.
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On 11/7/2024 10:08 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
> On 11/7/2024 8:05 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:
>>
>> America chose the car and the interstate network as it fit 
>> the American
>> dream I guess? But that is a political decision than a 
>> geographical or
>> economic one.
> 
> America chose the car when Fords began rolling off the line. 
> I a person lived anywhere but in a dense city center, a car 
> made great sense. The alternative was a horse and buggy.
> 
> As cars became more common, more and more realized they 
> could escape the soot-filled city centers and move out to 
> where yards were larger, homes were much cheaper per square 
> foot, a person could have a large garden, surroundings were 
> quieter, etc. That's what my father did about 1960.
> 
> At that point, I could no longer walk to school. My mother 
> cold no longer walk to the grocery. Bus lines no longer 
> reached our neighborhood. But my parents, like countless 
> others, decided it was a better situation, even though it 
> soon required having two cars.
> 
> At that point, the idea of taking a bus became silly, and 
> the passenger train that used to run to Cleveland became 
> history. Why bother? The car had great advantages.
> 
>  From the viewpoint of the citizens, it was all logical.
> 

No issues with that but some context maybe.

First off urban commuting is very different from interurban 
travel (regardless of vehicle).

Secondly, cultural trends are complex, powerful and change 
over time. Many of us remember when walking for most daily 
errands, work, shopping, school etc was primarily on foot. 
Trains were common for visiting another city. (urban transit 
excepted). Over time, men drove to work as the net cost of 
auto operation dropped in relation to net disposable income. 
  Then 'second car' became popular along with urban area 
dispersal (some say 'sprawl'). And so on until now, when 
even children seldom walk anywhere except through a mall.

Cycling has been and remains relatively unimportant and 
negligible in the grand scheme of things.

-- 
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971