My husband and I have been discussing becoming a one car family for awhile now. In our old town, this seemed very possible. I think we would have done it, had I not been commuting to another city for school. There was iffy bus service, but great bike lanes, sidewalks, and a pedestrian/bike friendly attitude. There were bike racks everywhere. So why not save the money and time by being a one car family? We figured that my husband could ride to work and I could have the car during the day. On days he wanted to drive, I could either take him or he could take the car and I could ride my bike/walk. He routinely rode his bike to work, which was a 14 mile roundtrip. It worked fine. One car should be no problem, especially with me at home.
Then we moved to Wichita.
Wichita is not nearly as walking and bike friendly as my old town in Colorado. Appallingly so, actually. There are no bike lines in the road. In our area, and many other areas I've been at, there are not even sidewalks if you want to walk! If you bike, there are no places to lock it anywhere that I've seen. And there are strange attitudes towards biking and walking here.
For example, a good friend of ours moved out here about six months before we did. He owns a car, but is an avid bike rider. He rides his bike to work most days. On two separate occasions, this has happened:
Scene: Traffic light. Our friend sits on a bike, waiting for the light to turn green.
Car/Person beside him: "HOOOOOKKKKK!! HONK! HONK! GET A CAR, LOSER!" HOOONKK!
This has happened twice, at separate intersections. It was not the same person either.
Another person we know said that people have thrown things at her while she jogs, like cups full of soda.
Nonetheless, we are still considering becoming a one car family. Today I decided to pretend that my car does not exist. I was going to walk to the store to pick up some fruit. We're pretty close to the store, and my husband and I often walk there together. I would have taken my bike, but there are no bike racks or place to lock my bike up.
It was a no go from the get go. First, I got honked at for some reason. I jumped about five feet. I was walking in the gutter (no sidewalks) and was not in the way at all. Very odd and I hate sudden loud noises. It' s nearly a phobia. (Question for Kansas people: We have gotten honked at more in Wichita than I ever have in my whole life. Really. Our friend who just moved here says the same. What does it mean? Are you saying hello? Is there some honking protocol that we're not aware of? It's not just when we're driving- we get it on our bikes, while walking, etc. )
Then I stepped in a huge puddle and nearly slipped, because the drainage was bad and there was no way around said huge puddle.
Then I nearly got hit by a car when crossing the street. The person turned from another street and apparently was not expecting to see somebody...walking.
When I saw the unattended, unleashed dog barking at something, and making a bee line for whatever it was, I gave up and went home. I'll try again later today.
And now I have a new appreciation for people who say they can't walk to the store, even when it's only half a mile away. It's a scary world out there!
6 comments:
Maybe we did come from somewhere very honk free. :) I know it's not that I notice it more, because the sound of a horn is one of those nails on a chalkboard thing for me. I could never live in NYC! Our friend who noticed the same thing is from the same place we are. And there were tons and tons of noise polution laws out there, so maybe that is it.
Jilly- I don't mind riding in the street and such, it's just having no place to put it when I get there. I have having to lock to trees and poles. The streets with bike lines were much wider in my old town too. I've noticed the narrow streets here! When we were looking at houses, we looked at a nighborhood that had such narrow streets I was worried we might scrape a parked car on the side of the road.
One nice bike thing- if you're not going anywhere in particular and just want to ride, there is a beautiful bike path on the East side of town. I think there is one on the West as well.
I'm a no vote. Give it up; the ER trips you might encounter make it not a very frugal thing to do.
But jilly's right about the honking, I think. Wave like it's the best buddy you haven't seen since high school and they'll look puzzled and move along. I do this when doofi honk at me on the road when I'm following traffic rules and they aren't. If they honk because I won't cut someone else off to let them pass, I just smile and wave like crazy. It makes them speed away from me most of the time.
We are a one car family. My DH takes the bus to work every day except Sat. when he'll take the car (bus service runs later on Sat. here) If I need the car for the day, I'll take him to work. I also go to school and take the bus and get a ride home from someone coming in to our town anyhow. Since I have access to the car during the week, I use it for DR appts and shuttling the kids around.
I really like only having the one car. With one car there are half the anxieties of two, and half the cost.(-:
It's lame, Jilly. I just feel like I'm doing something...wrong. Like it's illegal and my bike will be gone when I get back. It's totally a personal ick factor. I'll just have to get over it! We're near a Dillons as well- I'll have to take a look next time I'm there to spot potential places to lock my bike. One step at a time!
Even if we don't get rid of our second car, we do want to drive our cars less. We drove a lot less in our last town, and we're trying to get back into that habit.
Once when I was walking in Atlanta, completely out of the way of traffic, I had someone hang his head out the window and tell me that this road was for cars. I later wished I would have yelled that I would be happy to use a car if he would buy me one (even though I already had one). It was very depressing.
My impression (based on experiences mostly in Texas cities) is that people honk their horns because there's something about being a pedestrian that makes your actions other people's business in a way that being a driver doesn't. And I feel like it's harassment because of the way some of them simultaneously bark or whistle or yell "Hey, baby!" or whatever. I just ignore them. (Which means friends who are driving by can't get my attention!) I don't feel sure that waving and smiling wouldn't be inappropriately encouraging.
I've also had total strangers offer me rides. I just say that I'd rather walk and, if relevant, that I'm enjoying the lovely weather, and thank you, and yes, really I'm sure. They seem really shocked that someone would rather walk than ride (with a female stranger), even in nice weather.
And once a lady told me to be careful because a scary male driver was following me. (Thanks for ruining the rest of my walk.)
But all of these have been very rare.
My strategy is to walk as if I am invisible. If there is no sidewalk, I walk in the grass if possible. If not, in the gutter. I don't go around parked cars or other obstacles if a car is coming. I make eye contact before crossing in front of a vehicle that is sitting at a red light, if there's no turn signal. (If there's a turn signal, I wait for them to go or cross behind them.) It's true that people don't expect pedestrians to exist; it doesn't even occur to them to look for us. They are just looking for other motor vehicles with their tunnel vision--even motorcyclists have to be careful of this problem.
You are wise to pretend you have only one car before committing. I wish you the best of luck in finding good paths and places to lock up your bike.
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