lobster shirt posted:

one of the funniest example of car brain is someone on reddit posting in some history-related subreddit: where did the romans park all their chariots and carts? just inconceivable that people might walk lol

Polo-Rican posted:

are you implying that this isn't what the cultural center of a town should look like

Lastgirl posted:

everyone just carting around ancient rome, honking at plebs to gtfo the way in the forum

Milo and POTUS posted:

Dead malls are at least kinda interesting. These things are wretched and outnumber them 1000 to one

mystes posted:

The problem is that in the US we've gotten ourselves stuck so far in an incredibly bad local maximum where everything is completely oriented around cars that it's impossible for people to even imagine the alternative, and whenever there's a problem the solution is always to buy bigger cars and try to make thing even more completely oriented around cars.

People can't even understand that it would be nicer to be able to walk across the street to pick up one or two items whenever they need them rather than having to drive 30 minutes each way to the supermarket.

We can't make things better for walking/biking because everyone drives, so driving is the only serious mode of transportation, because we've made everything suck for walking/biking.

mystes posted:

The problem is that in the US we've gotten ourselves stuck so far in an incredibly bad local maximum where everything is completely oriented around cars that it's impossible for people to even imagine the alternative, and whenever there's a problem the solution is always to buy bigger cars and try to make thing even more completely oriented around cars.

People can't even understand that it would be nicer to be able to walk across the street to pick up one or two items whenever they need them rather than having to drive 30 minutes each way to the supermarket.

Lastgirl posted:

everyone just carting around ancient rome, honking at plebs to gtfo the way in the forum

BraveUlysses posted:

imo nothing will change until the fossil fuel economy fully collapses, preferably in a very sudden way

nomad2020 posted:

Water bottles have been declared weapons by my local police, so this checks out.

lobster shirt posted:

yeah it's very funny that people spend tens of thousands of dollars buying vehicles with functions they don't need or hardly ever need (like towing or massive cargo space) when it would be far cheaper to just have a small car as your daily driver and just rent a truck when you need it.

well of course it would be best if they didnt need to own a car at all but as it stands people get way more vehicle than they need. people have tried to talk me into getting a big van or suv because i have a kid now, like... the car seat fits just fine in my car thanks.

PeterCat posted:

Another weird thing to me is how they make these sprawled out shopping areas that are a cluster of big box stores, each with their own parking lot. There's one in Yuma, AZ and I can't figure out why it's not an regular shopping mall. You'd think that when it gets 120*F you'd want to be inside walking from store to store instead of constantly going in and out.

PeterCat posted:

walking

BraveUlysses posted:

imo nothing will change until the fossil fuel economy fully collapses, preferably in a very sudden way

Cugel the Clever posted:

Not sure how accurate this is, but I've seen somewhere that ancient Rome banned chariots on the city's streets except for the last two daylight hours.

PeterCat posted:

Rome as an anomaly (why are there 2 a's in anomaly?) in the empire because that city grew organically. The typical Roman city was very orderly with a main thoroughfare for carts and wagons. Pompeii is an example, the side walks were elevated from the cart tracks to allow you to walk without stepping in all the sewage.



you can see the spaces for wagon wheels on the little bridges crossing the road in this photo:

Lastgirl posted:

thinking that roman history was full of horse traffic jams and new yorker accented romans screaming that they're walking over here.

Magic Hate Ball posted:

someone posted a video of themselves cycling to the grocery store in germany in the fuckcars subreddit and it immediately drew out all the most carbrained defenses of living in a lovely suburban sprawl. i particularly like all the people who are like "who goes to the store every day" or "what if i need to buy three couches and a dozen watermelons"

people are broken

Cup Runneth Over posted:

he had the gun out before he heard the bang, watch the video. he was prepared to shoot that guy from the moment he brake checked him

withak posted:

If I ever need to murder someone I am going to do it in broad daylight at an intersection with my car then immediately turn myself in and act sad about it. I expect to be home in time for dinner.

mystes posted:

The problem is that in the US we've gotten ourselves stuck so far in an incredibly bad local maximum where everything is completely oriented around cars that it's impossible for people to even imagine the alternative, and whenever there's a problem the solution is always to buy bigger cars and try to make thing even more completely oriented around cars.

People can't even understand that it would be nicer to be able to walk across the street to pick up one or two items whenever they need them rather than having to drive 30 minutes each way to the supermarket.

We can't make things better for walking/biking because everyone drives, so driving is the only serious mode of transportation, because we've made everything suck for walking/biking.

PeterCat posted:

Another weird thing to me is how they make these sprawled out shopping areas that are a cluster of big box stores, each with their own parking lot. There's one in Yuma, AZ and I can't figure out why it's not an regular shopping mall. You'd think that when it gets 120*F you'd want to be inside walking from store to store instead of constantly going in and out.

Clark Nova posted:

shopping center design in the southwest seems to assume you will get back into your car and drive between stores in the same gigantic parking lot

Lastgirl posted:

making mental images of every car that's ever been poo poo on by a bird, meticulously developing an extensive catalogue in my mind palace, and silently celebrating a victory for each

i also have libraries of cars being keyed by angry ex's but that's a separate directory of course~

Magic Hate Ball posted:

It's like my dad's family, where all of life consists of driving to places where you can Engage in Consumerism, and there's just nothing in that mindset to suggest any kind of alternative. "going out" means driving to a store or restaurant, and nothing else.

my hometown gets insanely hot but same, we built all these absurd asphalt-dominated shopping complexes that are a nightmare to navigate on foot even in hospitable weather:

PeterCat posted:

It's depressing, these aren't places to live in. I feel like they should put those glyphs to warn future people of radiation on the entrances to these places.

"This is not a place of honor."

I mean, this is what we do with our cities and land. Make a huge parking lot for a big box store so we can buy poorly made cheap crap. When my 90 year old grandma was a teenager living on a farm in the midwest, she said she's walk a mile or two to town, hope the train to Sioux City. Do her shopping in the downtown area near the train station, take the train back to the town, then walk home.

People today wouldn't know how to process such an idea.

Magic Hate Ball posted:

Clark Nova posted:

shopping center design in the southwest seems to assume you will get back into your car and drive between stores in the same gigantic parking lot

Ardennes posted:

Don’t worry they are going to be pushing electric cars no matter what, car culture is going no where.

Dolphin posted:

once the oil is gone widespread car use is not going to be possible because we literally cannot support the infrastructure necessary to allow everyone to have a car without oil

Dolphin posted:

once the oil is gone widespread car use is not going to be possible because we literally cannot support the infrastructure necessary to allow everyone to have a car without oil

Cat Puke posted:

The impacts of oil are going to destroy us long before we get a chance to extract the last of it.

Polo-Rican posted:

why the gently caress is there so much oil anyways? how many "fossils" are there making all this "fossil fuel?" i refuse to believe this much poo poo has died... doesn't make any sense

actionjackson posted:

see I always have the same thought when I see this, that that bike would be a huge theft target, especially since it appears to be electric

Dolphin posted:

phytoplankton and poo poo grows really fast and has grown nonstop for a really really long time

Nocturtle posted:

Isn't the issue we're going to run out of climate before we run out of oil?

Amounts to the same basic problem though. Electric cars aren't a solution.

edit: ^^^^ what that guy said

Nocturtle posted:

Truly hate cars and have gone most of my adult life without owning or needing one. Currently planning a move from an awesome downtown apartment out to some blighted car dependent suburb, with the mandatory hateful car purchase, because US society decided to let a dangerous airborne virus spread out of control. Good news though, there's nowhere to go anymore so won't need to drive much.

Anyway have been looking at Zillow for a few days and car dependent development is just so irredeemably ugly. Even worse when you can infer from the surroundings all the perfectly good nature that was replaced with asphalt and squat houses.

edit: the point of this post is that I hate cars and society making me get a car

Pepe Silvia Browne posted:

idk why but it finally clicked for me the other day that the reason Americans express distance as a measure of time (ie "it's about two hours away") is because the method of transportation is always assumed to be car. if you are traveling anywhere, it is assumed you will be traveling there the same way everyone else will - by car.

BECAUSE WHY WALK WHEN IT'S JUST A FIVE MINUTE DRIVE, JUST TAKE FIVE MINUTES AND POP DOWN THERE AND A QUICK FIVE MINUTES BACK

Harik posted:

this is suicidal ideation and a cry for help.

there's as much (or more) death and disease in the suburbs because it turns out toxic individualism is strongly correlated with refusal to wear a mask.

build a corsi cube and save your short-and-long-term health.