TTC

[Anny Nym]

Now all the posts about the trouble one could apparently have when walking a mile are almost a mile ling and I have to admit, I never saw it this way!

I grow up next to a busy road with no sidewalk. that´s a piece of the actual road in winter. Now, I again live next to said road after moving from quite big cities like Vienna and Salzburg back to my home town.

My mom took all seven of us shopping and to town or just for a walk on the "dirt track" next to the road, like everyone else used to do. In summer we used a hay cart, in winter a slide for groceries sometimes. Or not. Yeah, or bikes. When I went to school and was in no mood to wait a half a hour for schoolbus, I walked home sometimes.

Today, said dirt track is a "marked path", meaning it´s with grit. Which is cool, but winter it still sucks snowballs sometimes - I´m there with you all :D

I do the same thing as my mom did. I use a hay cart or a slide or this and my kids love it and yes, they complain sometimes when we walk or have a hike on weekends but you have yet to show me one child that is not complaining sometimes about walking. I let them "walk it out" like my mom did and like other parents do. I think it´s the right thing to do .

This is entirely my soley experience with the "one mile walk" thing and that´s what I know about this topic, what´s shaped my opinion.

As I see, that´s not a overall global shared opinion :rawr: I didn´t see it until here it could be a issue which depends on how one has been "shaped".

You all probably just thought "Gawd, who the fuck walks next to a road, of course it is a issue!" That was NOt my intention. It´s just not a issue in my enviroment. So my sincere apologies y´all! :worship:

[Artemis]

Unfortunately, even in my tiny village it can be an issue. We have no pavements. The one road through the village is narrow: in some places too narrow for say, a car and a van, to pass, though two smallish cars will make it. (If you get stuck behind the bin lorry, you have to wait till it can pull into a driveway to pass.) We operate a sort of informal 'you first: no, you'. Along one longish stretch there are walls, and no driveway entrances to duck into, so if you are walking past those, and a lorry comes, you're between the lorry and the wall. Lorries do come: one Croatian HGV working on satnav, got rather stuck.

The little village shop is halfway down this road, and has a cut in, so you're OK there, it's just getting there. Also there are no streetlights. The houses are set back from the road, so they don't cast light. When it's black, it's pitch black, and in winter, it's pitch black by 4.30.

Funny thing is, we do walk it, often, no pavements, no lights and all. At night we can see the oncoming lights, but we know we have to make a run for it if we're in the difficult stretch, so most of us check for an oncoming car first, and then run like hell till we're through. Moonlit nights, even cloudy ones, are a geat relief.

[formergothardite]

Like I said, it just isn't common here and since it isn't, it becomes an issue. Drivers don't expect to see small children walking in the road and walking in the tall grass just really isn't a good idea unless you are fond of snake bites. Or being bitten by a rabid dog. Apparently setting traps for these dogs is not a high priority for the county. If it was common it would be easier and safer to do.

[Anny Nym]

But Artemis, no street light in general is an issue for the city/town concil. Is there a reason it hasn´t happened yet or something?

[Anny Nym]

Like I said, it just isn't common here and since it isn't, it becomes an issue. Drivers don't expect to see small children walking in the road and walking in the tall grass just really isn't a good idea unless you are fond of snake bites. Or being bitten by a rabid dog. Apparently setting traps for these dogs is not a high priority for the county. If it was common it would be easier and safer to do.

Got it :wink-kitty: And again, I see here some serious issues about safety in general that should get to the city concil of your homestead: RABID dogs or just wild dogs without the rabies... now eff, that´s a more burning issue than sideway paths!

Do rangers in your county practise shooting of free roaming dogs and cats?

[Conuly]

In some areas, people campaign against lights or sidewalks or public transportation because they want to think they're living way out in the country, or because they think that making things more accessible without cars will allow criminals into their neighborhoods. It's insane, but there you go.

[formergothardite]

Got it :wink-kitty: And again, I see here some serious issues about safety in general that should get to the city concil of your homestead: RABID dogs or just wild dogs without the rabies... now eff, that´s a more burning issue than sideway paths!

Do rangers in your county practise shooting of free roaming dogs and cats?

The animal control is massively underfunded. Dangerous dogs inside city limits are a priority. We are outside city limits so they will occasionally set out traps, but they usually just end up catching raccoons and opossums. They don't shoot dogs here. The local state park is also underfunded so the rangers there don't mess with any dangerous stray animal unless it is on state property and endangering visitors. I honestly don't even walk to my mail box that much anymore because it worries me.

[Artemis]

One, we're a rural area, so apparently the local council is not obliged to - my village is one long main street, with a couple of little roads off.

Two, the Parish council can make itself responsible for street lighting, but there'd never be enough money to put it in. Other villages in the parish do have lighting, but mine - doesn't.

I've never really questioned why - just accepted it as part of living in the country. You've got me thinking now - I might go and have a look at the county council's website! I know visitors tend to complain a bit, but those of us who live here are used to walking to things in the dark, taking torches, using moonlit nights . . .

When I walk down to do the horses, I do the most of it in the dark, then walk past the security lights at the school as they come on, then go back into the dark fields to do all the feeds etc and water in the dark. The horses walk really silently on grass, and sometimes the first you know of them is this soft little whiffle of warm breath on your neck as they walk up behind you. It's amazing how well your eyes dark-adjust when there is no street lighting. I don't find it nearly as frightening as I find walking in a city, actually.

There's only one 'cold' spot in the field, where I feel uneasy, and I'm not sure that has anything to do with the presence or absence of light, to be honest.

@ Conuly, we haven't campaigned for or against anything. It's just the way the village is. :shrug:

ETA we don't think we're in the country - we ARE in the country! Public transport? Not so much. If my daughter wants to go to the city, I either take her, drive for 15 minutes to the airport over the hills so she can get the airport bus to the city, or drive her 20 minutes to the train station.

[Conuly]

My comment was pretty American-centric, really.

[Ariel]

I think it's more socioeconomic. The supermarkets I've shopped at which are in white poor areas are just as bad as black poor areas. Fresh immigrant poor areas are the place to go for food. Remember the definition of food desert is a mile to a supermarket. I would guess their market area is usually bigger than that.

I just want to chime in from the perspective of someone who has worked in and lived near the impoverished areas of a major city (Chicago). Part of it is definitely the economy. But many chains don't want to set up shop because of crime.

I worked in a HS in the middle of a high-crime, and high-poverty neighborhood that was definitely a food desert. There are shootings in the neighborhood every week. The risk is too high for a chain to set up shop. You might get lucky with a fast food joint or a gas station. For example, if I forgot to bring lunch and I didn't want to eat cafeteria food, my only option was a McDonalds a 10 minute drive away in a 'nicer' area. There were definitely not grocery stores closer than a mile. Of course, the transit system is excellent if outrageously expensive. $2.25 for one way is crazy.

[flyawaystray]

$2.25 is expensive? the MTA charges I think $2.50 or $2.75 one way for a subway and bus. If I want to go to Manhattan, the LIRR is $17 off peak round trip and I think $22 during peak hours. Now that is expensive. I am sick and tired of fares going up, it is ridiculous. But that's Long Island for ya, I guess.

[Ariel]

I find the cost of public transit in general to be expensive.

I'm lucky enough to have a car and work at a job that provides free parking. I calculated it out when I started work, and it cost me more to get a weekly bus pass than it would for me to drive my car. If the job didn't have a parking lot then public transit probably would be cheaper than driving.

[Conuly]

$2.25 is expensive? the MTA charges I think $2.50 or $2.75 one way for a subway and bus. If I want to go to Manhattan, the LIRR is $17 off peak round trip and I think $22 during peak hours. Now that is expensive. I am sick and tired of fares going up, it is ridiculous. But that's Long Island for ya, I guess.

It does, but if you travel a lot you can get an unlimited, which reduces the fare significantly.

Of course, kids don't get a discount once they're 3' 6". Well, not officially. Apparently half of all fare jumpers are kids, and when I saw that report I said they might as well have just subtitled it "and we are never getting that money back!"

My nieces are getting to the point where bus drivers soon won't let them on without paying anymore, and that's going to make swimming $20 more expensive every week. I might have to switch them to a later class, then I can get the s98 up (it only runs during rush hour) and the s48 down on the transfer, that'll save a fare. It'll still cost more, though, than it does now.

[ADoyle90815]

There are some healthy-eating-inclined fundies. Seventh-Day Adventists, in my experience, tend to be vegetarians and the potlucks are pretty healthy. I once attended a Thanksgiving dinner at a SAD home. Tofurkey. NEVER AGAIN.

Seventh-Day Adventists are also one of the groups in the world with the longest life expectancy, and it's believed to be because of their vegetarian diet. Even Mormons who have religious rules against alcohol and tobacco don't live quite as long, and that's probably because the culture outside of church is known for casseroles made with condensed soup and those jello salads. There's a reason that there was a green jello pin available during the Salt Lake City Olympics.

As for public transportation, sometimes those passes are worth it, as it means unlimited trips for a day or month. That is, if it goes where you need to go and everything is running on time. It can limit availability for work at times, since not all systems run 24-7, and many lines don't even run on weekends or holidays. Where I live, it's just more convenient to have a car for most cases, especially if one has a job that doesn't have the typical 9-5 Monday through Friday schedule.

[Conuly]

Seventh-Day Adventists are also one of the groups in the world with the longest life expectancy, and it's believed to be because of their vegetarian diet. Even Mormons who have religious rules against alcohol and tobacco don't live quite as long, and that's probably because the culture outside of church is known for casseroles made with condensed soup and those jello salads. There's a reason that there was a green jello pin available during the Salt Lake City Olympics.

As for public transportation, sometimes those passes are worth it, as it means unlimited trips for a day or month. That is, if it goes where you need to go and everything is running on time. It can limit availability for work at times, since not all systems run 24-7, and many lines don't even run on weekends or holidays. Where I live, it's just more convenient to have a car for most cases, especially if one has a job that doesn't have the typical 9-5 Monday through Friday schedule.

In NYC our trains and most buses actually do run 24/7, which makes us an anomaly worldwide, I'm aware.

It also means that construction drags on f o r e v e r because they have to work it around a 24/7 schedule.

[flyawaystray]

It does, but if you travel a lot you can get an unlimited, which reduces the fare significantly.

Of course, kids don't get a discount once they're 3' 6". Well, not officially. Apparently half of all fare jumpers are kids, and when I saw that report I said they might as well have just subtitled it "and we are never getting that money back!"

My nieces are getting to the point where bus drivers soon won't let them on without paying anymore, and that's going to make swimming $20 more expensive every week. I might have to switch them to a later class, then I can get the s98 up (it only runs during rush hour) and the s48 down on the transfer, that'll save a fare. It'll still cost more, though, than it does now.

The unlimited Metrocard is $242. This is only good for the LIRR (The MTA owns the LIRR but the LIRR and subways/buses are two separate things). The unlimited Metrocard for the subway/bus is $112. So combined, my boyfriend spends $354 commuting to and from work since he works on 98th street near Central Park.

For him, it's worth it because he's lucky enough to be able to afford it, but the fares keep going up and it's absolutely ridiculous. We plan to move closer to the city and get off LI because the cost of living is too expensive.

ETA: whoops, I guess you're from NYC so you probably know what the LIRR is about. Forever raising fares, and the trains don't run that late at night. Subways, yes. The railroad, no.

[flyawaystray]

In NYC our trains and most buses actually do run 24/7, which makes us an anomaly worldwide, I'm aware.

It also means that construction drags on f o r e v e r because they have to work it around a 24/7 schedule.

Hey, SDA here. Yep, it's true, we advocate a vegetarian diet, but my parents are meat eaters. Not everyone is a vegetarian and I wouldn't personally serve turkey (I have a hang up with touching meat) but I would let guests bring their own if they wanted. That said, a majority of SDA's are in fact vegetarian.

[OkToBeTakei]

Strange old thread really.

Let me briefly summarise because really all the new posts barring the street lighting are just rehashing all that has been said.

AUGUST JUST REALLY REALLY FUCKING HATES LENTILS :lol:

[alchemy]

Thanks for clearing that up OkToBeTakei, reading through all the chatter was starting to get really, really dal.

[Arete]

Hey, hey! It's not all lentils around here. I can roast a chicken. :snooty:

[1004srs]

I bought lentils today at the grocery store. No public transportation in my town. 7 miles to the only grocery store.

Well, I sort of bought lentils.... the only thing close to this thread was a can of lentil soup. lol

Hey - I tried. :cracking-up:

[Loveday]

I'll just pop in here for a second to say this thread has inspired me to put lentils on my commissary list for the first time in my life. :) (Sadly, I can't walk to the commissary because it's seven miles away. :embarrassed: )

[LadyBlue]

Seventh-Day Adventists are also one of the groups in the world with the longest life expectancy, and it's believed to be because of their vegetarian diet. Even Mormons who have religious rules against alcohol and tobacco don't live quite as long, and that's probably because the culture outside of church is known for casseroles made with condensed soup and those jello salads. There's a reason that there was a green jello pin available during the Salt Lake City Olympics.

As for public transportation, sometimes those passes are worth it, as it means unlimited trips for a day or month. That is, if it goes where you need to go and everything is running on time. It can limit availability for work at times, since not all systems run 24-7, and many lines don't even run on weekends or holidays. Where I live, it's just more convenient to have a car for most cases, especially if one has a job that doesn't have the typical 9-5 Monday through Friday schedule.

Unfortunately for the very poor, the passes are a huge upfront expense, even though they might be cheaper in the end. So, yet another way poverty ends up costing more. Our city also offers books of 10 tickets which end up being more than a monthly pass, but still slightly less than paying each trip. And we can get 90 minute transfers in any direction, but we still lied about our kids' ages for as long as we could to get the free/cheap fare and often only one of us would go somewhere to cut the cost even more. We looked into getting a pass, but we also worked out exactly how many trips it would require each month to make it worthwhile and we made a few less than the break even point.

Not to mention taking children on a bus, especially multiple children. I can't even tell you how much it terrifies me to take a bus with a kid after a year of having a vehicle. I did my best to avoid it as much as possible.

[August]

Got it :wink-kitty: And again, I see here some serious issues about safety in general that should get to the city concil of your homestead: RABID dogs or just wild dogs without the rabies... now eff, that´s a more burning issue than sideway paths!

Do rangers in your county practise shooting of free roaming dogs and cats?

Here there are no free roaming rabid dogs. It's the rabid racoons and coyotes that are the problem, in addition to ticks. But, where I've lived they mow a verge if there is one. It's when there isn't one, it's not continuous or it's a drainage ditch that it becomes hard to navigate with a stroller. And no, I've ever lived in the country.

[August]

Strange old thread really.

Let me briefly summarise because really all the new posts barring the street lighting are just rehashing all that has been said.

AUGUST JUST REALLY REALLY FUCKING HATES LENTILS :lol:

Well, I do, but mostly they're so expensive!