this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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Deciding not to get a car; it saves ~400.000 euros in my lifetime which at 40k net a year income means 8-10 year earlier pension
I'm so jealous. My work is only a mile away, which in a perfect world I could walk in 10 mins, but because of many slow crosswalks and busy intersections it's like 30 mins freezing my balls off. Plus there's a section of road that's 40mph (64kmh) with no sidewalk, and a bridge that forces pedestrians onto the high speed road. It's both slow and basically suicide if I tried to make a habit of walking.
There's another route but the intersection I would need to cross is excruciatingly slow. I had to sit for 15 minutes before I could cross. Plus it's another 40mph road and if someone runs a red I basically die.
Damn if I hear this I am so glad to live in the Netherlands. Infrastructure here is designed such that everybody takes a bike or walk if within a few miles, on safe roads
It's unfortunate that much of the US is stuck in a feedback loop of people saying "walking sucks, I'll drive", roads and driving infrastructure are improved at the cost of pedestrian infrastructure, more people say "walking sucks", and repeat. Eventually you get like 12 lane highways at the cost of many sidewalks, bike lanes and tram/train lines being bulldozed.
Eventually everybody has to drive because pedestrians have been squeezed out of the equation. It saddens me that people don't realize how nice walking could be, because they have only experienced poor pedestrian infrastructure. Even people like me who would love to walk have to choose driving or a death wish.
That being said it is slowly improving, many towns near me are implementing bike lanes, and more side walks. Unfortunately the bike lanes are the "safety paint" variety but it's at least something. As mentioned before my little town is renovating town square and it's a lot more walkable. Unfortunately not that helpful for me because the town square is only like 600 feet in size (200 metres) in size, but again, it's something.
I would love to visit Amsterdam just to walk my little butt off haha