0 comment Friday, September 26, 2014 | admin
No offense, fellow citizens, but is this really how you want life to be?
I drove my girlfriend Karen to the airport this morning (one thing cars are great for) starting at 6:30 AM. The traffic was thick even then! Leaving 8th heading Northbound on I-25 was pretty slow, and then I-70 was literally stop and go for miles. I was considering the number of people headed inbound to Denver, must be in the hundreds of thousands, mostly people driving by themselves. I�m going to assume most people are trying to get into Denver by 8 AM, which means that some people spend an hour or more in their cars in stop and go to make it to Denver, and then something similar in the afternoon going back to where they live.
Call me pretentious, but what is it about living far away from where you work that makes this daily routine worth it? Is it that the pattern of compromising your time and resources for a "better" economic deal (cheaper & bigger house, higher paying job) is so ingrained in our culture that people don�t consider two hour commutes much of a sacrifice?
When I moved to Denver, I elected to pay more for a smaller house in a "run down" neighborhood than I would have been able to afford in the 'burbs. I did this so I could live adjacent to two bike paths, and essentially get anywhere I wanted on my two wheeler. It worked, I�m a 95% of the time bike rider, and wouldn�t trade it for a house twice the size out in the suburbs.
Nearing my house on the return drive I saw a sign that told me it was 24 degrees at 7:44 AM. Instead of driving straight to work, I went back to my house, put on my cycling shoes, and rolled out my fixed gear. I�m not going to let a little cold deprive me of the joy of riding my bike on a clear day.
I drove my girlfriend Karen to the airport this morning (one thing cars are great for) starting at 6:30 AM. The traffic was thick even then! Leaving 8th heading Northbound on I-25 was pretty slow, and then I-70 was literally stop and go for miles. I was considering the number of people headed inbound to Denver, must be in the hundreds of thousands, mostly people driving by themselves. I�m going to assume most people are trying to get into Denver by 8 AM, which means that some people spend an hour or more in their cars in stop and go to make it to Denver, and then something similar in the afternoon going back to where they live.
Call me pretentious, but what is it about living far away from where you work that makes this daily routine worth it? Is it that the pattern of compromising your time and resources for a "better" economic deal (cheaper & bigger house, higher paying job) is so ingrained in our culture that people don�t consider two hour commutes much of a sacrifice?
When I moved to Denver, I elected to pay more for a smaller house in a "run down" neighborhood than I would have been able to afford in the 'burbs. I did this so I could live adjacent to two bike paths, and essentially get anywhere I wanted on my two wheeler. It worked, I�m a 95% of the time bike rider, and wouldn�t trade it for a house twice the size out in the suburbs.
Nearing my house on the return drive I saw a sign that told me it was 24 degrees at 7:44 AM. Instead of driving straight to work, I went back to my house, put on my cycling shoes, and rolled out my fixed gear. I�m not going to let a little cold deprive me of the joy of riding my bike on a clear day.
Labels: Airport