I exhausted from reading D. Klein's schedule and grateful that I don't have to
do that. However, I do see frantic moms on the buses with kids and groceries.
They do quite a lot of what Klein does, but they do it all on buses. Seeing
them exhausts me as well--they all need cars too. Individual transportantion,
an unhealthy amalgum between the auto industry and President Eisenhower, I
think. uburban sprawl, begun as an attempt to have starter housing for GIs
returning from WWII, was burgeoned out too far a long time ago, but no one then,
so far as I know, was in the bully pulpit leading the charge back to the
compactness of city life. America's whole car jones is about something more than
suburban sprawl or conservation of resources, in fact, it exists on a different
level. What we have now is that moment when "objects in mirror may be closer
than they appear." Now we're up to our pink lacies in a mess only a few could
see coming and we are nowhere near a set of satisfactory ideas and initiatives
to deal with it.
WMarks, Central
D.Klein wrote:
> I've been reading all the posts on transportation, and decided,
> acknowledging I will incur derision for what some may perceive as our
> "privileged" lifestyle, to put in my perception. For those with a low
> tolerance for personal trivia, please skip this message. For those who are
> interested in a pretty typical mom's transportation schedule -
> read on.
>
> We live in the city and plan on staying here. My husband works on University
> Ave. and drives because he goes to see clients, other business locations
> etc. I am now a stay-at-home mom.
>
> Our last week's schedule (which was typical) ran as follows:
>
> Sat. - husband to office, me to kid's ballet class in Hopkins, then to
> Target and Cub. Evening - Pick up babysitter in St. Louis Park, attend a
> viewing in Bloomington and then go to dinner downtown. Take babysitter home.
>
> Sunday - church and Sunday school. Afternoon, elementary school open house
> in Hopkins, then child to birthday party.
>
> Monday - husband to office St. Paul and to Eagan. Mom and child to
> Ridgedale, library, Land's End Outlet and Toys R' Us. Evening - kid swim
> class at Knollwood.
>
> Tues. - husband to St. Cloud. Child to preschool. Mom downtown to doctor -
> then to Uptown for haircut. Pick up kid, take kid to doctor near
> Children's. Stop at drugstore on the way home for prescriptions. Evening -
> meeting at prospective grade school for prospective families in north
> Minneapolis.
>
> Weds. - husband to office and downtown St. Paul for meeting. Child to
> preschool. Mom to grocery store to pick up stuff Cub didn't have and to
> post office Pick up child - home for lunch and then downtown to MacPhail
> for music class. While child at class, run to Costco. Pick child
> up, go to Calhoun Village to pay for piece of furniture. Evening - volunteer
> meeting.
>
> Thurs. - husband to office and then to Red Wing. Child to preschool. Mom
> to Roseville to pick up piece of furniture. Pick up child - home for lunch,
> then to South Minneapolis for playdate. Drop donation at Arc. Evening -
> client dinner in Uptown, pick people up at Radisson Metrodome and return
> them.
>
> Fri. - husband to office, Mom and kid to North Minneapolis to drop off item
> for repair. Cat to vet for shots, stop at florist and liquor store for Sat.
> dinner party. Stop at market for food for party. Stop at Hallmark.
> Evening - home.
>
> OK - now I admit there are some trips that weren't necessary and some could
> have been doubled up - but overall - where would LRT and busing have fit in
> here? And it is too easy to sneer that the above looks like a privileged
> life style so not applicable to some. Of course it's not - but there are
> alot of parents out there like me - frantically running errands while our
> kids
> are in school and shuttling them around or frantically running as many
> errands as we can stuff in after work or on our lunch hour. Trying to run a
> household while our significant others travel, travel, travel. How does
> this fit into the transportation equation?
>
> When I worked downtown (for almost 20 years) - I took the bus when I could -
> but usually didn't. Why? Because I could often be in the office until 7, 8
> or 9 at night, I might go out after work, I might have errands to run on the
> way
> home, I might not go in until late the next day if I had finished a trial
> and was exhausted. Also - my bus stop was six blocks away, and after
> "peak", it only ran every hour. And - I'd often be carrying a briefcase or
> two, files, maybe dry cleaning and traveling at night. Or I'd be in NY for a
> day. Circumstances constantly changed. Carpooling was impossible. Which is
> how it has continued for my husband. The people for whom mass transit works
> best are those with stable, steady schedules, going to the same place
> everyday, or for runs out to the airport. For the rest, it doesn't work as
> well, particularly in a city so much less dense than (as someone has
> suggested) Paris. Even if growth stopped today - we still have 100 or so
> square mile of city(ies) to transverse (I just made that up - I have no idea
> how big the metro area is). I don't see it shrinking either. Our jobs and
> shopping and errands are not like in a population dense city like Manhattan,
> where you can literally do everything entirely in your neighborhood or take
> the subway anywhere. I have lived in NY - and the transit was great. I
> have lived all over the Midwest, and it is not great anywhere you don't have
> population density.
>
> Please give people the benefit of the doubt that we do want to see great
> transportation available for everyone and we don't just all want to be part
> of the problem, racing our SUVs through freeway compromised neighborhoods.
> Clearly - there are alot of options needed for differing circumstances -
> some involving LRT, some busing, some street and highway travel. There are
> obviously so many smart people reading this site, and so many knowledgeable
> about policy issues. So what's the solution? And, no - sorry - I don't
> accept slashing our mobility OR leaving that mobility only to "the
> privileged" (whoever they are).
>
> D. Klein
> Kenwood
> Ward 7
>
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