i believe Alan is correct to question the attitude of
urban dwellers to refexively deride those who live in
the suburbs.
Though one may choose to live in the inner city does
not necessarily infer upon one the moral highground
though to hear people on this list, and in the
mainstream press, you would think that those who
choose a suburban life are somehow secretly selfish
and immoral to boot.
The Strib in a recent article spoke of how the
government subsidizes the uses of autos through a tax
policy that keeps the price of fuel lower.
Well It keeps it lower for everyone. And it does not
necessarily favor just suburbanites.
We tend to look at people from the suburbs who do not
commute by mass transit to work in the cental city. If
one were to look more closely one would notice full
buses coming in and half full buses going out in the
morning.
How many urban dwellers commute by bus to work in the
suburbs? And who are those who do use busses to
commute to the 'burbs as opposed to those who commute
from the 'burbs to the city?
Look closely and what you will see are "self-indulgent
sprawling suburbanites" of the middle class white
collar workers commuting downtown along with poorer
blue collar workers while most people makingreverse
commutes are poorer blue collar workers.
The irony here is tat those who once again cry loudest
about the selfishness of others, i.e.; supposed non
commuting suburbanites are those who drive equally
long distances to the suburbs in their cars while bus
capacity is not fully realized.
It would stand to reason that if more city dwellers
who could commute out did, did so, bus capacity would
be more fully utilized, the system would generate
greater profits eliminating the need for the subsidy.
It would also have the benficial effect of making it
more sensible(realistic) for Metro Transit to add more
busses to existing routes thereby relieving discomfort
for current patrons and creating favorable conditions
to attract more passengers which in turn will.......
Well you know how it goes..
Life is a circle after all and when we all join that
circle life does get better. For all of us. Even those
poor folks still outside the circle. That is as it
should be.
End of homily.
Tim Connolly
Candidate for Mayor
Downtown Minneapolis Resident
P.S. Sometimes I am amazed how I can get here from
there. Do I amake sense to anyone else or am I just
making sense to myself in some solipsistic hell?
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