i have that same shirt!

THIS article over at sfgate is interesting. i’m not quite sure how i feel about it. i mean, OBVIOUSLY, i applaud the dude for truly going all the way. he not only didn’t use a car for a year, he didn’t even get INTO a car for a year. two plane rides and two train rides seem to be the extent of his 2009 carbon output. also, i’m SUPER pleased to hear him acknowledge that this would not work for someone with kids. finally, i’m glad it’s getting press. people need to see that it CAN be done, if they’re ever to try it.

but in the end, at the risk of sounding more haughty than i always do — i’ve lived without a car for 14 years. four years of my life in SF — the year before and the three years during my marriage — i owned a car. and i’m not the only one. granted, i didn’t refrain from USING a car for 14 years, i just didn’t OWN one. someone offered me a ride, i’d usually take it. i used public transit (a great deal of which is electric, but still). i rented cars for camping trips or whatever. but my point is that people like myself live without a car, and have since LONG before the new cycling boom. it’s nothing new.

and i wish that he’d have acknowledged that this cannot be done if you live outside a major urban center. i mean, you could take some trips by bike and all that, but this is really just short of impossible in the suburbs.

but i think in the end, my biggest issue with the whole thing is that this guy, as a case study, has some things that the common person won’t be able to associate with, further removing themselves from ever trying. for instance, his job allows him some pretty fucking huge benefits schedule-wise. (not to mention being paid for by taxpayers — something that came up a lot in the overwhelmingly negative comments.)

in the end, of course, i LOVE seeing these things get press. i think i just wish that the person was a little more of the working/middle class. because it’s only when other people see that "he’s just like me!" will they ever be inclined to try and lessen their reliance upon the automobile as a concept.

and that’s what it’s really all about. not NEGATING or REMOVING the automobile. just LESSENING the DEPENDENCE on it.

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