Hotel Vegas
If Austin Were a Truly Progressive City ...
RECEIVED Mon., May 1, 2006
Dear Editor,
"Boo hoo hoo ... I can't afford to fill up my SUV, and traffic is awful, and then when I finally get to downtown, parking is a nightmare ... boo hoo hoo. I wish someone in power would do something."
Every time I turn around, I hear this same refrain. This, my friends, is a classic example of people wanting government to change so that they don't have to. If parking and traffic and gas are driving you to the poor house/crazy house, why not get off your fat ass and ride a bicycle once in a while? Park 'em anywhere. Runs on food. And despite what many people believe, it is an extremely fast way to get around this small, centralized city. If you can't do three miles on a bike, you've got worse problems than gas prices.
If Austin were a truly progressive city, it would address our car-related problems. But instead of real solutions for this, we keep coming up with ways to bring more cars and pollution and traffic into downtown. Wake up people! Cars are the problem! We need fewer cars downtown!
The City Council should support a broad-based measure to encourage bicycle commuting in the Austin area. It's easy, cheap, and extraordinarily effective. Unfortunately, you can't cram a cheeseburger in your face and slam a Big Gulp on a bicycle, but given the "huskiness" of so many of our citizens, maybe this is a good thing.
Healthy, environmentally sound, fast, fun, stress relieving, cheap ... too bad it doesn't come in pill form; someone could make a fortune.
"Boo hoo hoo ... I can't afford to fill up my SUV, and traffic is awful, and then when I finally get to downtown, parking is a nightmare ... boo hoo hoo. I wish someone in power would do something."
Every time I turn around, I hear this same refrain. This, my friends, is a classic example of people wanting government to change so that they don't have to. If parking and traffic and gas are driving you to the poor house/crazy house, why not get off your fat ass and ride a bicycle once in a while? Park 'em anywhere. Runs on food. And despite what many people believe, it is an extremely fast way to get around this small, centralized city. If you can't do three miles on a bike, you've got worse problems than gas prices.
If Austin were a truly progressive city, it would address our car-related problems. But instead of real solutions for this, we keep coming up with ways to bring more cars and pollution and traffic into downtown. Wake up people! Cars are the problem! We need fewer cars downtown!
The City Council should support a broad-based measure to encourage bicycle commuting in the Austin area. It's easy, cheap, and extraordinarily effective. Unfortunately, you can't cram a cheeseburger in your face and slam a Big Gulp on a bicycle, but given the "huskiness" of so many of our citizens, maybe this is a good thing.
Healthy, environmentally sound, fast, fun, stress relieving, cheap ... too bad it doesn't come in pill form; someone could make a fortune.
Mike "Dub" Wainwright
