Just wondering how people here get around day-to-day.

I personally try to use a bike as much as possible, but end up driving because of the structure of US suburbia and being the friend with a car™.

  • Kwikxilver@beehaw.orgEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    I live in the UK. I take the train to work, but I usually drive to the shops and for errands as there aren’t any cheap supermarkets within walking distance. I do tend to walk into town as parking is a pain! And I do lots of walks around my towns parks.

    Should really get on the bike train, but I don’t have a great place to store it and I’m worried about getting killed by SUVs!

    • omenmis@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Oof, yeah the storage part is probably one of the hardest things tbh. If you commit to biking it is really nice, though u might still need to drive to get groceries and do errands if u carry a lot of stuff tbh.

      • Kwikxilver@beehaw.orgEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        That’s the thing - when I shop, it’s usually for a week or so and I can’t carry all of that stuff on the back of a bike. All of the discount supermarkets are located on the edges of town in more industrial areas while all of the more traditional / expensive ones are within a 30 min walk.

        I do barely use my car - WFH most of the time - and I’m glad I don’t use it to commute any more. That really is hell on earth.

        • omenmis@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, that’s a sticky situation. Low costs driven by lower cost of land acquisition. I will say if you didn’t have the car you could probably afford the more expensive markets, but obviously going car free isn’t for most people…

          That said, its a lot easier to do grocery shopping walking or biking when you just do it for the next few days max. Though if the closest store is a 30 min walk its pretty inconvenient.

          • Kwikxilver@beehaw.orgEnglish
            2·
            1 year ago

            Absolutely. We have tried existing off the “express” store 5 mins from us but the prices are killer. We have had to switch almost solely to the discount markets because of the cost of living.

            I barely use my car so I have thought about selling it, but we don’t have a reliable car hire scheme in my town so if I needed one for work I would be screwed. I think though that the savings from being car-free would in no way balance out the costs from the expensive supermarket. Difference of a weekly shop is like £50!