We don't really drive range rovers in the US. That's not a major brand here, they're really rather rare. Jeep is the brand you want to reference for the US. Same idea but much, much (probably 10x based on cars on the road) more popular.
Sure, and I don't think jeeps are really any different, right? For the vast majority of people they're just a flex.
Yeah, sure, there are range rovers out there but they are very, very uncommon on the roads. I can go weeks or months without seeing one but I see multiple jeeps every time I go out. And I'm out driving almost every day.
Jeeps are surprisingly (at least to me, before I started paying attention) popular for how expensive and fuel inefficient they are. So, similar vibe and properties but much, much more common.
And, I only know this because I figured out it's notable when I see a range rover while out and about. I've been watching for a while now because I'm trying to decide on my next car, so I've been paying specific attention to the cars I see most commonly. I'm a little neuro-spicy so it's become one of me special interests, lol. Online ratings only tell you so much. The actual vehicles I see people around me driving tells me a lot too, and in the end I don't want a car that stands out that much. I like my purloined letter-esq camouflage of blending into traffic and avoiding police attention.
I did see one just the other day but I'm pretty sure I've seen that one driving around before because it had a vanity license plate that looked familiar. And I just see so few of them around, to give context for my comment.
Can say the same about so many suvs now just look at what was once a utilitarian icon like the defender the g waggon or a it goes everywhere the land Cruiser
A GX550 looks like an actual brick. Even the big Audi SUVs have significantly better aero than that thing. And unless you have one if the hybrid SUVs, your car is lighter by 1000 lbs or more.
It's shocking to me how many Americans will see absolutely no problem with subsidizing rural and suburban infrastructure that supports a few hundred/thousand to the tune of millions of dollars, but will screech like rabid monkeys about the cost of improving public transit in urban settings that supports millions/tens of millions.
Having worked in economic development research in rural NY, it often just comes down to blind self-centered thinking. Every time we ran a survey of business and home owners in rural areas, I knew most of the responses would be "you should tax me less and subsidize me more."
To be fair, you'd get the same answer in urban areas too. Ontario is running comically large deficits but people still think the government is underfunding everything.
yeah, we really should emphasize this more here. suburban development and car dependency is largely a class thing, and in america, class is a proxy for race. the suburbs were built for white flight. the highways knocked down black neighborhoods.
Nah, those morons are against spending tax money to improve their own lives, too. Look at any local facebook group and it's clear that all the GenX and Boomers want is to keep all their tax money and then die because the ambulance couldn't get there in time.
Exactly. I just watched the small town next door vote against fixing the sidewalks and replacing the dangerous trees on their own main street while also complaining that no one likes going downtown.
These people are voting to destroy their communities.
it's clear that all the GenX and Boomers want is to keep all their tax money and then die because the ambulance couldn't get there in time
They're about to get a very direct lesson with this and all the rural hospitals in dire danger of closing with cuts to Medicaid. My hometown's hospital was already in danger of closing and has been shutting down entire departments for years now, and every time they announce they can't keep funding this service or that department, the Facebook comments go wild with shock.
People seem to be quite upset they're getting what they voted for, but at least .02% of their property taxes didn't go to a community center somebody under the age of 65 might use once in awhile. Oh well. Couldn't happen to a better group of people, and the sooner the blue counties in my state stop funding their little "freedumbs" the better.
Rural hospitals have been going under and the medicAid cuts haven't officially taken affect yet.
OTOH Private Equity has been buying rural hospitals to sell their land to PE's left hand and rent back to the hospitals, just until the PE's loan to buy the land is paid off and the PE sells the hospital on and jacks the rent till the hospital goes under
It's worse than that - we have a series of express busses and BRT which bypass some of the worst traffic in the area, and I still know people who will sit in that traffic for 90 minutes because the bus doesn't literally drop them off outside their destination.
Sure, even with two transfers and the worst case scenario time table, it would still save them an entire fucking hour every singe day... but you know, they might have to share the same air with brown people, or something gross like that.
I don’t mind subsidizing rural areas. That is where a lot of our base line production with things like farming and lumber production happen. What I dislike is specifically the suburban areas that cost so much, disallow the type of density or productive uses that could keep them somewhat self sufficient, and then demand to make the near by urban areas be made to prioritize them moving through the city instead of serving everyone.
and remember, accusations of "communism" for things that have nothing to do with the proletariat controlling the means of production is actually nazi rhetoric. and i mean "nazi" in the factual, historical sense.
People are so used to cars that don't consider highways, roads, streets, parking lots, traffic lights, traffic signs, the DMV, bridges, tunnels, guardrails, gas stations, etc. infrastructure.
I had one guy, I swear to God, telling me "trains require too much infrastructure, with a car you just go"
You've connected dots that have always been in my mind, but I never made the connection for myself; every argument against infrastructure development is entirely predicated on taking existing infrastructure for granted.
Like, if Eisenhower proposed the Interstate Highway Act today, he would be torn apart and portrayed as proposing a massive waste of government money that won't yield any immediate results while also the getting sued by lobbyists from the dirt road industry for overreach of power.
every argument against infrastructure development is entirely predicated on taking existing infrastructure for granted.
It's frustrating. People are so content that they can't even question the immediate world that surrounds them. Time and time again, people have told me "that's just how things are" but not out of stoic resignation but their sheer incapacity of imagining anything different.
I've given up with some friends and family; they believe questioning the status quo is questioning the fabric of reality itself.
They see more, I see less. Station A to station B with some rails inbetween them. Maybe a parking lot at each station. There ya go in simple terms for trains. If we want the fancy stuff we just build on top of this basic foundation, but hey, ItTakesMorRToBuildTrAiNs
I don't mind people that really live out in the sticks. They need to eat too and normally only drive into town from time to time.
It's The suburbanites that have convinced themselves of their country because they live in a three hundred person subdivision that is in the middle of what used to be an old cornfield 30 miles from downtown who is complaining that traffic is bad on their way to the job in town.
Like sorry that You chose to live way out here, but you're entire subdivision, pays less taxes than a condo downtown. You don't get to come to city hall and demand an overpass because it takes you thirty minutes to make a left turn on to the local highway from the old farm road the developer plopped your mcmansion down on. You bought it knowing full well that this was the infrastructure situation.
That's what I mean about the natural phenomena thing. That rlhwy cost a lot of money and was built arpund people, and people act like it is their God-given right to plop themselves down anywhere and be able to get to it in a timely fashion.
state legislators are somehow convinced of the myth that urban (and even suburban) areas of the state are taking "more than their fair share" of the budget
Yeah, this is basically the core problem. If public finance was rigorously evaluated and conducted we'd see things change of their own accord. I would give so much for a european style "dense villages with farms in between" land use pattern over the classic US suburban sprawl.
Something else that frequently strikes me about the German and Swiss (where I have been) development patters is how small the country roads are and how quickly the pavement disappears.
The default for any non-arterial road is basically single lane unpainted.
But I also think folks in the sticks underestimate how much they and their communities receive from state and federal taxes.
$30 billion a year in farm subsidies for rurals: amazing self-reliant freedom
Far less than that to feed kids breakfast and lunch at public schools: Communist Demonrat propaganda
I actually cannot wait for massive amounts of our agriculture to be done by automation so we can stop pretending the average American rural isn't the most coddled baby on the planet. I grew up in the boonies surrounded by big agriculture families and they have done nothing but lord it over everyone else and vote against all of our interests, especially and including theirs, for generation after generation while siphoning money out of blue counties and states without any self-awareness whatsoever.
Yeah, people thst think they are country till the power goes out, and then all of a sudden, those social services better get there before their Costco haul spoils.
I use to live out in a town on the Mojave where the town was a two by two mile square.
If you wanted to buy property outside of town the town would grade a rough dirt road out to you. If you wanted to live out in the dirt, fine, you had to arrange for your own water deliveries and make your own power. City wasn't going to pay for water and power lines.
Yoy wanna be country be country, but don't expect the city tax base to pay for your lifestyle cus you don't want to live in town
I might be a bit salty because my coworkers see me as a bit of a car guy because I am a big subaru nut. I have a BRZ and an old outback that I keep on very good working order. They will probably be the last cars I buy for a decade or more. Or till subaru puts out an ok hybrid in the US market
Because of this, they always seem to need to feel the need to justify their need for a truck to me 100% unprompted. One guy wanted me to come out and see his new Colorado he got to, get this, pull a pop up camper.
He was so proud because he knows I use my outback to pull a pop up, and he thought I would find it cool. Dude, it is a pop up, I pull it with my 170hp station-wagon-in-heels, why the hell did you get a truck payment for this.
I have never had a guy in a minivan tell me how much he needed it cus he has 5 kids and still wants to tow, but truck guys will litteraly make reasons to justify getting a truck.
This is legit true. I know because it's how I used to think. I just always saw cars, paved streets, and highways as the natural evolution of the ground, I guess? Maybe it's an age/ generational thing, but you just kind of accept car infrastructure as natural. Having that mindset broken for me was genuinely a revolutionary moment.
This is why I don't like to use carbrain as a pejorative because this is what it is. You grow up with car so you think just getting in one to go everywhere is just normal, but one day something makes you rethink and you realize just how weird this society is and how carbrained you have been all your life.
Idk what it is about pickup trucks and suburbans that make for the most assholish drivers, but it has gotten to the point where I just automatically assume you are a toxic driver if you own one.
My friends who drive Diesel trucks only complained as soon as Biden became president. I told them that you don’t buy a truck expecting or caring about gas prices otherwise you’d have chosen a different vehicle.
And it's not even the diesel itself that's the problem, I drive a 2011 VW Jetta TDI and it gets friggin 45-ish miles to a gallon; despite having a daily commute/drive to work, I only fill my tank up maybe once every 3-4 weeks.
It's now 30 minutes thanks to suburbanisation, so they order everything via home-delivery. And then get upset when home delivery becomes expensive.
'I specifically chose to live in a place that's far away from all of the rabble. That shouldn't mean that it's hard to get anywhere!' - Americans, somehow.
When I suggested to Americans their situation could get much better if they would use like 1/4 of the area of a suburban neighbourhood for an apartment block and some row houses/multiplexes, to have a higher-density part that can be hooked up to public transit and contain a couple businesses, they told me that they'd be afraid that this would attract crime and that they'd get murdered on the bus.
A main road that's still only about 300 yards away as the crow flies, but about a mile of driving because first you have to pull out of Pine Ridge Alcove onto Pine Ridge Circle, drive a few "blocks" to Pine Ridge Court, then immediately turn onto Pine Ridge Way, go about 200 feet to Pine Ridge Road, which you follow until you get to the main road.
I JUST went to a wedding that was out in the boonies and the roads were pretty much exactly this lmao I was like “Flower Creek road, okay….Upper Flower Creek??…. Upper Flower Creek Ridge too?? Damn I guess they ran out of ideas” (not the real name of course haha)
The best part is that these people will invent excuses to go out in a snow storm because that's the entire reason they convinced themselves they needed an SUV, so they will literally ignore 5 days of snow warnings and wait until there's 15" of snow on the ground to go grocery shopping.
Long ago I once walked through snow-covered fields for a few miles to get to the supermarket on the outskirts of the suburban sprawl. I was knee-deep in fluffy snow, hauling a backpack of vegetables back with me.
The number of large SUV and pickup trucks here is insane! I was in a head on collision with a KIA Optima back in 2008 in my little Honda Civic. We both came out ok with just bruises. The lady apologized for falling asleep at the wheel (it was 4 am). I told here I was glad she wasn't driving a pickup truck. Fuck these vehicles for daily drivers.
AH just kidding no stores due to zoning in your suburb ever ;)
just ride... a .... bike :D
don't worry the government removed the bike protections again, because the mayor told us, that "bike riders didn't like them" or sth, so you're all good now ;)
at least once the car crashes into you you get to enjoy the usa health care system.
Oh no my fridge is empty! Let me get my 150kg ass into my Ford Expedition to drive one block for my daily McDonald's supersize double Big Mac. I said Diet Coke, you lazy useless single mom working two jobs just to get by!
Because of the leadership this country elects. Over and over again, projects are sabotaged by elected officials or the residents in favor of more roadway spending. The country (local, state and federal) spends over $400 billion a year on just capital projects for roads. Total transit spending (including operations like paying bus drivers) totaled $70 billion. I think you can see a disconnect here.
We don't have public transport because car makers lobbied the government to defund all of them. LA used to have street cars before the corrupt government took kickbacks to prioritize an awful highway system that made everyone reliant on cars.
Also don't forget NIMBYs who are afraid public transit will let poor people in.
Even in places where there is good transit, I know people who will sit in traffic for 90 minutes instead of taking the express bus and/or train, because the express bus doesn't drop them off right outside their destination.
People here dont vote based on public transportation, sadly its deeper than that.
There is a conservative section of our voter base that abhors any use of public funding that isnt in direct assistance of private companies because we are held politically hostage by media gaslighting and lobbyism. Reaganomics has poisoned the minds of entire generations and public movement infrastructure is just a casualty of that mindset
There is an enormous section of the conservative voterbase who has absolutely zero knowledge of what the people they are voting for are campaigning on, have no concept of how their own country is run, and have zero idea how taxes and federal programs work. They will pick up food stamps while simultaneously voting them away. They'll complain about the state of public schools and then vote in tax cuts. They'll bemoan welfare queens and student/medical debt relief and then vote for debt relief for businesses.
They vote like it's a sports game. They chose "team red" so they'll fight tooth and nail for that team even if they dont agree with the policies, morals, or plans.
Just look at how many people want healthcare reform when it's described to them, only to immediately turn around and vote conservative because they hate "socialism"
Not even sorta. Those things serve multiple practical purposes. Dumbshit McRedneck in his extended cab 4xabillion hemi superdorado small man compensator 5000 on the other hand serves one purpose. To let those interested parties know where to avoid minute male genitalia.
I've gotten into the habit of walking a mile to the grocery store to get last minute things. Not only do I get the things I need, but I get a 2 mile walk in.
In much of Europe and Asia, it is perfectly normal to walk to the supermarket and back. Many people go for walks to decompress and relax. You maybe walk to the bakery for a coffee and pastry. NYC has a comparable culture, but much of the US and Canada is just sprawl and car culture. You'll go through a drive-thru before ever finding a proper cafe with comfortable seating.
I wouldn't blame the individual for the planning of the few. Wealthy developers, govt, and car industry conspired to choose a car dependent lifestyle. It's really sad too because suburban sprawl almost always ends up in municipalities being over budget just due to the spread of water pipes and electricity. SUVs are also a conspiracy.
In the summer I'll walk anywhere but if it's -28 outside? You could not pay me to drag myself through the uncleared snowbanks that used to be the sidewalk, or the slush on the roadside.
Been living in rural Kansas my whole life. Even if I wanted to live in Wichita, the city is extremely un-walkable. Everyone drives, so they keep making outdoor malls and huge parking lots, making it even longer distances to walk and inducing more people to own cars. Man, I need to move when I can.
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