Community Chat

[Ronettes]

If any of you could see northern NJ, you just wouldn't believe it -

Now it's bumper to bumper traffic wherever you go, or vehicles flying down the street as if it's a highway.

I was taking my husband, who is presently in a wheelchair, to the next block from our house for a doctor appointment. I kept trying to get across just one road, but no one would stop on either side, it is a 25 mile per hour zone but they were flying at 50. Finally a neighbor went out into the road to stop traffic for us.  Sad that no one will stop for a woman pushing a man in a wheelchair!

Also, in the last two years cars are driving on the wrong side of the road, head on facing you. And driving the wrong way down one way streets.

I haven't gone to the mall in a few years, since the gangs took over.

Planning to move way down south to country life sometime this year, away from all this!

[Xivambala]

I think it's all relative to where you are in your life. Growing up in and around Chicago, I was without a car for a few years. One can get around by walking or with the use of public transportation. The weather is not good making buses and trains uncomfortable. Venturing far can be very time consuming without a car. I didn't like not having the freedom to come and go as I wanted. I have spent many hours in traffic on I55 and the Eisenhower. My nerves do better if I can exit and drive side streets to keep moving over the stop and go an inch at a time.

I have been to the west coast/LA and the east coast/NY. LA was too long ago in the 70's and I don't remember much. I spent 2 weeks in NY at a business seminar and will never go back. I drove from LI to Manhattan every day with a rental car that was a lemon. I was continually getting lost, hated the layout of the cities and shopping. I could not get out of NY fast enough. 

Now in southeast Florida, I don't have to drive far for the things I want. Miami to the south and West Palm Beach to the north is as far as I usually go. I have driven up to Chicago, but I don't like to be away from home much anymore.

[Desertdi]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@Desertdi wrote:

@Kachina624 

I might drive to Taos to see Sam....

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@Desertdi.  That would be kind of extreme.  Are there no Marlboro men in Arizona?

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@Desertdi wrote:

@Kachina624 

I might drive to Taos to see Sam....

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@Desertdi.  That would be kind of extreme.  Are there no Marlboro men in Arizona?

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@Kachina624     Nope...no "cowpokes" around here.   But last year, we had 75,000 folks from California move over here.   Phoenix is turning into a "suburb" of L.A. (!!!)      

[ID2]

I live rural now. Love it. My grocery store is 45 mins away. Costco is 2 hours, Doctors are 2 hours, etc. We put a lot of miles on our truck.

[Witchy Woman]

@juanitalinda 

I'm in Maryland and when I worked, commuted to work in Washington, DC, which was closer to 50 miles each way.

The roads were packed by many others doing the same thing.

I retired after 38 years.  Yea, it was a lot of travel

[AuntG]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

This is the reason I live in NYC ... I can walkto almost anywhere I need to go. 

My doctor's office is around the corner, supermarket down the street, church 3 blocks away, hospital four blocks away.

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I enjoy reading your posts about NYC @ALRATIBA. In some ways it seems life in a really big city can be similar to a small town. In a town with 2500 people, the church, grocery store, hair salon, post office and library are in a six block area. Our closest town has a doctor's area office that is open Monday through Thursday, but a real hospital requires a fifteen minute drive. I think as long as I felt safe, it might be fun to live in a big city. What keeps me in my rural setting, is having a park nearby where I can wallk twice a day.

[CalminHeart]

I've always been glad I didn't have a 30-40-50 mile commute to work or shops or doctors. I've been to many large cities, including NYC, Chicago, and LA, and am happy to not have to deal with that traffic every day.  Around here, many people think driving 8-10 miles is a long drive.  

[Rockycoast]

Driving an hour or so to get where I want to go is not a big deal. Do it all the time living in Maine. Driving in bad weather is also not a problem. It is all what you are used to/grew up doing.

[Shanus]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

This is the reason I live in NYC ... I can walkto almost anywhere I need to go. 

My doctor's office is around the corner, supermarket down the street, church 3 blocks away, hospital four blocks away.

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@ALRATIBA   My DH grew up in NY and still laughs when I mention the nuisance of driving 40 minutes to a great restaurant in the next city. He always reminds me that he had to walk or take the subway for 40 minutes to go food shopping, get a haircut, etc. BTW, he lived in Brooklyn, not Manhattan.

[Shanus]

OK, laugh if you need to, but my issue is getting lost. I have a debilitating sense of direction. I used GPS on my phone to go anywhere new in my small town. My fear is getting lost. 

My new car has a GPS (yay!) and I learned how to program it before driving off the lot. 

I did drive as far as VA (almost 4 hrs.) years ago when my kids lived there, but DH was with me telling me where to turn. LOL