About Me

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About Me

I am a newly passionate urbanist.

I spent the first 18 years of my life like many Americans: in the suburbs. The quaint, quiet roads of Northampton Township, a subdivision of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, is not the likely breeding ground for aspiring urbanists. Perhaps the quintessential example of an American suburb, car is king in Cuyahoga Falls, with countless sprawling strip malls with massive, mostly empty parking lots, dissociate land uses, and single-family tract houses that all look the same characterizing the built environment. I’ve enjoyed (and still do enjoy) my life in the suburbs. I enjoy being literal steps away from a national park, 15 minutes from downtown Akron and 35 minutes from downtown Cleveland. While I have always fancied the idea of becoming an urban dweller, it was probably more so because I would be close to the Cavs, Browns, and Guardians than any sort of desire for a potentially high quality of life.

Throughout high school, I had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe- I’ve spent time in some of the great cities of the world, including London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and Frankfurt. It is no secret that Europe is the poster child for urbanism and amazing public transportation, and I experienced firsthand what it is like to roam through a city with only your own two feet and a transit pass- what it’s like to be within a 10-minute walk of everything you could possibly need; restaurants, museums, groceries, and beautiful parks.

Throughout all of these experiences, the most eye-opening was staying with my friends in a small town outside of Frankfurt- a town not unlike Cuyahoga Falls in terms of population. The difference? They don’t own a car. They chose to not own a car. They did not need a car. But this town is not some massive metropolis- it is essentially a suburb. It is hard to imaging a similar scenario in America- being a suburban dweller without owning a car.

Having close friends who were able to live this lifestyle really got my brain churning. Why, in my American suburb, must I drive 10 minutes to the grocery store, 20 more to go to a park, 15 to meet a friend? Why are three-plus car families the norm? Why does nobody ride transit?

These experiences showed me that there is a better way to live.  It showed me what is possible outside of the sprawling nightmare that America has become. In my mind, there is little reason why things cannot be better here in the United States.

Fast forward to college, where I am finishing up at Ohio State, and I got my first experience of American urban life. Riding transit, walking everywhere, not having access to a car (as it is forbidden for underclassmen). I remember reading a tweet once that said “College is the best time of your life because it is the only time you get to live in a walkable community”. I began to study these issues through city planning classes, and I fell in love with transportation planning (non-auto) in particular, because I saw potential for it to greatly improve our lives.

Working with the local transit agency in Cleveland for the summer only strengthened these visions and values of mine. I fell in love with the idea of using public transportation due to its environmental, economic, safety, and health benefits. I fell in love with the idea of relatively stress-free transportation. I do not want to slow down.

Returning to Ohio State in the fall, I made a conscious effort to drive as little as possible- only when it is truly necessary. I began biking more, walking more, and taking transit more. As time went along, I noticed that I was almost never using my car- really only to get groceries and to come back home to Cuyahoga Falls. Many people realize that cars are terrible for the environment, but they seem to think there is no other way. In many cases, it is very possible to reduce your reliance on the automobile. All you have to do is try.

After graduating, I plan to move to downtown Cleveland to do just this. I plan to adopt a fully car-free lifestyle-relying on my bike, feet, and transit pass to get around. I am excited to share my thoughts with you along the way.  

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2022 at 7:32 AM

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  2. CherylJanuary 10, 2022 at 7:55 AM

    Maybe a little context about how we have come to be car-less...
    We were actually a bit of an oddity before we moved to Germany because we were a 1 vehicle family. One household, 2 licensed drivers, 1 Honda Odyssey. This just made sense for us. A commuter rail station was just a 4 minute walk from our house. Taking the train into Boston for work everyday (instead of dealing with horrendous traffic, weather, parking, etc) was not a hardship. In fact, Andrew's employer subsidized monthly train passes. Having only 1 vehicle instead of 2 saved us time, money and aggravation. It was not a difficult decision.

    When we moved to Germany in 2012 we did have a car. Still only 1 car (There was no way we were going to go from being a 1 car family in the US to being a 2 car family in Europe. That just wouldn't be right!). Here's why it was easy to have 1 car:
    -there are 2 train lines in our town (1 line has several stops for local transportation and 1 line is a commuter rail for quick and easy access to Frankfurt, other cities and the airport)
    -there are 7 bus lines in our town
    -Andrew's employer paid for our car AND for the gas

    All of these tidbits considered, it was an easy decision to have 1 car.

    Time went by...jobs changed. A 'free' car was not a perk of the new job. It was at this stage of the game, that we actually had a real discussion about whether or not we should get a car. Honestly, again it was an easy decision. Why go back to car payments, insurance payments and gas payments when trains/buses are just outside our door? (By the way, there are several car rental and car sharing places - within walking distance - for the very rare occasion when we might need a vehicle.)

    In my opinion, in order to minimize the American reliance on cars, there are two main issues to address:
    1) changing the mindset (ie Hey, let's take the train to the movies!)
    2) making the decision easy (ie well planned bus routes, high speed trains, inexpensive car sharing, etc)

    A few more things..
    Imagine if the first German employer had offered family train passes instead of a car?
    Yellow school buses are not a thing in Germany. Kids take the train, the public bus, ride their bikes or walk to school.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zane PattersonJanuary 13, 2022 at 9:40 PM

      Thanks for the reply Cheryl!

      I definitely agree that changing the mindset is crucial. I find that taking the bus or transit does not even cross the minds of many people, even when it may save them time and money (going to a Browns game, for example, many spend $50 to park and sit in traffic when they could park, pay $5 for the train, and be set). I think there is also this notion that "public transportation sucks". Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't. But why does it suck? Does it suck because it takes marginally longer than driving? In that case, you might be out of luck. Does it suck because that's what you hear? I think it is important to define "why". I find transit to be more convenient for many trips, even in Columbus.

      I also think it's important to make walking enjoyable. I find people to generally be unwilling to walk very far. If we walk for leisure for 20 minutes a day, why can't we walk 10 minutes to the bus stop?

      As I'll discuss later, there are potential social welfare implications of raising the cost of driving. Gas is likely too cheap for the damage driving does on society, so if drivers take on the full cost of driving (which they don't), that could encourage people to use transit more.

      Technology is key to improving transit performance as well. Fun fact- the best BRT line in the US is in Cleveland! If we have dedicated right of way (maybe even physically separated so busses can travel faster than the speed limit) as well as technology to give busses priority at all traffic lights. This substantially reduces delays. I tend to think that under certain circumstances (parking cost, traffic, etc), a 20 minute car ride may not be astronomically more desirable than a 30 minute bus ride. Maybe that's just how I feel.

      Finally, I think it is the responsibility of people who ride transit to invite others to ride with them. It is not intuitive for many suburbanites on how to ride transit, so overcoming some of those "costs" will encourage people to ride. You do things that your friends do!

      PS. Land use!!!!!!

      Delete

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