VTKilarney
Well-known member
But you would pay to park one way or the other.
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Skier speed trap hell
- Thread starter VTKilarney
- Start date
But you would pay to park one way or the other.
SkiFanE
New member
Have only read last few pages. Thoughts:
i recommend parkwhiz app. I am not an app person at all, but my college kid turned me on to this. Great deals in big cities.
My college kid already has first job and her first place has to be near the T. Her and her BF hope to have only one car. She wants nothing to do with the burbs and wants to buy her own place as soon as she can - but says she never wants a yard or anything to do with home maintenance. She thinks I'm crazy to like having a yard. Giving up privacy is no big deal. Too much work.
Suburbainites are living in the result of sprawl. Bad where I am now. I hate it. I never thought about it when we moved here 20ish years ago. When kids are out of the great public schools - we plan to move close to the T, a nelghborhood, etc. Hate hopping in the car for everything. I have wracked my brain on a solution - but feel it's almost like the horse is out of the barn (no public transportation before building out). Some type of implosion or self combustion or something is inevitable lol.
i recommend parkwhiz app. I am not an app person at all, but my college kid turned me on to this. Great deals in big cities.
My college kid already has first job and her first place has to be near the T. Her and her BF hope to have only one car. She wants nothing to do with the burbs and wants to buy her own place as soon as she can - but says she never wants a yard or anything to do with home maintenance. She thinks I'm crazy to like having a yard. Giving up privacy is no big deal. Too much work.
Suburbainites are living in the result of sprawl. Bad where I am now. I hate it. I never thought about it when we moved here 20ish years ago. When kids are out of the great public schools - we plan to move close to the T, a nelghborhood, etc. Hate hopping in the car for everything. I have wracked my brain on a solution - but feel it's almost like the horse is out of the barn (no public transportation before building out). Some type of implosion or self combustion or something is inevitable lol.
Smellytele
Well-known member
My college age son wants nothing to do with a city or the burbs (thinks Southern NH is too densely packed let alone anything near Boston). I also want nothing to do with them either. i keep moving further away.
As far as trains (subways are fine for getting around in cities) I like to be able to go when i want to go. Even in Boston where the subway stops running before the bars close they are not practical and uber/lyft or a taxi are my choices for transportation.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Really? Then why don't they already make their fortune on these "land cruises"
hahaha. They sure must have an aversion to making money.
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SkiFanE
New member
I want to be near a T stop not a train. I have a ski place in the boonies of Bethel Maine. From there I can walk to a few pubs, restaurants, grocery store, coffee shop, movies, h/w store and soon to be brewery (there's a ski shuttle in winter). I realized how much I love to do things without a car. Everyone is different. I grew up with two acres, have an acre now...never experienced that kind of walkable living before. And I love it. So I hope to be able to live that way in Boston area. Ditch a car. I'm not at last call at bars lol, but if I have to Uber/lyft on occasion - still beats owning a car.
Jully
Active member
I'm not so convinced it would lose money. If the Downeaster is posting a 50% loss (which is HUGE, but actually much less massive than I thought it was), I would think there is WAY more demand to go to Lincoln, Waterville, Plymouth (college kids), and Winnipesaukee than Durham, Portland, Brunswick, and Freeport on the Downeaster.
It would be an interesting venture, but one that will almost certainly never take place.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
It would definitely lose money; lots of money. You're not going to get enough people to pay enough money to go to Loon via train to justify the expense of a track build-out (+ interest). Not to mention the labor & benefits, etc.
Jully
Active member
While the US will never see the ratio of car-less folks to car owners that say, the Netherlands sees, what I take people like Gregnye to mean when they say "the US is losing its dependency on cars" is that in other areas beyond just inner, large cities, cars are no longer a necessity. This just wasn't the case not that long ago. In 1990, if you didn't want to own a car (not that many people living in 1990 didn't want to), you HAD to live in a large city (and mostly on the east coast).
The innovation that ride shares + expanded bike lanes + expanded and better bus service in smaller cities, like Portland ME, has drastically decreased the proliferation of new car registrations in the city over the last few years. That is a new phenomenon.
Additionally in the Boston metro area it is now POSSIBLE (though I am not sure I would choose this lifestyle myself, IMO) to live without a car if you're near commuter rail. Sull1102's point about transit oriented development is truly happening even in some suburbs (many think this is incredibly foolhardy... but it is still happening). In West Concord, MA a large luxury condo/apartment complex went in 200m from the commuter rail station a few years ago and is sold out ($2500 for a one bedroom I think I saw). While many people in those apartments have cars, it is far from all of them.
Just because you own a car does not mean you are dependent on it too. I live in Boston and use my car to ski and drive to visit family outside the city. I commute on mass transit, visit friends on mass transit, and do errands using mass transit.
Basically, in many areas of the US (including many new types of areas), it is possible to live a carless life more than ever now.
Many (including a lot on this board) think that doing that is a lot more trouble than it is worth, and they have a point. However people are still doing it and are very glad they've done so.
Smellytele
Well-known member
I agree. There would never be enough weekday passengers. With one train running Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday AM and PM no way can they afford building the track.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
The Canadian and US governments are getting close to establishing pre-clearance at the train station in Montreal. If that happens, I could see a ski train from Montreal to Waterbury on the weekend. Stowe and Sugarbush could run shuttles from the Waterbury train station.
The one thing going against this is that it would be a lot easier to have a suburban location to pick up the ski train. Parking in downtown Montreal and lugging ski gear is not that appealing. But if there is pre-clearance, there won't be any stops between Montreal and the US border.
The one thing going against this is that it would be a lot easier to have a suburban location to pick up the ski train. Parking in downtown Montreal and lugging ski gear is not that appealing. But if there is pre-clearance, there won't be any stops between Montreal and the US border.
Hawk
Well-known member
I think that if you are someone that loves city life and spends most of your time there it can happen. I can see a developer type that is non athletic might like this lifestyle. But Anybody that I hang with or and most people I know need to drive to do the things we love. How do you mountain bike in most areas without driving to locations? I drive all over new England to do this. Same with hiking, kayaking, skiing, any outdoor activity. How about going to concert venues in the suburbs or outlying areas? How about if your job requires you to go on site? To me anybody that does not drive or own a car is missing out on so much and is limiting their life. There is no way I would ever consider this.
Jcb890
Active member
Exactly, which is to my point why I don't want to drive to somewhere to pay to park and then pay to take the T. I'd rather take my car in and be in control of my own timing and destination(s) since no matter what I am paying for parking. There's plenty of places to park in Boston for ~$20 that are convenient.
On the front page of the local newspaper today there was article about self-driving cars and how a lot of people simply aren't interested in them and even don't want them. In some recent poll, 75% of people said they would still rather keep driving themselves even if automated driving was available to them. Over 70% said they would "miss" driving if we moved towards self-driving cars.
I also agree with much of what you're saying Hawk. I could never imagine not having a car. It absolutely is essential for the things I enjoy. For people that love city life but also enjoy an active lifestyle, one thing I've heard some people in this situation mention would be solutions like zipcar where you basically rent a car when you need to. While that gets around having to actually "own" a car, it still shows that you do have a dependence on cars.
Jully
Active member
Exactly my point. There are certain lifestyles in the US that cars are pretty essential and that will always be the case.
But a whole host of people feel that they are not missing anything. Many concert venues have buses and shuttles running from the city (Gillette and the huge place in Mansfield both do). Zipcar or Uber or the occasional rental car handles whatever these people need outside of the city that they can't get to on the commuter rail.
Its now a little more than just developer types in big cities that can and do live this way too.
benski
Active member
Screw boarders, the EU has the rite idea. Is the boarder crossing why the train takes 7 hours to get from Albany to Montreal.
Hawk
Well-known member
I do understand what you are saying. I have a Nephew that is a huge advocate of selling his car. And then he realized that he would miss out on all kinds of things. Life is quick and fast paced for me. Plans change, things are uncertain. Most people do not have time to be working around train schedules or standing around waiting for trains or buses to show up. No thanks.
Hawk
Well-known member
I am sure all those people that lost or knew people in the twin towers do not feel the same way. I am not a supporter of the current administration's policies they are pushing but boarder security is certainly very important in this day and age. Anyone that thinks otherwise is not up to speed on the real issues this country is faced with. We are most certainly a target.
Last time I was in NYC I missed the bus back home by literally about 60 seconds (saw it pulling away just as I got to the gate). So annoying having to stand around and wait another 30 minutes for the next bus. I don't like having to plan around set schedules because there's just no flexibility.
People always argue that the car represents freedom in the U.S. and that not having a car prevents freedom.
I disagree. While getting a car might make you feel free when you're back in High School, commuting everyday by car is the least-free thing you can imagine. Traffic everywhere. At least in the Boston Metro area where I live.
And people always argue against trains because "with cars I can leave when I want". But what they don't realize is that they are not really leaving when they want in a car. Say you have to be at work by 9 in Boston and you live in southern NH, that 5 minutes that you have of flexibility in leaving could severely increase your commute time. Leaving 5-10 mins later than "usual" makes all the difference when its rush-hour traffic. I know people who wake up at 4:45 just to beat the morning commute (and still run into traffic)--thats also not leaving "when you want".
Rather than pushing the idea of a car as "freedom" we as a country should make our train systems more robust and push the idea of a trains as "reliability". Yes, a train has a fixed schedule, but good train service surpasses anything cars can offer (see Europe). And you can sleep/text during the commute!!
After a long day of skiing the last thing I want to do is drive the 3 hours home. If there was a train that took me home in 3 hours or less I would take it.
I disagree. While getting a car might make you feel free when you're back in High School, commuting everyday by car is the least-free thing you can imagine. Traffic everywhere. At least in the Boston Metro area where I live.
And people always argue against trains because "with cars I can leave when I want". But what they don't realize is that they are not really leaving when they want in a car. Say you have to be at work by 9 in Boston and you live in southern NH, that 5 minutes that you have of flexibility in leaving could severely increase your commute time. Leaving 5-10 mins later than "usual" makes all the difference when its rush-hour traffic. I know people who wake up at 4:45 just to beat the morning commute (and still run into traffic)--thats also not leaving "when you want".
Rather than pushing the idea of a car as "freedom" we as a country should make our train systems more robust and push the idea of a trains as "reliability". Yes, a train has a fixed schedule, but good train service surpasses anything cars can offer (see Europe). And you can sleep/text during the commute!!
After a long day of skiing the last thing I want to do is drive the 3 hours home. If there was a train that took me home in 3 hours or less I would take it.
Hawk
Well-known member
Jully, just so you know if I was to think about taking public transportation to Foxboro from my house it would be Commute rail from Beverly to Boston, orange line to Red line to South Station and then commuter rail from South station to Foxboro. Round trip cost would be $37. That pays for gas and parking if I take my car.
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