This place has some of the most perfect weather I’ve ever experienced. Sunny, mildly warm, low humidity. Really. From what I can tell, in the Fall/Winter/Spring Austin is, with only temporary interruptions, like Portland is in the summer (and you know how I feel about Portland in the summer… it is WHY we live in Portland the rest of the year… it is p-a-r-a-d-i-s-e). Yet, look at this traffic:
In Portland, these streets would be notably populated by bikes and the sidewalks would have pedestrians and they wouldn’t just be lolly gagging about, they’d be going somewhere. As in: between two useful points, getting something done. Texans, however, don’t pay for sidewalks and bike lanes, just roads. Big, fat, fast roads that work really well at moving masses of cars around efficiently. But the bike and hike trails are all like hamster wheels, with nowhere to go but back again. I’m not sure they have the concept of pedestrian or bicycle highways around here, which is, a waste. Most of the trips I’ve made here in Austin in my car, I could have easily done on a bike if I’d felt my bike had a place. A right to be, a granting of safe passage. But here, bikes are in the way and pedestrians are mildly suspicious.
This is not a sustainable way of life and it seems such a shame. I wish the infrastructure for cheaper, heart-healthier, cleaner modes of transportation were in place in Austin. And, I wish Portlanders could have six months of easy biking weather, because they'd be really grateful!
Hmm, maybe that's why they have money left for the schools? I'm not saying it's the way to do it, but just wondering if it was one of the trade-offs?
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