At 79, I feel this could have been written for me. I'm UK, in a small country town, still fit, still enjoy driving, including at night, and my range of interests is drawing me further and further into parts of the county which have probably never seen a bus. I reckon I have at most 5 years before I have to change.
First, I still have hope for autonomous cars. So long the US government allows the UK government to allow its citizens to buy Chinese cars, this may become possible. Then, my ebike gives me 50m range, three times that if I bought a new one. That's maybe a couple more years, but eventually I'll be trapped in a small town, and that's not yet grounds for legally assisted dying.
The obvious solution is to shift to the city. I need to throw off a generation of brain-washing about the evils of city life and move to where the people, the cafes, the restaurants and the musicians are. If I can't make that jump then what is the point of being here at all.
I confess I'm a little bemused by the comments you're receiving.
No one is talking about forcing anyone anywhere, what is being talked about is the undeniable fact that as we age our driving ability deteriorates. Vision, reaction times and situational awareness all become less effective. From a safety perspective we should all be cognisant of the probable necessity to stop driving in the future. Nobody is suggesting any kind of compulsion against any way of life you choose and can reasonably sustain.
Not one of the things I desire is necessarily the same as anything anyone else will desire, but it does seem sensible to me that we work to allow as much latitude as we all wish to have, while still maintaining safety.
I'm lucky enough to live in a moderately rural area, 10km into town and no transit of any kind. We have a good sized property and we can grow a good deal of our own food. Heading into my seventies though I find myself considering just how long we'll be able and/or willing to take care of the house and property.
When that time comes, I'll want to move to a fifteen minute city!
Let's be clear for anyone that may be confused, that means I want to be able to walk or ride my bike (if I still can, I put about 5000km a year on it still so I hope I can for some while yet) to pick up daily needs and for social engagement (coffee shop, restaurant, groceries etc). It does not mean that I'll be restricted from travelling anywhere I please, just that I will not need a car for day to day life.
If I still live where I am when I hang up the keys, but can still manage a bicycle, then an electric bike might be the answer for the 10km ride to town for shopping. I'm fine with that. I'll not be travelling in snowstorms or hurricanes under those circumstances, the money I save on a vehicle will allow a taxi ride on occasions.
Under either of those scenarios, I will still have my personal mobility, that doesn't relate in any way to my ownership of a car.
My Dad (75 years old) came over to visit me in Belgium a couple of years ago and borrowed an e-bike to get around our town on the outskirts of Brussels. He loved it. When I suggested he look into getting an e-bike to get around his hometown of Mississauga it was a flat no. Too dangerous. I think he's right but those streets are so wide it would be really easy to build protected bike lanes. It seems like such low-hanging fruit.
There was an English study that showed how the suburbs and cities like Mississauga could be saved by e-bikes; there is room for infrastructure and they eat up the miles. But it is scary on the roads!
It's terrifying on those roads. They look like runways - wide, flat and straight. But my goodness, I just can't help but see the potential staring me in the face if there were just a modicum of ambition or vision at municipal level.
Fortunately we were able to get an apartment for my mom, who can no longer drive where she can walk to the grocery store, to get her haircut, to a restaurant she likes and to a nice trail. She also has neighbors who can drive her to urgent care/her doctors 2 miles away if we are not there. She loves not being dependent on us for everything.
The first, is it smacks of forced urbanization. As I have stated before there are those of us who do not do well among people, who would rather spend time in a garden and growing our own food, walking among trees, and peeing off the front porch. You cannot do that in an urban environment. Well you could in the last instance but, let's be civilized. The point is we like our privacy and would rather be in a small community than a large one where (according to the news), crime is running rampid.
And while people live in rural areas for whatever reason there's likely never going to be a reliable transit system, because the govt. and other entities who run them will never, ever see a profit of sending buses hourly on an extra 20 mile loop that would be mostly if not all the way empty. But say that happens, what about their shopping? Many transit buses do not have a a trunkload of space for groceries or other supplies a homeowner might need. And I know there must be a regulation against carrying flammable liquids on their busses.
Then we have our houses. And here you might have a point. A lot of us are getting too old to keep up our houses, most of us do not live in generational houses, but here we are. We have houses full of memories, and it's hard to put a price on memories. I know the same can be said for apartment dwellers (who can afford those condos with their HOAs) that feel t he same way. But out here in rural country, we look out our kitchen windows and can remember our children playing, we can marvel at the shade tree we planted in the backyard, or even pick a piece of fruit off our own fruit tree. Can you do that in an urban area? As for me personally, I look out and I see acres of trees, my trees, the ones that clean the air we breathe, the same ones that will be cut in a couple of decades to help build houses or maybe even a tree house. The exact same trees that were planted when they were last cut. And while I'm out surveying the land, I have a year round creek which needs investigating (just ask my great grandson). And it also provides water for the wildlife and near-tamed deer which mysteriously disappear during hunting season and return when the season is over...
Then there is the air quality, sure we have to put up with pollen, but, most urban dwellers have not experienced the after rain smell of a forest. Which brings us to the urban areas are noisy and they stink. Stink worse than the skunks I have wondering the property. The urban areas have large rats, larger than the opossums that visit me.
Aside from the Rodentia, there is another kind of rat, the two-legged kind. The ones that escape from the city, comes to the rural areas for a vacation, and not only complains that we're not like the urban area with their amenities but (and this is worse) have no respect for their surroundings as they leave traces (trash) laying where they have been. Sure country folk can and do the same, but, there are more visitors than residents, and after every summer weekend there needs to be a push to clean the areas that the urbanites visit. I guess you can call that job security. The good news about the urbanites is they do stupid things like want to pet the wildlife (and complain when skunks spray them) take a hike in nothing but tennis shoes, a t-shirt and shorts, and get lost because they do not know the area. I call it Darwinism at work, the official wording is search and rescue, the R&S costs the county money, yet, does the rescued urbanite pay, nope it is their right to be rescued and will possibly scream at their rescuers about not getting their sooner...
Well you get the picture.
The second thing that I find wrong, is you say the Saturn is rusting in the driveway. Saturn's do not rust, Their bodies are a form of plastic. And when driven on a regular basis (any car will suffer in parked in the field for years) is as reliable (maybe even moreso with all the recalls I see) than many newer vehicles. I know I have a 1990 Saturn that I drive on a regular basis, and it still gets 35+mpg on road trips (not so big in today's terms but practically unhear of in those days). And I find whatever repairs I need to make on the Saturn is cheaper than many newer used cars. So bad example. But in case you're worrying about the Saturn, I know people who live rurally that would be glad to get it out of your sight when the time comes.
Guys, 75% of North Americans live in the suburbs. If people want to live in the country or the forest, it is a choice. I am talking about a different lifestyle choice, one that tries to deal with the 7 to 10 years when people live after they have lost their drivers licences.
"...rather than planning for alternatives which work for everyone."
THIS I want to hear - alternatives that work for EVERYONE ALL THE TIME ANYWHERE. However, in reading your post, Lloyd, the only takeaway was "throw away your keys" without supplying alternatives for EVERYONE.
"Instead, we should be targeting neighbourhood accessibility and reducing auto dependence for all. “Enacting such policies also shifts the conversation from one of reducing possibilities (i.e., giving up onés independence) to expanding community amenities and opportunities with increasingly age-friendly community design.”"
I'll ask you like I did a commenter in another post (but differently) - how would YOU expand community amenities for rural area and make them work, as your subtitle boasted?
I live in a rural area (small town), and sit on our local council. There is nothing at all that can substitute for a personal car. I am here to get away from community transport, from charities transporting OPs to the doctor. If you cannot be independent then be honest with yourself and move to the city.
You are correct. I live in a similar area and while there are "public buses", they are mostly from one town to another rather than circling around locally. There just isn't the population density to make them viable.
And for those that complain about "public facilities aren't supposed to make a profit", they shouldn't be a never ending sinkhole, either.
Too many keep demanding buses when hiring a "one shot" taxi / Uber / Lyft / et al would be FAR more economical for a level of govt to pay for. The problem usually that is brought up is one of "Well! We've never done it that way before!".
A total denial that they have horse blinkers one that hid other solutions from them.
I NEVER use my phone when I am behind the wheel, but I think we olds are generally just as wired to our (not-so) smart phones, so attention and judgement are also issues. We olds also grew up enculturated to minimize the hazards of driving.
"And for more than 100 years now our cities have spread outwards into vast suburbs with low population density relative to urban centers." I have quoted studies about how e-bikes will save the suburbs. there is room for protected bike lanes, and you can do it long after you had to give up the keys. The world was designed for old people; they thrive in small towns, cities and even Italian hill towns. it is only the last 75 years where the cities were designed for cars. I believe we can fix that.
E-Bikes - c'mon, man (to quote a famous person who can't seem to ride a regular bike for long fore tippling over). You live in Toronto so you have the same cold weather I do. You really expect senior citizens, of the type you write about that also have mobility and coordination issues (like that famous person), to ride an e-bike in winter weather of cold rain, ice storms, or snow storms? At -10 degrees F (or C, take your pick).
You really think that eBikes are the answer? Let me ask this - how long before NYC no longer has the loss of life and property due to eBikes blowing up and causing major fires (for just one more issue)? You don't think that is a possible harm to older people trying to get out of a smoke filled home?
At 79, I feel this could have been written for me. I'm UK, in a small country town, still fit, still enjoy driving, including at night, and my range of interests is drawing me further and further into parts of the county which have probably never seen a bus. I reckon I have at most 5 years before I have to change.
First, I still have hope for autonomous cars. So long the US government allows the UK government to allow its citizens to buy Chinese cars, this may become possible. Then, my ebike gives me 50m range, three times that if I bought a new one. That's maybe a couple more years, but eventually I'll be trapped in a small town, and that's not yet grounds for legally assisted dying.
The obvious solution is to shift to the city. I need to throw off a generation of brain-washing about the evils of city life and move to where the people, the cafes, the restaurants and the musicians are. If I can't make that jump then what is the point of being here at all.
I confess I'm a little bemused by the comments you're receiving.
No one is talking about forcing anyone anywhere, what is being talked about is the undeniable fact that as we age our driving ability deteriorates. Vision, reaction times and situational awareness all become less effective. From a safety perspective we should all be cognisant of the probable necessity to stop driving in the future. Nobody is suggesting any kind of compulsion against any way of life you choose and can reasonably sustain.
Not one of the things I desire is necessarily the same as anything anyone else will desire, but it does seem sensible to me that we work to allow as much latitude as we all wish to have, while still maintaining safety.
I'm lucky enough to live in a moderately rural area, 10km into town and no transit of any kind. We have a good sized property and we can grow a good deal of our own food. Heading into my seventies though I find myself considering just how long we'll be able and/or willing to take care of the house and property.
When that time comes, I'll want to move to a fifteen minute city!
Let's be clear for anyone that may be confused, that means I want to be able to walk or ride my bike (if I still can, I put about 5000km a year on it still so I hope I can for some while yet) to pick up daily needs and for social engagement (coffee shop, restaurant, groceries etc). It does not mean that I'll be restricted from travelling anywhere I please, just that I will not need a car for day to day life.
If I still live where I am when I hang up the keys, but can still manage a bicycle, then an electric bike might be the answer for the 10km ride to town for shopping. I'm fine with that. I'll not be travelling in snowstorms or hurricanes under those circumstances, the money I save on a vehicle will allow a taxi ride on occasions.
Under either of those scenarios, I will still have my personal mobility, that doesn't relate in any way to my ownership of a car.
Everyone wants personal mobility. It started with the horse. Individual motorized vehicles are going nowhere.
My Dad (75 years old) came over to visit me in Belgium a couple of years ago and borrowed an e-bike to get around our town on the outskirts of Brussels. He loved it. When I suggested he look into getting an e-bike to get around his hometown of Mississauga it was a flat no. Too dangerous. I think he's right but those streets are so wide it would be really easy to build protected bike lanes. It seems like such low-hanging fruit.
There was an English study that showed how the suburbs and cities like Mississauga could be saved by e-bikes; there is room for infrastructure and they eat up the miles. But it is scary on the roads!
It's terrifying on those roads. They look like runways - wide, flat and straight. But my goodness, I just can't help but see the potential staring me in the face if there were just a modicum of ambition or vision at municipal level.
The better solution is to just rezone these areas so that the things they need are within walking distance.
Make sidewalks wider, and more well lit for the evening. (Use motion detecting lights to conserve energy).
And for those incapable of walking, then the younger generations should bring the stuff to them.
Isn't that we're supposed to do anyway?
Fortunately we were able to get an apartment for my mom, who can no longer drive where she can walk to the grocery store, to get her haircut, to a restaurant she likes and to a nice trail. She also has neighbors who can drive her to urgent care/her doctors 2 miles away if we are not there. She loves not being dependent on us for everything.
Two things wrong with this article.
The first, is it smacks of forced urbanization. As I have stated before there are those of us who do not do well among people, who would rather spend time in a garden and growing our own food, walking among trees, and peeing off the front porch. You cannot do that in an urban environment. Well you could in the last instance but, let's be civilized. The point is we like our privacy and would rather be in a small community than a large one where (according to the news), crime is running rampid.
And while people live in rural areas for whatever reason there's likely never going to be a reliable transit system, because the govt. and other entities who run them will never, ever see a profit of sending buses hourly on an extra 20 mile loop that would be mostly if not all the way empty. But say that happens, what about their shopping? Many transit buses do not have a a trunkload of space for groceries or other supplies a homeowner might need. And I know there must be a regulation against carrying flammable liquids on their busses.
Then we have our houses. And here you might have a point. A lot of us are getting too old to keep up our houses, most of us do not live in generational houses, but here we are. We have houses full of memories, and it's hard to put a price on memories. I know the same can be said for apartment dwellers (who can afford those condos with their HOAs) that feel t he same way. But out here in rural country, we look out our kitchen windows and can remember our children playing, we can marvel at the shade tree we planted in the backyard, or even pick a piece of fruit off our own fruit tree. Can you do that in an urban area? As for me personally, I look out and I see acres of trees, my trees, the ones that clean the air we breathe, the same ones that will be cut in a couple of decades to help build houses or maybe even a tree house. The exact same trees that were planted when they were last cut. And while I'm out surveying the land, I have a year round creek which needs investigating (just ask my great grandson). And it also provides water for the wildlife and near-tamed deer which mysteriously disappear during hunting season and return when the season is over...
Then there is the air quality, sure we have to put up with pollen, but, most urban dwellers have not experienced the after rain smell of a forest. Which brings us to the urban areas are noisy and they stink. Stink worse than the skunks I have wondering the property. The urban areas have large rats, larger than the opossums that visit me.
Aside from the Rodentia, there is another kind of rat, the two-legged kind. The ones that escape from the city, comes to the rural areas for a vacation, and not only complains that we're not like the urban area with their amenities but (and this is worse) have no respect for their surroundings as they leave traces (trash) laying where they have been. Sure country folk can and do the same, but, there are more visitors than residents, and after every summer weekend there needs to be a push to clean the areas that the urbanites visit. I guess you can call that job security. The good news about the urbanites is they do stupid things like want to pet the wildlife (and complain when skunks spray them) take a hike in nothing but tennis shoes, a t-shirt and shorts, and get lost because they do not know the area. I call it Darwinism at work, the official wording is search and rescue, the R&S costs the county money, yet, does the rescued urbanite pay, nope it is their right to be rescued and will possibly scream at their rescuers about not getting their sooner...
Well you get the picture.
The second thing that I find wrong, is you say the Saturn is rusting in the driveway. Saturn's do not rust, Their bodies are a form of plastic. And when driven on a regular basis (any car will suffer in parked in the field for years) is as reliable (maybe even moreso with all the recalls I see) than many newer vehicles. I know I have a 1990 Saturn that I drive on a regular basis, and it still gets 35+mpg on road trips (not so big in today's terms but practically unhear of in those days). And I find whatever repairs I need to make on the Saturn is cheaper than many newer used cars. So bad example. But in case you're worrying about the Saturn, I know people who live rurally that would be glad to get it out of your sight when the time comes.
Guys, 75% of North Americans live in the suburbs. If people want to live in the country or the forest, it is a choice. I am talking about a different lifestyle choice, one that tries to deal with the 7 to 10 years when people live after they have lost their drivers licences.
"...rather than planning for alternatives which work for everyone."
THIS I want to hear - alternatives that work for EVERYONE ALL THE TIME ANYWHERE. However, in reading your post, Lloyd, the only takeaway was "throw away your keys" without supplying alternatives for EVERYONE.
"Instead, we should be targeting neighbourhood accessibility and reducing auto dependence for all. “Enacting such policies also shifts the conversation from one of reducing possibilities (i.e., giving up onés independence) to expanding community amenities and opportunities with increasingly age-friendly community design.”"
I'll ask you like I did a commenter in another post (but differently) - how would YOU expand community amenities for rural area and make them work, as your subtitle boasted?
I live in a rural area (small town), and sit on our local council. There is nothing at all that can substitute for a personal car. I am here to get away from community transport, from charities transporting OPs to the doctor. If you cannot be independent then be honest with yourself and move to the city.
You are correct. I live in a similar area and while there are "public buses", they are mostly from one town to another rather than circling around locally. There just isn't the population density to make them viable.
And for those that complain about "public facilities aren't supposed to make a profit", they shouldn't be a never ending sinkhole, either.
Too many keep demanding buses when hiring a "one shot" taxi / Uber / Lyft / et al would be FAR more economical for a level of govt to pay for. The problem usually that is brought up is one of "Well! We've never done it that way before!".
A total denial that they have horse blinkers one that hid other solutions from them.
And I'll add - buses ARE a more economical alternative to very expensive light rail.
I NEVER use my phone when I am behind the wheel, but I think we olds are generally just as wired to our (not-so) smart phones, so attention and judgement are also issues. We olds also grew up enculturated to minimize the hazards of driving.
"And for more than 100 years now our cities have spread outwards into vast suburbs with low population density relative to urban centers." I have quoted studies about how e-bikes will save the suburbs. there is room for protected bike lanes, and you can do it long after you had to give up the keys. The world was designed for old people; they thrive in small towns, cities and even Italian hill towns. it is only the last 75 years where the cities were designed for cars. I believe we can fix that.
E-Bikes - c'mon, man (to quote a famous person who can't seem to ride a regular bike for long fore tippling over). You live in Toronto so you have the same cold weather I do. You really expect senior citizens, of the type you write about that also have mobility and coordination issues (like that famous person), to ride an e-bike in winter weather of cold rain, ice storms, or snow storms? At -10 degrees F (or C, take your pick).
You really think that eBikes are the answer? Let me ask this - how long before NYC no longer has the loss of life and property due to eBikes blowing up and causing major fires (for just one more issue)? You don't think that is a possible harm to older people trying to get out of a smoke filled home?