The biggest shock to my system upon returning to America has been the frustration of driving. I never especially enjoyed it, at least not in California, and now I find it really troubling. It could be that 23 years off the road have made me skittish, or that people really have gotten stupider and more reckless on the road. I suspect it is the latter because of higher levels of distraction due to all the little devices people can't seem to keep their hands off of like their cells phones, MP3 players, and GPS's. I know that I've seen quite a few people actually weaving around on crowded roads because they're too busy playing with their cell phones to watch where they are going. Frankly, I find it more than a little scary.
I've also found that, despite the fact that I hated hauling my shopping around in heavy backpacks, I miss walking to places most of the time. I have a sense that I'm somehow "failing" if I actually need to get in the car and go anywhere. I also find that things are far more boring in the suburbs in the U.S. because everything is massively spread out for car access. If you like to walk, and I really do, you're going to hard-pressed to do much more than walk over block after block of blandness.
The public transportation in Japan was not perfect, but it was very, very good. If I had to make a top 10 list of all of the things I miss about Japan, I'm pretty sure that it would be number one.
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If you really hate driving that much then why not move to a metropolitan city/state? As for Japan vs the U.S. on transportation services you have to think of it from a different viewpoint than the one your portraying. I've heard many a people complain why can't the U.S. get more trains like Japan? Simple it is an unnecessary expense. Unlike Japan we have ample space the build roads and highways so we have never really needed to rely on that system after the modern automobile was conceived. Cities like San Francisco (certain areas), Chicago, and New York do offer so of the best transportation alternatives especially the latter; so if driving is really that much of an issue why not move their?
ReplyDeleteMoving is not so simple as choosing one aspect and acting in accord with that. My husband is in grad. school. We can't simply decide to move to a metropolis based on my hatred of driving as there are ties that can't be simply severed (including family, which provides a minimal support network - but mainly the school situation).
DeleteI never asserted that the U.S. *should* adapt a system like that in Japan nor did I portray a viewpoint about what works in the U.S. You may want to read what I say about this blog presenting a highly subjective viewpoint in some of the sidebar posts. I am aware of how unprofitable and potentially unacceptable it would be culturally. I only said that I missed the system in Japan and how the situation in America makes me feel. That is obviously not the same as saying I think America should do what Japan does.
Where I live everything is too spread out. So walking for the sake of a nice walk is rather boring. And going the store is usually a car drive, unless I walk down to the 7-11 which is pretty much snacks and overly priced milk. The 7-11 at that is even a ways away. :( I have actually considered going the bike route because the cost of us owning 2 cars is stupid when we really only need 1.
ReplyDeleteI think you and I must be in very similar situations, though the walking here is, perhaps, somewhat better. The place where I'm currently living offers quite a lot of shopping if one is willing to walk for a fair amount of time (and I am). In various directions, I am a 20-minute walk away from two large markets and a 45-minute walk away from a big shopping center area. I'm also an hour walk away from my husband's grad. school. With only one car, that puts a lot of things in reach of someone who is willing and able to wear out some shoe leather. The main problem, of course, is time for the round trip. Two hours of walking to go back and forth to my husbands school, or 90 minutes to go to that shopping area, is no small commitment. However, it does help us get by with only one car.
DeleteI've also considered the bike route, but I'm wary of having to ride in some streets that don't have bike lanes. The sense of vulnerability is pretty high when cars are so aggressive and people so distracted. I think I'm being overly paranoid about that, and that one can get by with a combination of a bike and public transport, but, I still miss the ease of public transportation in Japan!
Thanks for your comment!
You hit the nail on the head--the thing I miss most about Japan (from a US perspective) is being able to walk almost everywhere. The public transport in my town in Japan's manufacturing heartland wasn't as convenient in other areas; whether this was related to the car companies's hold, as people surmised, I don't know. It didn't matter, though, as within a stone's throw of my suburban apartment were a few grocery stores, a handful of convenience stores, a few banks, a post office, a few pubs, a surprising number of restaurants and more little stores selling whatnot than you could count.
ReplyDeleteMy neighborhood in NorCal is similarly suburban but within 25 minutes of my house is one grocery store, a Starbucks and a pretty park. That's it! And I don't think it's so unusual a situation.
I would imagine this would contribute to the fact that, despite eating better here than in I did in Japan (veggies and fruits are cheaper where I am now), I feel less healthy. I miss getting out in the fresh air to run errands (I miss it less on rainy days, admittedly). I've heard that "mini downtowns" are the new rage in US cities (pedestrian thoroughfares in the suburbs); that might be an interesting solution.
The way in which stations functioned as hubs of activity was one of my greatest joys in Tokyo. My husband and I would pick random stations and just go to those areas to explore around them as well as go up and down their shotengai (shopping streets/arcades). This centralized nature really did make public transport easy. I've noticed here that, around most Caltrain stations, things are really dead. Some are not too bad, but, for the most part, they're not the kind of places you'd want to explore.
DeleteI do realize that car culture suits the large size of the U.S. and the outsize lifestyles, but there was a lot to be said for how compact things were in Tokyo. It was crowded and cramped, to be sure, but that had the flip-side of everything being, as you mentioned, within walking distance.
I still walk a lot, in fact, often more than I did back in Tokyo, because I have little choice unless we want to buy a second car (and we don't).
Thanks for your comment!
My wife has found this to be a similar frustration. She's Japanese, and she absolutely loved living one place where we rented which was central to most things and didn't need to own a car. I owned one to commute to the burbs, but she worked downtown and it was a 5 minute bus ride. Then we moved closer to my work after she quit as I didn't feel like wasting 2 hr of my life a day commuting. She was shocked that there's 1 bus line near us and while she can transfer to most places she wants to go to, it is really inconvenient and many bus stops are exposed to the elements, which here in the rainy PNW, is not cool. I thought about trying to take the bus to work from where we live now, but no way, I'd have to go the opposite direction 10 miles to transfer to a bus that would take me there. And I live 5 mi away from work! It's ridiculous. I don't want ot ride my bike into work for obvious reasons (bad drivers, too much stress, rainy = pneumonia, etc).
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, we're a 15 minute walk from grocery store, restaurants (proper ones), a park, and other convenient things. Folks around here walk a lot, even though there are hills everywhere.
I think the "failing" you're feeling is the gradual transition from a pedestrian mentality to a car mentality, out of necessity. That change can be very difficult, as you are used to the convenience that not having a car entails, and you are instantly conscious of the costs involved in going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the transition, and remember it's easier to go back to being pedestrian than it is to becoming a commuter.