I live in a state that doesn’t have public transportation anywhere in the state; if you want to go anywhere, you have to go by car. I grew up in a city that relied on public transportation to move its millions of people from one place to another.
In other parts of the state, you drove your car but didn’t see bikes or motorcycles on the road. I’m sure they existed but they had no right of way and in those years there were no bike lanes in traffic.
When I listen to my clients talk about the traffic in their European or Asian cities, I can see a very different life than when I was a child. Of course, it may be that there are so many years separating my life then and my life now.
At that time, there were far fewer cars on the road and everyone was taking the subway to get where they were going. On weekends you could take your car into town and there was relatively little traffic and you could always find a parking space.
Nowadays, it is not only easier to take the subway to anywhere in the city, but it is also more profitable because parking is very limited and very expensive.
The one thing that hasn’t changed in all these years is that when you live in a metropolitan city, you’re surrounded by everything you need or could want.
If you want to go out to lunch in the city, when you leave your office you will be a few blocks from some of the best restaurants. Of course, you have to get there before the lunch crowd if you want to get a table because the restaurants fill up very quickly during peak hours.
For the most part, I remember that it wasn’t worth taking a bus into the business district because most things are within walking distance. And unless you had a business lunch at your office, it wasn’t worth it to order takeout because the restaurants were just a stone’s throw from your office.
I don’t think much has changed in that regard between metro cities and suburbs, but I’m so glad I grew up in a metro area when I was young enough to enjoy all it had to offer. Nowadays, I am very happy that I can get where I am going by car.
