8 Reasons Ending Car Dependency Would Benefit Families

While popular culture may tell us that families need large lawns, houses, and SUVs, urbanism has a lot of benefits for children and families. In this video, I share 8 reasons why ending car dependency would benefit families. As a dad of two small kids, many of these points are personal for me. Let me know what you think in the comments!

[MBT]

Ive been talking to a lot of people (genZ) and they mostly feel the same way. Hope they will bring change a little faster.

[selflesssamaritan]

Ending motor vehicle dependency will also have better impact for society, small businesses, the environment and mental health in general. Spot on. Down with the big petro and big auto!

[officialgreendalehumanbeing]

this is why the few family friendly walkable, transit oriented neighborhoods like Park Slope or Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn or Noe Valley in SF are so absurdly expensive.

[matthewwelsh]

Columbus needs light rail with different lines. For example, one from the airport to downtown to Ohio State

[een_schildpad]

These are 8 great points, thanks for the awesome video!!! It's remarkable how isolating driving is compared to other methods of getting around. I'd say that was the biggest surprise to me when I started walking/biking/using transit more. I love it! It's great to see someone you know and be able to give them a wave or stop for a quick chat; something that never happened using the car.

[gamble]

In the UK we have OK transit- even though it can be slow, irregular and expensive with poor connections if you aren't going to or from an urban centre- many use it: Old people, disabled people and poor people, like me, rely on those buses to have freedom. I do use a bike a lot as it is the quickest and most convenient option for most journeys.

[pamelawmakowski]

Great video. The points may seem obvious, but putting them all together like this is really eye opening. Not only is drive time more time consuming, but there is circling the block to find parking and/or the expense of parking. Transit gets you to your destination and you can go right into your destination. We need to work on improving the reliability of buses and the predictability of their schedules. Great discussion starter.

[Mathius]

Great video.
I would love to see a video about each point separately using Midwestern cities to give specific examples.

Also, please cover:
How do i shop for groceries?

[torquetrain]

Instantly subscribed. I live in the most anti public transportation after 8years I have had enough. This is a non partisan issue. Even the very best "conservative" choice. Tired of being enslaved to personal auto ownerrship and the isolation and cost burden forced on us to participate in society.

[davidperry]

I wish I had the option to take mass transit to work but the public transportation to my work place would take me 2 hours a day because of the walking distance from the train station that is closest to the office building and there is no city bus that will take me to within 5 minutes of a bus stop. I had to sit in stop and go traffic for up to an hour a day and my commute time is 70 minutes a day a day. My workplace is 9.1 miles away from work and it could’ve easily taken me 45 minutes a day had they implemented a bus stop at the skyscraper that my office is inside of within a 5 minute walk. I could’ve spent those 25 minutes making gourmet meals, be less stressed and more focused.

[cottagest]

This is great, thanks. I’ve really enjoyed getting around Cbus with our family cargo e-bike (2 kids along for the ride), sooo much better than driving and parking!

[mizoboe]

i agree a ton with lowering hoods of trucks and suvs (those things have huge blindspots) but I unfortunately dont see it as too plausible

mainly because of the economic drive/force behind it, ppl want to buy to show off, and a lot of the crowd that has these vehicles wouldnt agree with government regulation of their vehicles

[durece]

Why not banned personal vehicles and let emergency vehicles and commercial vehicles to stay? Moved out from car centric suburban areas.

[pitersi]

You left one very good reason for walkable / transit friendly city. It's crime.

If more people depend on their cars rather then walking/biking/transit then only the poorest use the transit. Usually those are young women or very elderly people. Those are two groups that are most vulnerable to all sorts of crime. There is clear pattern. The more men in their prime age use walking / biking / transit the bigger chance someone will help and the less chance of violent crime.

My country - Poland has huge transit usage. When I watch some travel blogs about Poland - especially by Americans they all say "Young women go jogging / use transit even in the middle of the night!" as one of their first surprises from here.

On the other hand stands USA when it comes to the most notable memories people bring back. Where when my grandma came from holidays there her first story was: "I was walking on a sidewalk and police pulled over and started questioning me why I was walking. It was suspicious for them as nobody walks." Or the story of friend who went on a business trip to USA and wanted to have some fun and go to the casino just the other side of the road. After looking for possibility to cross the street he decided to take a taxi to cross the street...

[TheOnyxGemini]

I'm interested in how difficult it is to used transit without a car to go from Columbus OH to get to City's like Bismarck ND, Jefferson city MO, new Bedford MA, and Lincoln NE. I'm also interested in how easy it is to get around these city's without a car, and how extensive and frequent there public transit networks are. Also how these city's can improve there public transit networks and housing density.

[jimspencer]

What is the source for the visual at 2:00 ? I would like to use it for a project