Those of you who know me, know 2 things:
I walk to work, with my dog and the neighbors dog everyday.
I ride my motorcycle (1996 BMW R1100RS), scooter (1985 Yamaha Riva 125) or bicycle (A Kurt Buddendeck customized Raleigh mountain bike) almost everywhere I go. The car (1995 Lexus ES 300) hardly leaves the garage except to go to Sams Club (If Iams Chunks was the same price in 10lb bags as it is in 48lb bags this could be avoided) or taking friends to the Airport.
For those of you who commute long distances- it may start being practical to consider moving closer to your work. If you work downtown, at Miami Valley Hospital, NCR or UD, I highly recommend the South Park Historic District [2]. I also highly recommend a scooter- and you can check out Scooter Source [3] for an affordable ride.
Just think- my scooter gets almost 85mpg. How much money could you save?
It would also be a great day for the Dayton City Commission to start working on alternative parking solutions for 2 wheel and hybrid vehicles.
What do you think?
I’ve been considering such actions myself recently. There was a great article in Cincinnati Magazine about scooters so I browsed the Vespa store but haven’t taken any major steps yet. The mpg is great but it becomes useless in bad weather.
I’m a bit nuts- I ride the scooter and the bike almost year round in Dayton. Unless there is snow or ice on the streets- I take the scooter to the gym all the time.
Rode the BMW to Cincy in February- it was 20 degrees out- can’t say enough about how wonderful Gerbings heated clothing – it works great.
I live in Yellow Springs and am within a block of my job, the post office, the library, the grocery store, the hardware store, the bike path and the Glen. It doesn’t get any better than this! My car gathers dust on the street. I took it out yesterday to go thrifting with my daughters in Dayton. But it is important to point out, with respect to your previous blogs about development and the quality of life, that Yellow Springs manages to retain the attributes which keep its locals walking, visiting, and shopping here….despite it’s similarities to Waynesville as a “tourist townâ€. A lesser percentage of us than in bedroom communities go “outside†to meet our needs. It is an aspect of community building that has to be kept in mind. Along with renovating historic and dilapidated urban neighborhoods, create in those neighborhoods the shops, parks, restaurants, et al to make the community a real community. Suburban neighbors know each other over the roar of their lawnmowers, not over coffee in a cafe or on a bench in their local pocket park.