# Big cities and driving **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364 "2013-05-15T01:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/61 "2013-05-22T13:32:43Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > It’s funny how many of the posts are around public transport. I don’t have a car or license and never take the bus or light rail in the city I live in. > > There’s a convenient store in the same building I live, a grocery store 2 blocks away, barber 1.5 blocks away, 12 minute walk to work, movie theater 3 blocks, a dry cleaner within a block or 2 of any direction you walk, and more bars and restaurants than you can shake a stick at. My doctor’s office is in the same complex as the movie theater (also a CVS, 5 guys, some froyo, etc.), so that’s convenient. Dentist is across the street from my office. > > Where would I be taking this bus to? Don’t you ever want to go to another neighborhood or something? Visit a friend who lives somewhere else? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/62 "2013-05-22T16:01:29Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Don’t you ever want to go to another neighborhood or something? Visit a friend who lives somewhere else? This is what I find astounding. I’d be losing a lot of friends if I couldn’t drive. My best friend lives 80 miles away and there are two options to get to her house. Walk or drive. Let alone hardly ever being able to see family. Public transit won’t get me to them either. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/63 "2013-05-22T16:20:14Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This is what I find astounding. I’d be losing a lot of friends if I couldn’t drive. My best friend lives 80 miles away and there are two options to get to her house. Walk or drive. > > Let alone hardly ever being able to see family. Public transit won’t get me to them either. Well then driving is probably pretty essential to you. My friends and family all happen to be pretty city-based, so that particular factor isn’t relevant to me. If my mom were to get it into here head to move to a remote farm, I’d probably have to reassess my situation. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/64 "2013-05-22T16:35:05Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Is Staten Island easier? Hm. It is reputed to be a more suburban style test on quiet, orderly roads. When I tested in Brooklyn, for example, I had to do a 3-pt/K turn on a VERY narrow and potholed street, was dealing with buses and car traffic, and there were downed or non-functional traffic signals you had to know the rules for, etc. The lore is that most people fail on parallel parking, which isn’t even a requirement in most jurisdictions. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/65 "2013-05-22T16:37:13Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This is what I find astounding. I’d be losing a lot of friends if I couldn’t drive. My best friend lives 80 miles away and there are two options to get to her house. Walk or drive. > > Let alone hardly ever being able to see family. Public transit won’t get me to them either. Then driving probably makes sense to you. That’s fine. Different people have different situations. I can’t think of anyone I know that isn’t transit accessible, but then I’m a recent transplant to a major East Coast city, so I haven’t really run into a lot of people from the boonies, and my social set is urban based. I’m sure it’s a completely different story if you are living in a small town that you grew up in and you know a lot of folks from childhood that have scattered around the area. I think sometimes people don’t have a good grasp of the non-car infrastructure. A super shuttle from an airport to my moms house )on the other side of town) costs $35. It’s cheaper than renting a car, and IMHO a lot less hassle to arrange. Even the USs anemic rail system can often get you where you need to go. I went to a wedding in small town PA last year, and I had my choice of a train or a small plane. There are usually options out there, they may be a different set of trade offs than you are used to. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/66 "2013-05-22T16:37:23Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Well then driving is probably pretty essential to you. My friends and family all happen to be pretty city-based, so that particular factor isn’t relevant to me. If my mom were to get it into here head to move to a remote farm, I’d probably have to reassess my situation. I am not shocked you don’t need to drive because you are in an urban area. I am shocked you (and others like you) don’t know how. I see it as an essential life skill that all adults should possess. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/67 "2013-05-22T16:38:17Z")
Sorry for the semi-double post. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364/68 "2013-05-23T03:00:36Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > It is reputed to be a more suburban style test on quiet, orderly roads. When I tested in Brooklyn, for example, I had to do a 3-pt/K turn on a VERY narrow and potholed street, was dealing with buses and car traffic, and there were downed or non-functional traffic signals you had to know the rules for, etc. The lore is that most people fail on parallel parking, which isn’t even a requirement in most jurisdictions. When I lived in Saudi a colleague took the driving test in Riyadh. He got in the driver’s side, the instructor got in the passenger and another guy taking a test got in the back. The instructor asked my colleague to do a U-turn so he was facing the other way on the street. Then he asked my colleague and the other guy to switch places. The other guy did a U-turn, as instructed, so the car was back in the same position. Both had now passed their test! I took my test in Tabuk (north Saudi) and didn’t even get to sit in a car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-cities-and-driving/658364.md?page=3)