Hacker News Reader

Comment by reilly3000 | Hacker News Reader

I drive the freeways just to go a few miles most days, and tens of thousands in a few years. Carbon be damned, I can't thank highways enough for the life they enabled. When teleportation comes along I'll firmly recant and hope this comment has disappeared, but until then I'm in debt to the national arteries I benefit from today.

View on HN

I can't punish freeways enough for the life they've enabled. The closest thing you will get to teleportation in your lifetime is moving to a city. Maybe you cannot get from one side of the world to another in a minute, but you certainly can walk down the street to get anything you need in a minute or two in good major cities.

How do you think things get too the cities?

In a dream world? Truck -> freight train -> truck.

Magical fairy dust from the trees we should not have chopped down? :)

You're right and I wish I could afford it. Real Estate prices are validation that cities are a better way to live. I bought a car 8 months ago and I've only driven 1500 miles but I'd love to drive less. We have inherited a legacy of feeble foresight and racism, built into our cities and roads, but we're going to build something better in our time.

That’s an average of about six miles a day. Would you enjoy doing some of your travel by bicycle?

Most of the emperical studies I've seen suggest people who travel little by car generally do less trips vs. many shorter trips; i.e. they're not driving 6 miles a day, they're driving 20 miles twice a week.

Anything you need... maybe, but most certainly not anything you want and it won’t be at a very good price.

I just had a delicious dinner (rice, chicken, veggies, soup) for $6 here in Brooklyn. I walked 3 blocks from my home to pick it up.

Same here. I used to live in Jacksonville Florida and routinely used the I-95 to get around the city. What's funny is I'd always envision "warping" when getting on the highway, because inner city traffic speed is ~45 mph, and then it'd instantly jump to 80+ mph on the highway.

80mph+? Instant reckless driving in Virginia, anywhere in the state.

Florida is not a close minded Commonwealth unlike my home state...

The limit is up to 80 in some western states (Utah, Idaho, etc).

In Nevada and I believe other states before the 55 MPH speed limit was instituted, "reasonable and proper" was interpreted pretty broadly and might have exceeded 80 under good conditions.

85 in parts of Texas Hill Country too.

Those wide empty roads going 55 feels like 30mph.

At least in Idaho, the speed limit is routinely flouted up to 90mph.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com