Top Quotes Kickoff

To summarize the gist of this week’s Quote List, it’s safe to say that I’m most suited for urban European living. I’ll take carless apartment living in a walkable neighbourhood with great transit over a McMansion with a double car garage, segregated from all of life’s necessities and conveniences. Call me a Straphanger, just like Taras Grescoe who penned the phrases below in his 2012 award-winning book Straphanger.

“Every time you choose to drive you are, in a tiny way, opting out of, and thus diminishing, the public realm…In order to gain a spurious freedom, which is in fact just increased mobility, millions of people turn their back on civility – not just politeness, but also the process of civilization building.”

Rush hour in Copenhagan

“More people commute by bicycle in greater Copenhagen, population 1.8 million, than cycle to work in the entire United States, pop. 310 million.”

“In a good year, Amtrak receives $1.5 billion in federal subsidies, though it actually manages to cover between 2/3 and 3/4 of its operating costs by selling tickets. Contrast this with the freeways, which in 2010 received $52 billion in federal subsidies – and are, of course, free to their users.”

I’m ashamed to say that I’m currently part of the problem I’ve alluded to above – namely the over-reliance on cars. I commute to work daily using a private automobile. Not only is driving a car more dangerous, it is also more expensive, more time consuming and offers no (or negative) health benefits. I drive because it takes 1/3 of the time as transit.

However, despite this unfortunate reality, I must applaud my regional government, the Region of Waterloo, for investing in controversial Light Rail transit, set to break ground any time and launch in 2017. Transit (bus) ridership is increasing in the Region however it remains fairly stigmatized and there are many areas for improvement for both transit and active transportation. There are currently no separated bike lanes and the bike network that exists is relatively haphazard and disjointed. Furthermore, a number of dedicated pedestrian paths are not maintained throughout the winter.

SO time and available options aside, what’s your dream commute? Is it walking, cycling, taking transit or driving? What role do cars and transit play in your ideal future?

Made Me Think – Top Quotes List

After several busy weekends, this current weekend is all about me. With sunny, mid-20 degree weather and a lack of humidity, I took the weekend to actually enjoy my patio and catch up on reading and blogging, and check out a local open street festival (to be discussed in a separate post). 

I needed this weekend to make a dent in my multitude of books on the go, ones begun haphazardly in the winter, during my trip to France, and since I arrived back home. My somewhat compulsive need for organization got to me – I am determined to finish books to get them off the coffee table and back to their rightful home on a bookshelf. 

While making my way through one of said books, Straphanger at left, inspiration hit. I had been toying with how I would continue to use this blog post-France. Sure, I still have multiple posts to write on Paris because, well, there’s a lot to be said of Paris and my posts to date do not yet reflect my one-week stay in the gorgeous City of Light. 

And so, sitting down and allowing myself to get lost in my book, I came up with a weekly blog post idea. Each weekend I’ll share my top 3 favourite quotes that I’ve read or heard in the preceding week. I really like powerful comments and quotes that leave the reader or listener thinking and that generate a sense of enlightenment. My top 3 quotes might be related or unrelated – it really depends on how much or how broadly I’ve read in the given week and what captivates me. 

Yes, this new weekly list is a somewhat selfish endeavour – it’s really my way of committing to read more and holding myself accountable to this goal. But in the meantime I hope you also enjoy my compilation of quotes!

So I hope you come back weekly to see what’s left me thinking. Hopefully it will leave you thinking as well!