This is a horror story.

I just discovered this channel and I like it. It’s also on Nebula, so I’ll be watching on there from now on.

  • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    I haaaaaate SUVs. I also hate crossovers . and giant pickups.

    Give me fucking wagons and hatchbacks dammit!!! Americans are idiots.

    • grue@lemmy.worldM
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      3 days ago

      SUVs are worse than regular cars in several ways, but it’s important to remember that Rollie’s focus is on climate and in terms of urbanism regular cars are just as bad because they take up the same amount of space. Emissions and safety for other road users are problems, of course, but fucking up the design of our cities to build huge amounts of extra road width and parking is the biggest problem of all. Not only does accommodating cars inflate our concrete usage (which takes a huge amount of carbon emissions to produce), but it also physically forces our destinations to be further apart, destroying the viability of other transportation modes.

      Point is, we can make small improvements by swapping out the worst kinds of automobiles for better ones, but in order to make transformational improvements we have to have fewer of them in total and use them less. Merely switching back to wagons and hatchbacks will not absolve us.

      • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.ca
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        3 days ago
        1. His name is Rollie
        2. While he’s definitely on Team #FuckCars, he has on numerous occasions pointed out that larger vehicles are in fact worse than “normal” cars due to their fuel consumption, noise, and lethality to everyone outside the vehicle.
        • grue@lemmy.worldM
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          3 days ago

          His name is Rollie

          Whoops! Fixed.

          he has on numerous occasions pointed out that larger vehicles are in fact worse than “normal” cars due to their fuel consumption, noise, and lethality to everyone outside the vehicle.

          Yes, that’s what I said: “SUVs are worse than regular cars in several ways.” But the point is that the gains from switching from trucks back to cars are marginal compared to the gains from reducing the number of automobiles in general. So if you’re an activist with limited political capital, it’s way better to spend it on zoning reform or bike/ped/transit infrastructure than it is on stuff like CAFE standards or the chicken tax.

      • Almacca@aussie.zoneOP
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        3 days ago

        My car is a 2008 Mazda 2, which I intend to keep running until either I or it dies, whichever comes first. Small hatchbacks are great. I’d also like to not have to drive it unless absolutely necessary, or indeed at all.

      • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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        3 days ago

        Totally agree.

        Unfortunattely the cities have already been built, theyre all super spread out, and its not like theyre ever going to knock it down and start again. Can new cities start up? Ive never seen that happen

        • grue@lemmy.worldM
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          3 days ago

          Unfortunattely the cities have already been built, theyre all super spread out, and its not like theyre ever going to knock it down and start again.

          No, that’s not true. Even in America, cities weren’t built for cars. They were built for walking and streetcars and then bulldozed for them. We’ve done it once to fuck things up; we can do it again to fix them.

          • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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            3 days ago

            Very true. But thats because cars bring in money, walking and streetcars dont.

            My city is “only” 100k people, its miles across, I could never see them redesigning it. They just built another 6 lane east to west highway cuz the town is expanding so far out now.

            • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.ca
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              3 days ago

              But thats because cars bring in money, walking and streetcars dont. [sic]

              On the off chance that you’re not trolling, it should be noted that Climate Town has an episode on this very subject wherein he demonstrates that walkable neighbourhoods make much, much more money for a city, and that in fact, suburban spaces are a net loss on city budgets:

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfsCniN7Nsc

              • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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                3 days ago

                I dont troll. I offer viewpoints the average american actually thinks, and people in the echo chamber think its trolling.

                Good video, thank you for sharing! Would be very hard to convince your average laboror of this though. Cars make them money. Whether its the lawn care business (trucks and trailers for mowers), landscaping (vans, trucks), farmers, construction workers, mechanics obviously.

                Also if youre in a tourist area, the cars definitely bring in the money.

            • grue@lemmy.worldM
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              3 days ago

              But thats because cars bring in money, walking and streetcars dont.

              That’s even less true. It’s annoying to refute due to vagueness, but whether you’re talking about foot traffic/sales in commercial businesses or property tax revenue per acre, walkable places are way more profitable than sprawl.