Joel Kotkin, director of one of our favorite sites, Newgeography.com, has exposed how Obama has alienated people on all sides, even though he will probably win the election. I notice, now that I think about it, that while the Occupy […]
Transportation
I Couldn’t Resist . . .
Low Carb Fuel Standards? I shall have to check into this. Somebody needs to develop an automobile that will run on lentils, bacon, lean chicken breast, and smoked salmon. What impact that will have on the environment, I have no […]
The Poor and Cars
I am as much in favor of a good public transport system as anyone, but it will, for the foreseeable future, be only a partial solution to our transportation needs. In particular, neither the poor nor the rest of us […]
Bakersfield Freeway
I think they ought to move Route 58 to Stockdale Highway and not Rosedale. Stockdale comes in where 58 meets 99, and it goes straight to the I-5. Rosedale, the current numbered route, takes a pronounced jog. Related: “Future Freeway […]
Dear Urban Cyclists: Go Play in Traffic
P. J. O’Rourke has taken off on the absurdity of bicycles. However, there are some people that really need and use them, and I’m thinking of “Los Midnight Riders” from my earlier post. There does need to be some safe […]
Cal-EITC and Gasoline Tax
I don’t know whether the state can afford it at the moment, but a Cal-EITC would be a good and civilized thing to have. If we institute a higher gasoline or carbon tax, especially, which I do advocate, common decency […]
New Urbanism: Not Suitable for Large Families
Jonathan V. Last has written an excellent article on natality in America and why we have few large families now, whereas 50 years ago they were very common. (I can testify, being of a certain age myself, that I as […]
Urban Bicycling – Or, Another Bicycling Tribe?
Right after I did my post about bicycling cultures, the LA times came out with an article about urban bicycling and designing clothes for it. Trying to use a bicycle for transportation! Imagine that! Well, in the early ‘70s, when […]
The Various Tribes Of Bicyclists – And Will Bicycles Ever Become Mass Transit?
The attached inspired me to set down what I notice about bicycles and bicyclists. On the first day of our San Andreas fault tour which I took with some friends – and there will be some posts on that soon, […]
Taxes to Raise, Taxes to Lower
I thought that I had better get this out, because April 15 is just around the corner. Taxes that should be raised: The gasoline tax, by $.50 to $1 a gallon. I oppose cap and trade, however, because it is a bureaucratic […]