Urban Lindsay's Weblog

Breaking up is hard to do

Divorcing one’s car sounds easier than it is.  For me it was a decision that’s been in the works for years.  In fact, one of the biggest reasons that my ex and I moved to Boise was so that we could afford to buy a house walking and biking distance to EVERYTHING we needed.  We succeeded (though I can’t say the same for our relationship).

That was 4 years ago yet I’m just now putting my foot down and divorcing my car for good.

Why the delay?  Put simply: culture.

It’s impressive what an affect an area’s culture can have on one’s actions.  After my ex and I succeeded in finding our dream home we succeeded in killing our relationship.  I was left high and dry with a house in a town where I knew no one and had no job prospects.  In a testament to tenacity I overcame the odds in true Caesarian form; I created a new career, new friends and a new life.  Veni, vidi, vici – that is everything BUT my car.

Conquering the car culture of Boise was more difficult than I anticipated.  Looking back I can remember the moment that I realized I was, in the words of Dorothy, “a long way from home” (home being Seattle of course).

There was one evening soon after I’d started making new friends when we set out for an evening on the town from my house.  We were starting our evening’s adventures in Hyde Park – a mere 5 blocks from my humble abode:

Stepping out the door, I turned from my walkway onto the sidewalk to begin the short walk to the bar and immediately heard laughter behind me.  I turned to see them hopping into the car.  When I protested that we should walk they acted as if I’d lost my mind.  Sensing that this was an argument I wasn’t going to win with such tenuous (ie – new) friends, I submitted and got into the car.  The door slammed behind me and my fate as a Boise car junkie was sealed.

Okay, I’m a pussy.  Okay, I’m a pushover.  Okay, I’m lazy.  Call me what you like, but the simple truth is that I was introduced into a culture quite different from the one I’d come from.  In Seattle parking was IMPOSSIBLE (and/or expensive).  Owning a car was more of a nuisance than a benefit – and this was BEFORE lightrail there.  Boise, on the other hand, was a car-lover’s wet dream.  When I first learned that parking was free on weekends and that you got 20 minutes free ANY weekday I almost shat my pants.  When I discovered that you could likely find parking (even on the busiest evenings) RIGHT OUT FRONT of where you were going with no more than 1-3 laps around the block I literally had a heart attack.  Then I saw Boise’s version of “traffic” and I couldn’t stop laughing for weeks.  All of this was unheard of; it became obvious why everyone drove everywhere – there was no reason not to.

I can’t say I’m proud of it – or that it makes much sense – or that I stuck to my guns and my values, but I got suckered into the culture that surrounded me.  I let my guard down and my determination slip – until Peter Hurley, the Project Manager at the Portland Office of Transportation, came to my Sustainable Building Advisor class to discuss transportation and land use issues.

I’d already started spending more time in Portland as a result of our company’s impending expansion to that market, and I was familiar with the strong cycling ethos of the city, but when he detailed the programs that they’d put in place and the success that the city had with reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) my former commitment to killing my car came rushing back.

I know this may come as a surprise to some of my friends that haven’t gotten out of Boise in FAR too long, but they actually have started to have bike traffic jams in Portland!!

As a result of my new-found commitment to the cause I started digging for resources in Boise.  Lo and behold I found . . . 2.  There are classes OCCASIONALLY about bike safety, commuting basics, etc. but not nearly enough to help create the momentum that we need to get ACHD to finally implement their 700 page, BITCHIN’ “Roadways to Bikeways” plan.

So what did I do?  In typical Urban Lindsay fashion I decided to take on ANOTHER cause.  I Tweeted about it and I talked about it until I tracked down cycling gurus in our community.  Nothing has happened yet, but I can tell you that we are working on putting together downtown bike commuting workshops covering a range of issues from safety and repair to gear and style – and we’re planning to hold them regularly.

And where does this leave me?  For starters – with two bikes in the shop getting retrofitted with baskets & racks for my groceries & laptop, a third bike specifically for my office commute on the way, racking up some impressive “SMT” (sneaker miles traveled), a clear conscience and ZERO gas bills.

Who knew that divorce could feel this good?

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