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Comment by Baeocystin | Hacker News Reader

When I went to high school, I walked, as I lived only a few blocks away. So did most kids. During the morning dropoff time, it was mostly walkers, bikes, and busses, with a few cars here and there.

Today? Proportions are reversed. Just a few walk or bike, and an absolute catastrophe of cars dropping off kids. So many that they back up in to the surrounding neighborhood. It's bizarre to me.

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Driving is the American way and our cities have always been built around roads, from the very first day that an American landed on the shores. It would actually be un-American to shun cars, as it were.

As the old patriotic hymn goes

"He is sounding forth the car horn that shall never ever cease. He is fastening the seat belt in his drivers side reclining seat. As he tried to make men Holy let us drive to make men free. His truth is rolling on.

Jesus Christ pick a lane ass-hole. Jesus Christ pick a lane ass-hole. Jesus Christ pick a lane ass-hole. And put your turn signal on!"

I heard the rythm and tunes of "Comfort Eagle" by Cake, while reading your hymn. Your hymn sort of fits, both in tone, sarcasm and meter of that song. Thank you

I was going for a parody of "Battle hymn of the Republic" / "John Browns Body" / "Blood upon the Risers" / "Solidarity Forever".

However true this may be, the difference between 30 years ago and today is still not explained by that.

I grew up in a very much car-centric suburb. My elementary school was 1.5 miles away. For the first 3 years I rode the school bus. As soon as I hit 4th Grade, I was riding my bike or walking. Most of my friends did the same.

I guarantee you that that same school today sees barely 10% biking/walking compared to 1990.

Agreed. I should have clarified in my post, but this is the same exact neighborhood and school. Demographics are roughly the same. And yet walking / biking is now seen as non-viable.

Might be the "stranger danger" hysteria that was responsible for that change.

Cars have gotten larger. They've gotten faster, accelerate a lot quicker, and can stop a lot faster. Take a look at any video of driving from from the '70s-1990 of American drivers. Cars were small and a bit uncomfortable, and accelerated slowly. The National Speed Limit Law also had some effect on keeping speed limits low. All of this made it more viable to be a pedestrian or a cyclist even with little dedicated architecture.

Today a collector road with a speed limit of 30 mph is seeing drivers at 45 mph, despite stoplights. Nobody is going to bike around 40 mph cars.

> Our cities have always been built around roads, from the very first day that an American landed on the shores

Roads maybe, but not cars (which of course hadn't even been invented when the America was founded). The US used to have extensive streetcar networks. The dominance of cars is a 20th century phenomenon.

You missed the joke.

That reminds me of a comment I once read about the roads in my city being too narrow to accommodate bicycle infrastructure because it was originally designed for horse and carriage. I had to laugh at that, because the streets were originally multi-use. People mostly walked or took a tram. The horses were there, but mostly for commercial use or the wealthy. The typical city dweller had neither the space to graze them nor the means to buy feed.

I wonder if other parents these days would call CPS on you if they saw your kid strolling past the car pickup line?

You will read the occasional horror story of people getting CPS called on them by some out of touch busybody because they let their kids walk to the park, but honestly that is just as rare as stranger-danger abductions. It's on the order of a case every few years. Basically nothing worth worrying about.

It probably depends upon where you live.

I've seen kids in our neighborhood walking to school alone as early as the 3rd grade. And we have a pack of young kids - ranging from 2nd grade to kindergarten, that regularly roam without adults.

So at least where I live, this doesn't appear to be much of a concern.

I don't think it would be a problem here (Somerville MA): our oldest started walking to school alone in first grade, and home in second grade. Along with our middle child they are also often around the neighborhood on their own, going to the park by themselves or friends' houses.

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