I had a phase in the fall where, every time I went out of town people asked me how I do my grocery shopping with no car.

It is harder here, out of a big city, but I manage. because most people have a car, there aren't many stores selling food items in walking distance, but I just take my re-usable bags on the bus with me, and if I am getting something heavy, I bring my cart. And people on the bus are usually really nice, or I look weak, because someone usually helps me get my cart up onto the bus. See, no problem....

Also, thank you Suzi!

Dana- Sometimes it wakes me an over an hour to get home, hoever I can get in in 40 minutes. I watch TV show on my iPod, so I actually like having the time and not feeling guilty about watching TV. Sometimes later at night, I don't watch the iPod because there are more "characters" riding the bus, and I am not sure it won't get stolen. Frankly, I think the fact that I kind of look like a bag lady works to my advantage in a city where mostly only poor people or people who have lost their liscense due to DWI ride the bus.

It is harder here, out of a big city, but I manage. because most people have a car, there aren't many stores selling food items in walking distance,

Yeah, I realized that that is part of what people were picturing -- how they drive into a big parking lot in front of a big supermarket, and load up the car and drive away. I walk by a small market on my way home, and get one bag full!

well the idea is that smaller and more localized grocery stores would open up again if gas went up enough. Also cities of all sizes would invest more into public transportation systems.

Also also, smaller farms would start up again.

Unsurprisingly I am all for sustainsable smaller scale neighborhoods/communties/towns/cities where the food production and consumption require much less transportation.

I would consider taking public transportation to work if it wouldn't take me an hour and a half each way.

Yeah, in DC I drove to work because it was out in the burbs, and the subway was designed to get people from the burbs to downtown, not the other way around.

Seattle was being pretty sweet with the free bus pass and two mile commute, but now that I am not commuting, and have no more bus pass (darn them!) I'm....walking a lot. And driving a bit more. $1.50 a bus ride is expensive, and having correct change is even harder!!

I walk by a small market on my way home, and get one bag full!

we can do this, and love it. but the co-op is about 20 minutes away by car... across Lincoln Drive. Bus routes are not the greatest part of that adventure. We're hopeful - especially w/ Philly Car Share. But I can't get them to return my question about whether they have toddler seats available, and I don't look forward to carrying a seat with us up the hill a couple of blocks to pick up the car share when I need to take Ipod to her doctors' appointment or whatever. I would love not to have the extra costs.

I take public transportation to the grocery store (because I don't drive) and it tends to be a two hour trip. Although, we have a new store that opened up on the other side of town where there is a bus that comes by more than once an hour. I haven't tried it yet though.

Perhaps now people will stop telling me that I am not actually saving money by taking the bus.

That's crazy. I swear people don't think about the real cost of anything.

When I graduated college, my parents and I sat down to talk about my buying a car. We calculated that if I just rented one every time I thought "I wish I had a car", it would still be cheaper than owning one.

when I need to take Ipod

Your fingers renamed your daughter, Sox!

I had to give up the public transportation for now because I drop the puppy off at daycare. I am very jealous of my DH, who still gets to use it because parking the car at my work = $33/month and parking the car at his work = $200/month.

Your fingers renamed your daughter, Sox!

not exactly. one of her nicknames... courtesy of DH.

well the idea is that smaller and more localized grocery stores would open up again if gas went up enough. Also cities of all sizes would invest more into public transportation systems.

I think this too, and I wish it were so. You would be surprised at the shock of people here in a small city that I take public transportation. I have had more than one person say "I would rather walk 10 miles from my house than ever set foot on a bus". The perception of public transportation here is that only poor, low-class people and criminals take the bus and no one in their right minds would take it. Now it is true that a lot of people take the bus because they are poor, but there is quite a wide range of personalities, social types, and scariness levels. I get on my stop in the morning with a secretary for our city school district and a mom who is a nurse taking her son to daycare.

I am also in a city where poverty, crime, etc are rampant and fill almost all of the city proper. There are some better areas, but by and large there is a huge amount of urban decay. Most of the money is in the suburbs, and even further out, where people communte 1 -2 hours by car to get to their jobs.

AND, people are scared of the poor people and want to kick them out of Downtown, which is terribly, terribly empty and decayed. Our city has a spoke and wheel system and almost everyone changes buses downtown, and there is no grocery store, there is 1 drugstore that closes at five, and one dollar general. There is no coffee shop or stand Everything else is empty. Everyone is told that all the businesses had to close because the people taking the bus stole too much, and they couldn't afford to keep their business open.

It is crazy here!