interesting newsbit

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

Originally Posted by roadrunner

"The thing I'm wondering is, are kids that much bigger than they used to be? Fatter, yes, but still... this big galoot was always in the back seats of old Beetles, Squarebacks, Vegas, Rabbits, and etc. 'til I flew the coop. Do babies demand 4x4 and tons of hauling capacity? "
Way too may HUGE SUVs on the road today IMO. The USA keeps using more and more fuel to go more and more miles. Where will it end?

Well, I was a "husky" kid when I was a pre-teen. Yet I fit just fine in the back seat of a Nash Metropolitan. And yes, they really did have a back seat. I also remember riding on the back seat armrest of our '48 Cadillac, and also in a car seat which clipped on the back of the front seat. Somehow, I don't know how, I made it to adulthood. Probably made it because my parents knew how to drive.

Part of the problem also is the way we are designing our cities...where I live, you HAVE to drive to get anywhere. The town I grew up in (about 10-15 miles from downtown L.A.) you could walk anywhere and get just about anything you wanted in less than 30 minutes. Where I live now (about 50 miles from downtown L.A.) you have to drive 5-10 miles to do the same thing.

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by JoeBob

Part of the problem also is the way we are designing our cities...where I live, you HAVE to drive to get anywhere. The town I grew up in (about 10-15 miles from downtown L.A.) you could walk anywhere and get just about anything you wanted in less than 30 minutes. Where I live now (about 50 miles from downtown L.A.) you have to drive 5-10 miles to do the same thing.

It is ironic isn't it. The developement of the automobile brought on the suburbs which kept moving further and further from the cities while commutes to work or anywhere elce got longer and longer while vehicles got bigger and bigger. And gas was cheap.

I am part of that. I was born and brought up in the city where you could get anything and had mass transit 24/7. You could even walk anywhere to get almost anything. Finally got tired of the "congestion and such" and moved way out to the "boonies" years ago. I have now lived in a small town of 1,833 people (per last census) for many years. If you want a decent store it is a 30 mile round trip. A really good mall and more stores and/or a decent paying job is a 60-70 mile round trip.