zlatiah

@ zlatiah @lemmy.world

Posts

119
Comments

253
Joined

1 yr. ago

Ask me about:
Science (biology, computation, statistics)
Gaming (rhythm, rogue-like/lite, other generic 1-player games)
Autism & related (I have diagnosis)
Bad takes on philosophy
Bad takes on US political systems & more US stuff
I'm not knowledgeable about most other things

8h ago

Would you choose Japan or China for a solo trip?
Jump
zlatiah @lemmy.world 8h ago
I really want to be able to go clubbing
Okay! If that's what you want... I have never gone clubbing in China or Japan, but I was being told that nightlife absolutely exists & is quite nice in both countries. Major cities of course; rural area in East Asia aren't as easily accessible as those in the wealthier European countries so
Have you considered going to multiple places? Japan isn't that far away from China all things considered. And if you are going to China... most people stick to Southern China (fewer things to do in the North unfortunately), which if you do, Shenzhen is right next to Hong Kong/Macao, and Taiwan isn't that far away either

1d ago

What is your most important meal of the day? Bonus points, what's your most consistently cooked/eaten meal?

Mayyybe dinner, but only by a little bit

I used to cook the same meal for breakfast/dinner and skip lunch for several years... These days I simplified my breakfast routine and still don't each lunch most of the days, so dinner is by definition the most important, although breakfast is my most consistent one (I sometimes go for a big lunch and skip dinner instead)

I think I'd be a good person to answer this. I've lived in Houston (needless to say, extremely car-friendly) without a car for almost 2 years; currently I'm living in a city that banned cars within its city center in 2015 which resulted in very visible changes, but the rest of the country is still very pro-car and quite car-friendly

A couple of things that cars benefit everyday life that would be difficult to do without a car. There's probably more but these are the ones I can think of:

Accessibility to places that have difficulty justifying being served by public transit. These include poorer neighborhoods that are far away from city center, semi-rural natural preserves, extreme geographical difficulties, ... Case in point, Houston has a lot of nature/green spaces that were 20-30 miles outside of the city center... good luck getting to these without a car (trust me, I tried once)
For certain physically disabled people, driving would be easier than walking/biking/public transit... Especially in particularly hilly cities, centuries-old cities where roads were paved no better than playgrounds, or sometimes both. This can be somewhat mitigated with good infrastructure projects, but cars are usually an easier solution
Car-free zones can get very crowded, very fast. This is usually a good thing in terms of urbanism... but some find it uncomfortable for various reasons. My current city is actually a rather extreme example: they are now considering banning bikes in the city center too, due to pedestrian injuries
I know cars are prone to needing repair, but with how the road network functions, personal vehicles can reduce a lot of dependencies on external factors such as public transit being functional. Case in point, two months ago NL's national rail company became essentially non-operational due to extreme weather, which would be rather devastating if your only way of commuting to work relies on the train

Also I think some positive points associated with cars are doable without cars:

Hauling stuff from point A to point B: delivery companies and car-rentals exist for a reason! This is surprisingly doable even without owning a car (you are technically using someone else's car in this case). Of course doing it without your own car will be more expensive... but we do have the logistics for it, especially if the entire society shifts to a car-free model
Not all rural areas need cars: some are actually quite doable by walking alone due to how small they are (I have a friend who lives in a rural American town like that: yes everyone drives, but everything is also 30-minutes on foot if you don't mind walking). And there are quite a few parts of the world where rural towns are served by trains frequently
Road trips: scenic railways exist for a reason... and unlike point 1 I made, sightseeing trains actually do make money, so there is pretty good justification for building them