18 months ago, TurtleSoft moved from Ithaca to a suburb of Binghamton NY.
Ithaca is a very walkable city. That’s partly because of its history: most of its growth was in the 1800s, when you traveled by foot or horse. There’s also some geology: the city is compressed into a narrow glacial valley with a lake at one end, so everything is close by.
Binghamton metro is typical USA, with much better support for cars than for bikes or pedestrians. That’s also due to history and geology: most growth here was in the post-automobile 1900s, and the Susquehanna valley is much broader.
Up until last week I mostly liked the change. Driving is so much easier here. Walking is worse, but there is enough to do on this property that the lack of nearby gorges and college campuses doesn’t matter much.
Then the engine on my car wouldn’t turn over. A sign that my 09 Honda Fit may have reached end-of-life, mostly due to road salt. While waiting for a tow to the nearest repair shop, I started to look at new cars online. Except, there was no way to go see them. All the car dealers are on four-lane highways lined with commerce, aka stroads.
The local transit system is pretty good, but it only covers business districts and residential areas. No bus service anywhere close to the dealers. Also no sidewalks or bike lanes there, just high-speed traffic with lots of turns and turbulence. Dangerous for pedestrians and bike riders.
I rode bicycle a lot in Ithaca, and was careful to spend most time on quiet streets, bike lanes or sidewalks. Despite that, over the years I had 6 collisions with cars. 5 were slow-speed hits at intersections, so nothing worse than a few bruises (and one totaled bike). The worst happened on a rural road, when a pickup full of rednecks slowed down beside me, and carefully dropped a half-empty can of beer exactly ahead of the front tire. It clamped around the rubber, rotated until it jammed into the brake, cut the tube and tire, took out a few spokes, sprayed my crotch with the contents, and flipped me into the ditch.
I also was hit twice by cars while on foot (also slow speed at intersections). My advice for those: jump on top and grab onto whatever you can. One driver went half a block before noticing me clinging to their hood. They must have been thinking about something more important than driving.
In 2009 I also had a suddenly-dead car, but could walk to all the dealers. Here, test drives would have needed 6 cab or Uber rides, just to get around in a safe metal box. Fortunately, the problem was a seized bearing in the AC, easily fixed with a bypass belt.
I’m mobile again, but the clock is ticking. I may need to buy a motorcycle for emergency backup transportation. Cars are great, but not when your comfort depends on them.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com
