why am I here?

[adrian_turtle]

I don't mean "why am I on Dreamwidth?" I'm HERE to stay in touch with the rasff diaspora and its friends and relations.

The question is "Why am I living next to Boston?" and the answer to that is that it's a city where people live fairly close together, and I can walk to many of the places where I want to go and take public transit to others. I can be welcome in several overlapping communities. There are lots of people I don't really know, but we smile and nod and say good morning at the bus stop or passing on the sidewalk. I feel surrounded by a vague network of friendliness in a way I wasn't, where everybody traveled by car.

In other words, I love this city because it's a place where large numbers of people breathe on each other. Oops.

Comments

[anne]

Yeeeep.

[adrian_turtle]

Just so. I still don't want to get a car and move back to Michigan. (Or, more plausibly, to the Land of Long Commutes Beyond The T.)

[redbird]

And I love New York City, and loved living in Inwood, for similar reasons. oops²

[pameladean]

I know, right? Our density isn't a patch on New York or Boston's, but I am accustomed to silently cheer when the cars of our eensy built-very-recently light rail system are full to the brim. Take that, doubters and Republicans! I think.


P.

[adrian_turtle]

I just heard NYC was a particularly bad hot spot for the epidemic, so my own "take that" turns sour in my mouth.

I'm also fretting about fear of infection pushing things to drive through windows. (Even things like veterinary clinics, which I would not have thought possible.) I'll try to post about that tomorrow.

[pameladean]

It's kind of rough on people who don't drive, for sure. (like me, wonering if a person walking up to the hardware store, not enclosed in a car, could get a bag of stuff handed to her.) And yeah -- what, you hand the carrier with your 100-pound dog in it through a window? Realistically, I would guess that somebody or bodies comes out to your car and takes over your pet with minimal human contact.

I don't think urban density is going to go away; I hope the public health system and general attitudes about a lot of things will change.

P.

[adrian_turtle]

I used to drive, even though it wasn't really safe for me to drive after dark. Having alternatives makes me feel so welcome here, as well as feeling physically safe.

The idea with the veterinarian is that you drive up and somebody comes and takes the cat carrier out of your car. I'm accustomed to seeing people just walking from the bus stop with cat carriers into the vet's office, or putting animals in bike trailers.

Last week, my PCP thought I should get tested for coronavirus if my symptoms got worse "or if more tests become available next week." It seemed like more tests were available, so we looked into it, but not so many tests as to test somebody who was already on the way to getting better. It got me thinking about the logistics of the thing.

My doctor's office is 3 miles from here. I usually take the bus there, but you're not supposed to take the bus when you're sick these days. Nor taxi nor ride-shares. Sometimes I walk, but last week I was not breathing well enough to walk 3 miles.
The new coronavirus testing place is less than ONE mile from me. Even sick, I could walk there if I stopped to rest a few times. But it's drive-up testing. Do all the paperwork and consultation online and on the phone, then drive up and do not get out of your car!

There were lots of reasons not to test me. (Not having a very high fever is delightful.) Not having a car was not relevant in this case, but it makes me go argh on general principle.

[pameladean]

I remember how happy I was visiting London. So many ways to get to places and home again at many hours.

People mostly drive to my veterinarian, sadly. I like the idea of the bike trailer, though I wonder how much the animals do. Still, they mostly don't like cars either, except for dogs.

I am so glad you're feeling better. But the whole testing scenario sounds pretty inimical. Getting a ride from somebody else isn't great either, if you don't happen to live with them.

I think your principled argh is quite sound.

P.

[silveradept]

Yeah, that's the bad part that goes with the good parts of living near a metropolis. People all together for things.