getting around is lovely and strange

I've been out here in the Twin Cities for 5 or so years now and somehow successfully pulled that off without a car. Now, I'm lucky in a few ways regarding this: I've got a remote gig, my partner has a car, and I'm able bodied enough to bike regularly, but still, not using the most popular mode of transit for a specific community does manipulate the way you interact with your peers and space in a way often folks don't get.

Seasonality hits harder, when biking becomes more of a Thing (I know people have gotten pretty solid at winter biking, wigs me out too much to give it a go personally, i Know I'd eat shit day 1), life slows down, time at a bus stop becomes more precarious if you're not prepped, being social dims. Now that I've figured a better coat, and gotten some longer underwear, these limits feel smaller, but my existence fits more within the bounds of the bus lines and the blocks surrounding wherever I'm staying.

There's a lovely challenge in this way of living, spaces become regular, choice is limited, patterns emerge, but on the flip, it's much too easy for multiple days to pass and to realize I'd never left the house. There's places that I love to help out at, but one more excuse to not go often is all it takes, as my gumption is zapped by the lack of the sun.

No matter the season, there are places you really can't go without significant effort or a shared ride. Suburbs too far out, road trip destinations, some neighborhoods not hooked up well to the transit system. I've really never explored north Minneapolis because of a lack of transit options and no real solid bike routes. I've got friends up the north shore, but seeing them isn't something that can happen on a whim.

When I'm home in Colorado and have much more access to cars, I feel my social willingness rise, but it's hard to tell if that's because I'm able to see many folks who are often off my radar, or if the lack of transit friction is what does it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the bus, I love taking the bus with friends, and I love a bike ride across town, but my ratio of social existence being 'come to me' or 'go to you' is warped to the two outliers in my life here and in Colorado. I'm thankful for not needing a car, and am going to continue to live this way, but I think my mental fortitude to exist socially outside of my personal space needs a tune up. The best is when I've made plans before I'm tired, so then I've gotta hop out and get out there, knowing I'll have a good time once I'm with the people I love.

The cities have a past that ebbs and flows with transit, and I'm glad to live in a time where it's on the up and up, Metro Transit is doing good work manipulating lines and making alternative transit possible for more and more folks. It sucks that we had to work back from square one, and that covid did a number on ridership, but the people around are optimistic, and so am I.

This is all to say, wherever you are, if you've never thought about existence without your car, it might be worth a second look, if you can pull it, it can be a freeing, thoughtful, and focusing act, forcing you to find what matters and work with your space. I wish I had more advice, but really it boils down to find a bike you like riding, and get well acquainted with what routes are close to you. See what errands you can run on the bus, or with a ride, might surprise you.

Also, shout out those parents who pick their kids up in cargo bikes, those are the real ones.

Anyway, stop parking in bike lanes, feed your neighbors, and keep ice out.

Fair winds and following seas,

JT