You're the exception, not the rule. Most Americans DO live in urban or suburban areas. Of course not everyone will be able to make use of self-driving car technology, but many will.

 

The problem is that even suburban areas are designed around personal auto-based transit.

 

For the time being, yes, but things change. Technology advances. The world is a far different place than it was 20 years ago, and it will be a far different place 20 years from now. The only constant in our lives is constant change.

 

These car-based suburbs haven't changed since they were built in the 1950s and 60s. The only thing that has changed is that sprawl has expanded them further away from urban centers (the "ex-urbs"). The reality of property values and right-of-way acquisitions means that nothing will change in the next 20, or even 50 years as far as the road network is concerned.

What we are seeing right now is heavy redevelopment directly around mass transit hubs - for example, high rises being built around the new DC Metro stations in Reston. Unfortunately, that's a very minor number of housing units, and since there's no parking planned at these new Metro stations, the rest of the area is out of luck.

 

Well Tom Petty said it best in 'the last dj'

 

More interesting reading.


A world without work is coming – it could be utopia or it could be hell

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...abour-obsolete

 

My ATM service is great because i never use one. I don't have a card. I have never had one or need to have one. I also have no need for credit cards. I have no debit cards.

 

And you're proud of this exactly why?

 

Seriously, I would not trade places with you. For one thing, you obviously do not rent cars. My wife and I travel frequently, and we rent cars frequently. You cannot rent a car with cash. You must have a credit or debit card.

How do you buy gas? Most stations will require you to come inside, give them a couple of 20's or a 50, go out and pump your gas, and then go back in again (thus standing in line twice) to settle up. That's a pain in the ***. With a credit card, you never have to leave the pump.

Without credit or debit cards in this day and age, you must lead a cloistered, semi-annoying life.

 

Maybe he uses Bitcoin.

 

I wouldn't trade places with you. I have no need to be in a plastic owe money card.. Sorry you can't understand that. Some guys are smart enough to pay for the gas and know how much they need.Only going in once.Rent why rent i own.All of my cars and trucks all are paid for.Must sad to live for your plastic.

 

Suburbs were designed for cars with garages up front. Old cities, with the garages in the alleys, were designed for horses. If anyone has an old house, with an alley, and a really wide, but only one car, garage; that thing was a stable first.

 

Gee i am a exception. I live in the country in a rural neighborhood where most have 5 acres. Three car garage attached to house a 30x40 in back 300 feet from street/rd out front and about the same for the back street/rd.One guy has ten acres no animals or buildings on it makes no sense.

 

You're right. I don't understand it at all.

That's still one more time than I have to go in.

 

The stories just keep on coming.


Feds announce unprecedented autonomous car guidelines

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...ines/90716884/


U.S. Signals Backing for Self-Driving Cars

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/te...uidelines.html

 

Hadn't thought of that!

 

I'm trying to work in this direction, though I'm not there yet.

I'd keep a card or two, just for online purchases, or those rare times when I may need one while travelling (car rentals, airline tickets), but I agree, you're better off without them.

- Eric

 

Don't confuse a debit card with a credit card. I have a couple of credit cards because I travel a lot for work, but I pay them off the same month to avoid interest charges. I carry very little cash and use the debit card exclusively for most purchases. Since the money comes straight out of my bank account, there is no interest. Same as cash without having to carry any. I don't know why people have a problem with this.

Ironically, I've never had a problem with security until I got the stupid chip card. Just got skimmed over the weekend. The bank flagged the fraudulent charges and stopped the card, so there's only a small amount of cash at risk (and that SHOULD be returned, but we'll see how long the bank takes...). The problem is that they will conveniently mail out a new card in 5-7 working days.

Now, had I lost my wallet, there would be no chance of getting that cash back. Here, at least, there's a high likelyhood of return.

 

The wifey and I make more interest spending with a credit card than we get from savings (go figure). we use it instead of cash on most monthly purchases. We too pay the cards off every month and carry no balance. You cannot rent anything from movie DVD's to ??? without one. You also need one for most online purchases. They are a necessary evil that when used properly are more of a benefit than problematic. I've never used an ATM, just draw money ought of savings when I need too. In addition I think I've only wrote 2 checks in this past year.

 

Speaking of the choice as to whether or not to have a credit or debit card, my 84-year-old aunt, who has never in her life owned a credit or debit card, and who doesn't routinely buy auto parts online, was recently forced to get one by her bank. She had always paid by cash or by check for everything (and had always kept $2000 to $3000 in cash at home, which I always thought was a bad idea, but there you are).

But her bank, Bank of America, which she had been with for many years, now requires all account holders to have a debit card. It's used as a form of ID. When you go to the teller window, there is a a card-swipe machine like you see at store checkout counters everywhere. You swipe your card, enter your PIN, and all your information (name, address, accounts, etc.) appears on the teller's computer screen. There is no need to fill out deposit or withdrawal slips any more. You just tell them what you want to do, and it's done.

But the point is, she has to have a debit card. Her only other choice would be to change to a bank that doesn't require this. Many banks still don't, but I wouldn't be surprised if at some point most or all will. She didn't want to change banks because she had been with B of A for so long and was happy with them, so she is now the proud owner of a Bank of America Visa debit card. She never buys anything with it, but she has it.

 

Now THAT is actually interesting.

There was an article in the NYT this week about a new credit card with a $450 annual fee that people are lining up to get, because with its benefits profile, if you use it for all of your purchases for the year, you can apparently use the proceeds to have a free vacation.

These things are a bit confusing to me.

- Eric

 

That's provided the station's receipt printer at the pump is working. Which, as often as not, it's not. I don't leave the station without a receipt in hand, which often means I have to go in for the receipt and stand behind a herd of people buying lottery tickets. Inconvenient? maybe, but I don't pay any CC without receipts to back up the charges. You get burned once, you become very guarded with your plastic activity. I also use only one card for gas purchases instead of multiple cards.


And I'm proud of being a bad credit card customer. I pay the balance in full each month so they make no interest, and I've been known to haggle an annual fee away.


I cannot for my life understand the allure of these new $450 annual fee cards. Must be a status symbol for nouveau riche, but I think it's pure stupidity. Galls me to pay them $20/year.

 

We can set our credit cards to notify by email or text on any charge thats made to them anywhere and anyhow. As a credit card holder you are not responsible for fraud, in most cases with a debit card your are and the money lost will not be returned. I have never seen a valid reason for the existence of a debit card. I will not use a credit card that requires a fee.

 

That is not a true statement.Bank america doesn't force/require a debit card period. I know because that is who i bank with.

 

Don't get me started on BoA. They are closing the branch office here which, had I stayed with them, would force me to make a 150 mile round trip to do any face-to-face banking, which I sometimes have to do. Closed the last BoA account last Wednesday and moved everything to a more accessible regional banking chain.


The day I closed out, the local BoA branch had five teller lines going with 3-5 people in each- ALL closing accounts. That branch has always been busy any time I went in, but BoA corporate says walk-in traffic doesn't justify keeping it open? Someone is, to be polite, full of ****.


A local credit union has a big computer marquee sign out front "Welcome Bank of America Customers!" and the bank I moved to has taken on literally hundreds of former BoA customers.


Hey, if they're going to basically abandon a market to online banking (which I dislike for numerous reasons), why the hell should I stick with them? I feel bad for the staff who I've known and dealt with for many years, but BoA is too damn big for its own good and they learned absolutely nothing from the bailouts.

 

Personally I think that these things need to be taught in school. We have multi generational financial idiots roaming our country that have no clue on how to handle their finances.

 

It is where my aunt does her banking.

 

Back to the original topic, it's not just cars.


Amsterdam to pilot world's first 'self-drive' boats

http://www.news24.com/Green/News/ams...boats-20160920

 

If I flip off a driverless car for cutting me off or not going when it should at the four-way stop, will I still feel just as good?

 

Are you saying that only her branch does this? I am calling bs I checked google no requirement. One would think all branches would have this policy not just this one.

 

AMEN! I remember having to take a "civics" class in Jr. High. The curriculum wasn't just about how gov't worked, it was how to survive in life, like how to write checks and balance a checkbook, how interest worked, etc.

 

But this is old-fashioned. Nobody writes checks any more. Oldcutlass himself said a few posts back that he writes maybe two checks a year. Who has to balance a checkbook when you write only two checks a year?

The reason he writes only two checks a year, and the reason I do the same thing, is that almost all of my bills are paid directly through the bank's website using Billpay or whatever service is offered by the bank. Either that or the payment is automatically withdrawn by the biller if I set it up that way. The checking account balance is updated automatically by the bank itself as these transactions occur, and all I have to do is log in and look at it from time to time. But there's nothing to balance as it's already balanced. I just have to make sure there's enough money in the account to pay the bills as they come in.

You'll have to find something else to bitch at the young people of today over.

 

Just because you don't write checks doesn't mean others are like you. So nobody isn't correct statement. I like the over and out line. Back to the original topic.

 

As long as your finger is a spring-loaded interior button operated version that you mount to the top of your roof. There's some technology in that. I'd go with the 2 foot model. Or maybe 3 so the older drivers can see you.

 

So, here is something that is on the horizon. I guess I won't be buying a new car in retirement.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Pre...n-aeb-03172016

 

I wouldn't mind automatic emergency braking, so long as it worked.

I definitely wouldn't mind it in everybody else's cars.

It's a partial workaround for the old adage that the one thing you can't fix on the car is the loose nut behind the steering wheel.

- Eric

 

It seems the government is trying to mandate cures to the stupidity of drivers into vehicles while at the same time manufacturers ad things that distract the drivers more. Its a never ending circle. I probably will never buy another new car because 1, the price, and 2, they are too complex for me to fix at home. I will probably stick to pre-72 vehicles and maintain my wifes 2006 Mustang until we die.

 

Sorry, but you've completely missed the point of my prior post.

My point wasn't that Civics class taught you how to write checks, it was that the class taught you how to function in society. It taught you how our government worked (or, was SUPPOSED to work) at national, state, and local levels. It taught you about taxes, about simple vs compound interest, about how to evaluate different financial options. Sure, the things you need to learn will change over half a century. The problem is that NONE of this is taught today, which is why we have a country of idiots.

 

lol:d

 

"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... Morons."

- Eric