RandyDandy, an American Expat in London

Surely the headlines are mistaken. Americans are driving less and buying smaller cars. More people are taking the bus and riding bikes. New York’s Park Avenue could become the next pedestrian paradise.

Could the apocalypse be far away?

Environmentalists struggle to deliver their messages of irreversible climate change, hoping that Joe Q. will take notice, have a change of heart and lifestyle, sell the car, and convert the driveway and garage into native prairie grassland. But Bush and his disastrous policies being the catalyst for positive environmental change? Delicious and delightful irony.

My friend Laurie wrote a serious post about weight issues earlier in the week, and I had a rather inappropriate chuckle at a statement she made about creating a walking schedule. I made a note of my amusement in her comments, and she responded quite correctly that walking was now a big part of my culture as a UK resident. Indeed, we must walk everywhere over here if we’re going to consume ale in proper quantities and not gain 10 stone. I’ve only been here five months but go crazy sitting on my duff for too long. In the first month, however, it took massive amounts of resolve and determination just to go out for some groceries. “I have to walk how far? And I can only carry how many bags at one time?” That plus the six hours of daylight just about did me in.

In May I traveled back to Houston for a brief visit to sing the bass solos in Handel’s Judas Maccabeus with Cantare Houston. After discovering at the Budget Car Rental counter that my UK bank card could not be used to retrieve a reservation, I decided to forgo the automobile and enjoy the city using my two feet, the generosity of friends, and Houston’s Metro system if absolutely necessary. I’m not sure I would make the same decision if I had to do it again. The streets of Houston are a lonely, conspicuous place for a person on foot, even in the middle of rush-hour. Especially in the middle of rush-hour.

So I was delighted to get back to London and wander the streets again. I’m in the process of getting a UK driver’s license, but I have absolutely no desire to own a car again. A bike would be nice. Another means of getting me off my duff.

Hopefully more U.S. cities will heed the growing demands for mass transit. And history just might concede that Bush’s eight years weren’t a total waste of time, money, and human life.

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