Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

The midwest is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people. Wait...

It's not that bad. Lots of room for activities, social distancing is the norm, green grass, trees, wheat fields, corn fields, soy bean fields, and tornadoes.
 
Yeah, and you have to go by car for everything.

Want to get fresh bread from a bakery? hahahaha, what is that? Walk to a restaurant for dinner because you just got home and you changed your mind about making something yourself? puh-lease.

Traffic? eh not really, but roads a mostly straight and the ones you do find you've driven so much that they're no longer fun.
 
There are walkable/bikeable towns in the Midwest. But you've got to balance between being close to other people or being close to things.

If I had my druthers, I'd have two houses. One in the middle of a vibrant downtown in a small city and the other about an hour away in forested hills. I would split my time between these places. Cabin in the woods when I wanted quiet and tranquility, small apartment downtown when I wanted to feel the pulse of a city.
 
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CraigB said:
There are walkable/bikeable towns in the Midwest. But you've got to balance between being close to other people or being close to things.

If I had my druthers, I'd have to houses. One in the middle of a vibrant downtown in a small city and the other about an hour away in a forested hills. I would split my time between these places. Cabin in the woods when I wanted quiet and tranquility, small apartment downtown when I wanted to feel the pulse of a city.
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My Grandparents on my dads side did this for many years. Minus the trees, they had a townhouse on the Chain-o-Lakes and a place in Mount Prospect. The second was a house they bought when the subdivision was being built in the 50s and my dad grew up there, the first was their getaway so to speak or the place they lived at during the summer months because they had a boat docked up in the little townhouse community thing they were in. Good memories of that which is actually part of the reason why I live where I do now. Older community near the same waterway that should I make my mind on what I want to be when I grow up, I can stay put for years and get a boat should I choose that route. But as you know that we've talked at length, probably won't happen.
 
gaasc said:
Promise? :D

I kinda already have to do that on my dense city, because many hills.
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I like driving, but commuting to places for so many things sucks a lot. driving for fun and driving to commute are different things.
 
prizrak said:
I have a suspicion that after this whole pandemic blows over you are actually going to see people getting the fuck out cities, as we have perfect illustration of how vulnerable highly concentrated populations are to shit hitting the fan.
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I doubt it, there isn't enough economic opportunity in rural and suburban areas to support the population, plus, with the economic crash people will go where the work is. There also isn't the medical facilities in smaller communities. The neighboring county to mine has 3 ICU beds for the entire county, most the other counties in my state have 0 beds and only small clinics. The nearest actual ER can be up to 6 hours away and is often in another state.
 
CraigB said:
The midwest is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people. Wait...

It's not that bad. Lots of room for activities, social distancing is the norm, green grass, trees, wheat fields, corn fields, soy bean fields, and tornadoes.
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Not much reason to go the midwest when Hudson valley exists, as do VT, NH and even CT. Hills/mountains, nice forests and lakes and all that good stuff and still plenty of civilization.
Blind_Io said:
I doubt it, there isn't enough economic opportunity in rural and suburban areas to support the population, plus, with the economic crash people will go where the work is. There also isn't the medical facilities in smaller communities. The neighboring county to mine has 3 ICU beds for the entire county, most the other counties in my state have 0 beds and only small clinics. The nearest actual ER can be up to 6 hours away and is often in another state.
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That might be the case in Utah or out west in general, where your cities are pretty suburban anyway (ignoring SF and LA), but in the north east there is quite a bit of stuff right outside of major cities due to the benefit of cheaper land and NYC, Stamford, Boston, etc... being near enough that there is a good talent pool.

Then you have stuff like the RPK in NC and while Raleigh-Durham is technically urban, it's a heck of a lot more suburban in general than even Philly, which is barely a city by my standards. Also don't forget about remote work, this pandemic showed many companies that it is indeed possible to do 100% remote for many jobs and they can save a ton on office space.
93Flareside said:
I like driving, but commuting to places for so many things sucks a lot. driving for fun and driving to commute are different things.
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Come live in NYC and take the metro to work for a month, you will appreciate the fuck out of your car.
 
As I'm writing this, 80km/h is the legal speed limit when you're towing an unbraked (up to 750kg GVWR) trailer. Anything faster than that is considered reckless, dangerous and against the law and you should be ASHAMED of yourself for putting your fellow motorists at risk if you dare go faster.

Until the first of june this year, that is. After that 100km/h is fine.

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Everyone remembers that the Probe was intended to be a FWD replacement for the Mustang, right? Apparently GM considered doing the same thing with the Camaro/Firebird.
 
Talk me out of this. Why shouldn't I be looking at Cadillac Cateras?

3.0L V6 RWD but it only came with a 4-speed automatic. Unlike the British market where they were used as police cars and had manual transmissions, they weren't sold with that option here. With that in mind, what else? It gives me Lincoln LS vibes but with a worse interior. Nobody remembers them so they're worth as much as any boring 90s sedan.

Built in Germany because Opel Omega.
 
They were objectively terrible cars with horrible electrical problems ranging from sensors to shorts in the wiring. The seals were prone to failure to a degree that mixing fluids could grenade the engine, the interiors were garbage, the build quality sucked and for the price you could buy an Acura that will run until the end of time.
 
Blind_Io said:
They were objectively terrible cars with horrible electrical problems ranging from sensors to shorts in the wiring. The seals were prone to failure to a degree that mixing fluids could grenade the engine, the interiors were garbage, the build quality sucked and for the price you could buy an Acura that will run until the end of time.
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But but but...buy American?
 
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