How to Save Time and Money

In this post I will talk about walkability. I believe it’s an interesting perspective on everyone’s day-to-day operations. Today Americans measure distance in time, not miles. When one looks up how far the location of a restaurant is they are not interested in the amount of miles. They want to know the number of minutes.

The closer a person lives to their day-to-day activities the less time they need to spend traveling to and from them. They save time on travel and they have more time to spend on leisure with their friends and family. Basically, if you can walk somewhere conveniently, then that place is considered to be “walkable.”  Also, the amount of money and carbon emissions one can save by not owning a car is astonishing after one does the math. If a location is accessible by public transportation then it’s degree of “walkablility” is higher than a location that is only accessible by car.

I am currently reading “Reshaping Metropolitan America” by Arthur Nelson. In his work Nelson examines demographic changes over the past century and touches on opportunities for the future.  It’s a great read, and here is the bottom line. Walkability is the future.

There are enough detached single-family homes on the market today to fill our need for them until 2030. During the twentieth century the baby boomer generation built tons of McMansions on huge lots with many bedrooms. Now their kids are old enough to move out, and they want to live in cities. People are willing to accept higher rent prices for smaller units in buildings with amenities like gyms, grocery stores, swimming pools, and places to entertain. This is because they can spend less time traveling, and more time doing the things they want to do.

Furthermore, the value of the average American’s home equity fell from $200,000 in 2006 to less than $78,000 in 2008. It is extremely unlikely that the equity values will ever return to those levels because the market simply demands a different type of housing.

On it’s most basic level I believe walkability needs to be taken into consideration by all young undergrads looking for their first job after graduation. It’s simple. To cut down on your throughput time you should simply move closer to work.

Source: http://islandpress.org/reshaping-metropolitan-america

4 thoughts on “How to Save Time and Money

  1. While being able to walk places is super nice and makes transportation really cheap, I think a lot of people prefer to be in a more secluded area, like the suburbs, especially families. Although you can save a lot of money on transportation by living close to work, you are probably going to pay more for living there. I think there are benefits to living either way and it is more based on preference, but living close definitely saves time and, as we all know, time is money.

  2. Modern Day America has definitely become more obsessed with convenience, which has boosted our technology, and prices people are willing to pay for things. People want to live closer to a wide array of places that will fill their needs. Although I am a fan of living closer to your workplace, I think we still have to take into account how you, personally manage your work life balance. By living closer to your workplace, people seem more prone to spending more time than they normally would at work because of its convenience to home. I think as a whole, the idea for Americans to be able to get to places with alternative methods other than driving has really taken over society and the term walk-ability should be measured by any means of transportation besides driving. All of society should take advantage of the idea of living near your wants because it benefits everyone. We have begun with bikes, it is only a matter of time walking will become the new popular transportation for society.

  3. You have brought up an interesting topic. The majority of us live in a fast paced society, and we are accustomed to have no life but our jobs. In my opinion, those who walk gain more in the long run vs. those that drive. Spending hours in a traffic weekly, we are adding more strain, on our shoulders legs and overall body. In addition to that there is wasted time. Time that could have been spent with our loved ones. There is an old saying “Time is money.” And in today’s world that saying makes more sense than ever. In the United States at least in the last few decades it was all about having a huge house, driving a big car, and no one cared about the distance they traveled, and how much it cost. However and thankfully, more of us are ready to adjust our life styles accordingly, for example many people are living near their job location, and accept smaller things, such as trading gas guzzling trucks for efficient transportation. Or riding bicycles and scooters as means of transportation. Overall, young adults especially those who work nine hours a day sitting in an office are in grave danger because of lack of physical activities. But, as you suggested walkability could help to solve that problem.

  4. Interesting way to look at reducing throughput time.
    I definitely agree that once we move out most new graduates will want to live in the city and be near all the sights and sounds the city has to offer. But I don’t think everybody wants to walk when they’re in the city, I think it is personal preference. Don’t get me wrong it is nice to be able to walk out your door and everything is within a 5-15 min walk. But its going to take a lot more than living closer to work to give up my car.

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