ANOTHER REASON THAT LIVING IN A CITY IS GOOD

My love of National Geographic, my business approach to life, my innate Taiwanese frugality, and my perspective on urban Christianity have collided on today’s topic: savings to my pocket and to the environment because I live in a city and walk everywhere. Consider, if you will, the following regular commutes I have each week, in comparison to similar commutes if I lived in the suburbs, in terms of my outlay of time and money and in terms of natural resources and pollution (if you’re really nerdy, you must know that I estimated 30MPH and $2/gallon of gas):

5 trips per week to work:
· me in the city = 5 minutes one way = 43 hours/year + no gas = $0
· me in the suburbs = 30 minutes one way = 260 hours/year + 390 gallons of gas = $780

church on Sunday morning:
· me in the city = 8 minutes one way = 14 hours/year + no gas = $0
· me in the suburbs = 20 minutes one way = 35 hours/year + 52 gallons of gas = $104

Bible study on Wednesday morning:
· me in the city = 6 minutes one way = 10 hours/year + no gas = $0
· me in the suburbs = 20 minutes one way = 35 hours/year + 52 gallons of gas = $104

Prayer meeting on alternate Monday evenings:
· me in the city = 3 minutes one way = 5 hours/year + no gas = $0
· me in the suburbs = 20 minutes one way = 17 hours/year + 26 gallons of gas = $52

2 trips per week to school:
· me in the city = 12 minutes one way = 42 hours/year + no gas = $0
· me in the suburbs = 20 minutes one way = 69 hours/year + 52 gallons of gas = $104

1-2 urban runs + 3-4 at-home workouts per week vs. 5 trips to the gym/track:
· me in the city = 0 minutes one way = 0 hours/year + no gas = $0
· me in the suburbs = 20 minutes one way = 173 hours/year + 260 gallons of gas = $520

an average of 2 business or personal trips downtown via public transportation vs. car:
· me in the city = 15 minutes one way = 52 hours/year + no gas + 208 tokens = $270
· me in the suburbs = 15 minutes one way = 52 hours/year + 52 gallons of gas + 104 parking fees @ $3 each = $416

So let’s add this all up for a typical year:
· me in the city = 166 hours + no gas + 208 tokens = $270
· me in the suburbs = 641 hours + 884 gallons of gas + 104 parking fees = $2080

So living in the city means 166 more hours of outdoor exercise, 475 more hours to myself, and $1810 more in my pocket. It also means 884 less gallons of gas consumed, 641 hours less worth of pollution belching out of my car, 641 hours less wear and tear on my car, 641 hours of one less car clogging up the roads and 641 hours less of me crammed inside my car. So many benefits on so many levels. City 1, Burbs 0.