“Leaving your car somewhere while you run your errands isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. ”

However, I would take it a step further and say that owning a car is not a right, but a privilege. And, it’s a privilege that comes with many consequences for our community and our world –the availability of parking, and its related costs are only one.

I come from the midwest where it’s not unusual to have to go great distances to run errands. It’s sometimes shocking to me that people on the east end drive to places that they could easily walk to. I have a friend that occasionally drives to work, two blocks from her house. She takes up one of the spaces someone else could use and then has a hard time finding a place on the street where she lives when she returns home! She is fully capable of walking, but doesn’t.

If you ask me, everyone healthy enough to walk or bike should locate their home on a map, and draw a mile-wide circle around it. Challenge yourself to never drive within this circle if walking or biking could get you there. Sure, there are times when you need to carry or rush, or weather interferes — those could be exceptions.

By the way, I use the library all the time. I walk to it, or take the bus. Funny how parking isn’t an issue.