Reply #60: America isn't set up like Europe, with a few exceptions.

[DFW]

If America were like most of New England, that would be one thing, but
more of it is like Dallas or L.A., which exploded to the sprawl they are
taking into account that everyone had a car and would use it without a
second thought. Now that it costs them $70 (or whatever it is there) to
fill their tanks, it doesn't look quite so good. I just filled my car here
today and it was only 3/4 empty) and it cost me 76 euros, or about $120.

Obesity is less of a problem here, too, as people work off the crap they
eat (junk food here, too) just getting to where they want to be. My wife
grew up on a bicycle, and it is still her transportation of choice. It is
no accident that at age 56, she still has a figure like a model, and at
5'10" weighs about 130 pounds. She works it all off before she has a chance
to put it on, and if any of you know how good German pastry is, you know it
isn't because she puts herself on a starvation (or any other) diet.

We were in L.A. a couple of years ago, and she said it was the most awful place
she could ever imagine living.