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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 19, 2024

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Trying to force changes in consumer behavior that don't adequately meet the demands of the consumer doesn't usually work well.

even if they could use the exercise, you can’t expect people to walk 15 blocks just to go out to eat.

This is an example of Squareallworthy's Law of Societal Change.

To give some credit to Kraus, the shuttle idea wasn't bad on paper. The South Side is notoriously difficult to park in on weekend evenings with or without restrictions, and offering a free parking and shuttle service seemed like a no-brainer. Waiting for a shuttle is a minor inconvenience compared to circling blocks at low speed while dodging drunk pedestrians as you try to decide which parking space is the least questionable (I always had good luck parking in loading zones since people only see the "No Parking" and not the "6:00 am to 6:00 pm Except Sunday" part), and there's a significantly reduced chance that your car will be broken into/vandalized/hit by a drunk driver if it's in a garage. Using the shuttle would be the logical thing to do. It's just that there's weird psychology at play when it comes to parking; if the only free parking at Wal Mart was 100 yards from the door, that's where most people would park without batting an eye. If there's the theoretical chance of free parking closer, though, they'll circle the lot for 10 minutes to try to find it before parking 100 yards away. This includes people who are able-bodied and have no problem wandering the store for an hour. It's kind of like how in a grocery store we'll spend and inordinate amount of time looking at shit we don't plan on buying but we're all of a sudden in a hurry come checkout time. As for the garages at South Side Works, Kraus never suggested that people park there, I was just commenting that they were the only garages in the neighborhood but were too far away for anyone to want to use.