Public Transportation
This is something I love not only about France, but everywhere we have visited in Europe. Matthew and I are able to survive with just one car because of the excellent network of transportation in Clermont. I walk, take the bus, or take the tram everywhere I go.
In the US, the few times I used public transportation have been in Atlanta. While I have occasionally found it useful to take the Marta, you definitely have to take into consideration the time of day you ride it. Matthew and I have ridden very late at night coming out of downtown after "The Peach Drop" on New Year's Eve, or a football game in the Georgia Dome. The later it gets, the sketchier the people get. This is not true in Clermont. Everyone rides the bus. Business men in their 3-piece suits. Little old French ladies in their fur hats and high heels. Students (lots of students, there are no school buses, so the public buses are the school buses for the students). And me!
This past summer, Amy and Trey came to visit us. We spent a long weekend in Barcelona, where they too were bit by the public transportation bug. We took the metro everywhere we went. It was so nice not to worry about driving, finding and paying for parking, or who was going to be the DD.
I know it would take a lot of planning, and A LOT of money, but public transportation is something that the US should definitely start investing in.
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