Shek's Footprint

Other than utilities, the biggest thing that leaves a sizable footprint on nature is to own and drive a car. My car usage has reduced to 20% from previous months since I have started riding a bicycle. A car is a wonderful invention and has certainly gone to improve the standard of living of man. The correlation goes that owning and using a car equals good standard of living and the better the car you own, the better is your image and higher is your standard of living. I own a fairly good car. It is a 2007 Saturn Aura XE, 3.5L V6 engine, leather, nifty electronics, great sound system, good comfort, lots of room and in general a good value for money. Moreover, I love driving a car and plan to autocross some day. So why is it that I enjoy not using it and I feel that my standard of living has improved since then?

I bought a bicycle and started riding it to have a more active lifestyle. The idea was to go to and from work on it. Gym memberships never worked for me and I have always enjoyed bicycling. The joy of not depending on my car was a surprise to me as I used it less and less. I started going to the grocery store on my bike, the DVD store, visiting friends, departmental store etc. I even went to the beach!

This proves to me that there is a disconnect between owning a car and having a higher standard of living. The fundamental definition of ‘standard of living’ needs to be addressed. (more…)

This post appears in my other blog. I have more to say about being environmentally conscious and bicycling and mundane things like that. So sheksfootprint was born.

Strip-malls are probably the most iconic sights of North America after SUV’s and McDonalds! Jacksonville FL probably is the Mecca of such iconic sights. The vastness of the city area has given the developers and planners untrammeled opportunities to build flat out inclusive of massive parking lots to park those gas guzzlers.

Even the more recent up-scale construction projects like the prestigious Town Center Mall is nothing but a glorified strip mall. You don’t create quality by replacing a Chinese Takie-Outie with a P.F. Changs and the mom-and-pop-Italian-restaurant by a Maggiano’s. In their defense, there is a prestigious condo complex attached to the mall that even in today’s market is selling at $300,000 plus prices. There is this one lane inside this strip mall that is brick paved with no cars and a little pond with colorful fish in it. Makes it look all cool and European. You almost want to wander into those streets and shop at the designer stores and be sure that they are paying for common area maintenance for these stylish streets and are charging you for it!

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