Via Planetizen:
A study by The Corporation for National and Community Service finds a correlation between longer commute times and decreasing volunteerism. This agrees with a correlation that sociologist Robert Putnam reported in his book on declining social capital: Bowling Alone.
Portland of course was the counter-example in his book. We also have declining average commutes (from 10 miles in 1990 to 7 miles in 2000). And I wonder how the level of activism in our bicycle community might tie into this correlation?
One response to “Long Commutes Undermine Social Structures”
I think the level of activism in our bicycle community has to do with the fact that a lot of people that are activists for other causes, (global warming, peak oil, land use, etc,) ride bicycles because it is a good solution to those problems. As such, a lot of bicycle activism isn’t just to promote bicycling, (although, I admit, bicycling is fun too,) but it is part of a solution to bigger problems… I make the comparison to some of my friends that care about those problems as well: those problems are “easier” to not think too hard about, and just drive a car instead, and those people are more in the “I should do something” than the “I am doing something” category… As such, I’d say that simply riding a bike is a form of activism in itself, and it is a very small step to go from there, to showing up at a few meetings…