I’m hoping for a discussion on how you all get your groceries.
How we, as people, interact with place is largely determined by geographic access to basic human needs — like food. But our behavior is also influenced by our spatial patterns, preferences, and perceptions of distance.
For example, a grocery store may be within walking distance, but one may prefer to drive or find it more convenient as part of a larger driving pattern. Or there may be no grocery stores within walking distance; or if there are, they may not be worth walking to. Getting there by walking, transit, or rolling may also be uncomfortable, dangerous, or scary.
Here are some questions in the form of polls to get the conversation going. If there are other responses you’d like to include, or want to critique mine, start a discussion! If these prompt you to consider other questions, throw them into the mix!
So much here and so little time. But I will try to address "why it's so hard to pin down what's behind travel choice behavior?" and "how predictable is individual behavior in the face of choice?".
Let's start with the second one - choice is highly predictable in the aggregate and extremely unpredictable at the individual level. And the reason it's unpredictable - why it's hard to pin down what's behind it - is because so much depends on individual attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, . These are hard to observe and can vary from individual to individual in ways that are not necessarily correlated with the easily observed things like age and income of the traveler, and cost and time of the trip. Layer in constraints that are in theory observable but in practice costly to collect and that vary in a chaotic fashion from trip to trip and day to day - one car being in for repairs, needing to drop a kid at soccer practice and take a parent to the doctor, knowing you have an after-work event today - plus the effects of habits that are hard to dislodge, and it gets hard to collect enough data to understand the full choice process for an individual, and then even if you did, there would remain things that are truly random that you'll never capture in a model.
I answered "Other" on the first question, but what I really wanted was to select more than 1. My husband does most of the grocery shopping and he prefers starting at Costco then hitting Whole Foods and Trader Joes on the way home - so he drives. When I shop, I tend to combine it with other stops on a bike trip (like office commute or community meetings or events).
If Nancy is going to shift her focus to issues here in CA, I have a long list of what has only gotten worse since moving here in 2013 😊
I am told by the East Coast native who lives with me that it’s different (better) in the East. Maybe that perspective is illuminated through the rose tinted glasses of past residences?
Walks to the studio require constant vigilance to keep safe. As a pedestrian I am apparently invisible, but then traffic laws - most notably stop signs and red lights- aren’t adhered to here- so my expectations that right of ways for pedestrian apply are low.
It’s a challenge to find organic and other grocery preferences within easy walking distance. Heavy items are always planned and more frequent trips mitigates heavier loads.
Going on 10 years without driving a car. I wish I could say the time span has seen improvements and a more friendlier pedestrian infrastructure, but the opposite is true. Sidewalks and safe walking paths are not prevalent. Even in a “progressive” city like San Francisco. In tax preparation I am always asked about electric car purchases but there is no tax incentive for choosing not to drive at all.
Jan 27, 2023·edited Jan 27, 2023Liked by Brad Weed
I walk to Pike Place Market or Uwajimaya mostly, pushing or pulling my rolling wire basket with a handle that's too short because I'm a tall person. Will prefers walking to the new PCC on 4th Ave, carrying groceries home in his Ortlieb backpack (the rolling wire basket is an affront to his masculinity, I think, and even shorter for him). But I also get groceries by bike and car sometimes, transit less so. I wanted the choice to stack rank and multi select!
So much here and so little time. But I will try to address "why it's so hard to pin down what's behind travel choice behavior?" and "how predictable is individual behavior in the face of choice?".
Let's start with the second one - choice is highly predictable in the aggregate and extremely unpredictable at the individual level. And the reason it's unpredictable - why it's hard to pin down what's behind it - is because so much depends on individual attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, . These are hard to observe and can vary from individual to individual in ways that are not necessarily correlated with the easily observed things like age and income of the traveler, and cost and time of the trip. Layer in constraints that are in theory observable but in practice costly to collect and that vary in a chaotic fashion from trip to trip and day to day - one car being in for repairs, needing to drop a kid at soccer practice and take a parent to the doctor, knowing you have an after-work event today - plus the effects of habits that are hard to dislodge, and it gets hard to collect enough data to understand the full choice process for an individual, and then even if you did, there would remain things that are truly random that you'll never capture in a model.
Oh dear, Brad, I guess I should have taught you a little better on survey design. I'm lazy? Talk about a loaded question!
I answered "Other" on the first question, but what I really wanted was to select more than 1. My husband does most of the grocery shopping and he prefers starting at Costco then hitting Whole Foods and Trader Joes on the way home - so he drives. When I shop, I tend to combine it with other stops on a bike trip (like office commute or community meetings or events).
If Nancy is going to shift her focus to issues here in CA, I have a long list of what has only gotten worse since moving here in 2013 😊
I am told by the East Coast native who lives with me that it’s different (better) in the East. Maybe that perspective is illuminated through the rose tinted glasses of past residences?
Walks to the studio require constant vigilance to keep safe. As a pedestrian I am apparently invisible, but then traffic laws - most notably stop signs and red lights- aren’t adhered to here- so my expectations that right of ways for pedestrian apply are low.
It’s a challenge to find organic and other grocery preferences within easy walking distance. Heavy items are always planned and more frequent trips mitigates heavier loads.
Going on 10 years without driving a car. I wish I could say the time span has seen improvements and a more friendlier pedestrian infrastructure, but the opposite is true. Sidewalks and safe walking paths are not prevalent. Even in a “progressive” city like San Francisco. In tax preparation I am always asked about electric car purchases but there is no tax incentive for choosing not to drive at all.
I walk to Pike Place Market or Uwajimaya mostly, pushing or pulling my rolling wire basket with a handle that's too short because I'm a tall person. Will prefers walking to the new PCC on 4th Ave, carrying groceries home in his Ortlieb backpack (the rolling wire basket is an affront to his masculinity, I think, and even shorter for him). But I also get groceries by bike and car sometimes, transit less so. I wanted the choice to stack rank and multi select!
Usually we walk. Of course if what we're buying is too heavy to carry back, then we use the car.