Because parking that thing anywhere in DC would cost you $20 a pop, not to mention traffic congestion. However, if your commute to work options are: (i) drive from your home to your office and park at your employer's parking at no or nominal fees or (ii) drive from your home to the suburban transit station, transfer, pay fare, get out, walk to your office and do the reverse on your way back - it is clear that option (ii) has some nontrivial extra cost
> > ride transit instead of buying a car). Ethnic prejudice is also a factor
>that
> > contributes to this demand fragmentation.
>
>I doubt this too. You drive downtown depending on whether or not you
>can expect to easily park (which depends on where you are going),
>what the time difference is, and what you need to bring with you.
I am talking from experience. The popular name for "Light Rail" in Bmore suburbs is "Dark Rail" which is the reference to the skin color of the passengers. Another popular myth is that public transit brings crime from the city to the burbs - well entrenched in suburban mentality despite its obvious idiocy. I heard that lunacy repeated many times.
> > surrounding them (for a comparison - my energy in in urban apartment is
> > about $40/month comparing to about $250+ for a suburban home) . Yet the
>
>$250 a month!!!! you've got to be kidding.
Maybe if you're growing marijuana in the basement,
not that I have any special knowledge of such things.
Again, I know that from experience. People I know who live in the burbs pay in the vicinity of $150-$180 for gas (including heat during winter) $50 for electricity (or about $200-$220 if they have electric heat and ac), and about $30 for water. That ads up to about $250. With indoor marijuana growing (personal use, noncommerical): assume 2 halide lamps @1,000 W each * 15 hrs/day * 30days/mo = 900kWh/mo * $0.1 per kWh = $90/mo - cheap, comparing to more mainstream suburban amenities, such as heated pools, or heat loss due to shoddy construction.
wojtek