I decided years ago, probably around 2012-2013, that I wanted to change my lifestyle. As an American it was tough, living in LA it was tougher, but I set a goal for myself: "every year I want to drive fewer miles than the last year."

The first year it was insanely easy and I cut my driving to less than half. Every year after that, the improvements were slower and required more personal change, but thay change was definitely growth. It was important enough to me that I relocated many times, but finally now I am happy. I have four bus lines within a three minute walk from my house, I have two shared mobility services in my area, all of my area buses have bike racks, there's a BRT corridor a mile away, and I just added a new front suspension fork to my bike. At some point this year I'm either getting an ebike, or converting my current bike into one. There's a nice pub, three awesome restaurants and three crappy ones, a salon, a local grocer, a gym, bakery, clothing store, and a coffee shop within 4 minute walk from my house, but it's cheaper to get groceries on my way home from work, which is easy because there's two grocery stores adjacent to my bus routes.

I went from driving 15-17k miles a year, to putting merely hundreds of miles a year on my personal vehicle (I rent trucks for home renovation work and rent cars for road trips). I only still own a car for fun, which makes my inner child giddy. I could easily sell it, but then what would I lie underneath in the summer, drinking beers while my friends hang out and hand me tools every now and then?

For me, the growth of NJB is vindication. It's like, fuck yea, finally someone cooler and more charismatic than me is on my side. I love it.