Urban Biomes

One of the things that I like the most about living where we do is that we're within walking distance of so many urban and suburban "biomes" -- different population levels and feels, from dense forest to downtown skyscrapers.

Our apartment is in a neighborhood that's reminiscent of suburban residential areas (though the houses are closer together). When I go running, I can go to the commercial-suburban-feeling strip malls and highways near Alewife and feel like I'm in the sprawling exurbs. Or I can go to almost the opposite extreme, the parks surrounding Fresh Pond, where I can be surrounded by trees and water and out of view of human-made structures. The Cambridge and Somerville squares have almost a small-town downtown feel. Stretching "walking distance" to a few miles, Allston is a bustling urban neighborhood. And then there's the financial district, full-scale city.

Everywhere else I've lived, and most places I could live, have a much more homogenous five-mile radius around them -- but variety is just one of many perks of living in the Boston area.

Getting There

One of the things I like most about living in the Boston area is how much easier it is to get from place to place than in other places I've lived. The city is pretty walkable in general, and most of the time, I can choose between five different methods of travel (walk, bike, drive, public transit, taxi), depending on the circumstances. Circumstances usually also dictate that one or more of those methods is totally stupid -- the weather is too nasty to walk, or I've left my bike somewhere, or I'm planning on drinking, or the bus doesn't go there, or a taxi is too expensive -- but given the plethora of options there's usually a good one that's obvious. Sometimes, however, circumstances collaborate to make my transportation choices much more obscure...

I'm currently hanging out near the Davis T stop, which is also about a 20 minute walk from my house. In a couple hours I am heading to somewhere else which is also accessible by T. My house is a 10-minute bus ride from the T (but the bus only runs every half hour).

I've also left my bike near the Harvard T stop with an underinflated tire; Harvard is a short T ride from Davis and a 20 minute walk/10 minute bike ride/10 minute bus ride (but the bus only runs every half hour) from my house, and I have a bike pump at my house.

PROBLEM: What is the optimal way to get from point A to point B, given that I also want to drop some stuff off/get some stuff at my house before arriving at point B? You may use scratch paper.

Tomorrow early in the morning I'm coming back to Davis. I'd hoped to get may bike back home by then so I could bike here, but that's seeming pretty unreasonable by now -- so I'll probably take the bus to Harvard (which is of course in the opposite direction from my destination), and then take the T to Davis. And that's why the MBTA should start bus service from West Cambridge to Davis.