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In reply to the discussion: On His Jobs Tour, Obama Touts Amazon Jobs That Are Literally Out Of Reach [View all]Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)... and about 40 miles south of me. The 'City' of Charleston, located in Bradley County, is 1 square mile, with a population of 658 people as of the 2011 census. There is a larger unincorporated area than there is City Limits. Needless to say, there is NO public transportation available anywhere near there, or in between the 40 miles that separate them from where I live. It's just a series of small towns inside the larger surrounding Counties, yet many people out where I live manage to get there every day. They also make it to the new Volkswagen Plant in Chattanooga.
Several get together and carpool, splitting the gas expenses (and the driving, for the others who own cars, too). People who don't own cars, or have cars but don't trust them to put the wear and tear on them, manage to get there, thanks to these carpools. I know this as a fact because my nephew used to work there, but he didn't have a vehicle. I used to drive him, and 3 other people, to work every day, then go pick them up at night. On days I didn't need my vehicle I would just let him take it and drive the others. They were able to work, finally save enough money, and two of them went in together on a used car and were then able to drive themselves.
Public transportation is a rarity in this state, found only in the largest cities like Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. I'm sure there may be a few other counties, but I couldn't name them without doing a lot more research. Even in the larger cities, the public transportation is limited in their routes. It's definitley not like when I lived in Homestead, Fla, where I could catch a Metro Bus, take it to a Metro-Rail station, take the Metro-Rail to the Tri-Rail station, and take the Tri-Rail all the way to West Palm Beach. Hell, it's not even like Atlanta's MARTA buses and rail system!
People who have spent their lives in the "Big Cities" could probably never fathom what it's like living in small towns or, as in my case, 'out in the sticks'... 15 miles, one way, to the nearest grocery store in 3 directions and over 20 miles in the 4th direction.
Ghost