RS Washington Post article

Thanks for posting. A nice article about a nice man.

Thanks. I thought I’d read it all but new info there.

Also, a town of 42,000 probably can’t support a car free zone, economically. There’s a decades old history of American towns trying car free zones and failing. Not that it never works out.

Can't knock him, good man.

Good luck with the piazza. There's a pedestrian only drag in downtown Charlottesville. When I was there the last time on a midweek day (011/12?), it was pretty quiet and quite a few of the premises were vacant. Hopefully it has changed.

From the article;

He’s also anti-points and anti-miles, refusing to sign up for airline
loyalty programs because he believes they bully us into complicating
our lives.

One of many points in the article that stuck out for me. I tried a search of his blogs trying to find any mention of why he thinks this, but couldn't find anything. Bullying? Complicating?

Allan, he probably doesn't need to "complicate" things with miles/points since he can afford to pay whatever the price is for the ticket he wants. Not knocking Rick, but miles/points help a lot of people afford travel.

Good luck with the piazza. There's a pedestrian only drag in downtown
Charlottesville. When I was there the last time on a midweek day
(011/12?), it was pretty quiet and quite a few of the premises were
vacant. Hopefully it has changed.

It's definitely a utopic vision not shared by everyone. The Town of Banff, Alberta has made 2 blocks of Main Street a pedestrian only zone the past few years during the summer months. I love it and business love it, but residents filed a petition earlier this year to make it stop. The main complaint is that it results in increased traffic through neighbourhoods and could block off an exit route needed during a potential wildfire evacuation. Meanwhile, Parks Canada is opposed because it promotes commercialization of the area; too late on that one, 30,000 people already visit main street every day during the summer months.

So many of you commenting have never actually been to downtown Edmonds. His suggestion is really very doable for a two to three block stretch. Most people already park on side streets and walk in to shop. Plenty of alternate routes for thru traffic. Edmonds has a very small downtown business area and is primarily a transportation hub (Ferries and train) and a residential area.

Carol, I do agree that every town needs to evaluate its own situation, my point about using Banff as an example is that there is more than one side to a story.

I have heard him speak to the anti-points/miles issue before, and I think I understand his point. If you're in a loyalty program, the desire to earn points leads one to prefer the familiar and known products. So people tend to stay in the same hotel chains, fly the same airlines, etc., whether or not they are the most advantageous for a specific situation. For example, there are often questions posted here, with the most convoluted and time inefficient flight itineraries, losing travel days in backtracking, because they have miles. Maybe staying at a Marriott in Rome is great because it's so familiar and American, but not for everyone.

It's just his opinion, but I dont think it's unprincipled.

Info & opinion from a Stanford finance professor -

The United States now has some of the highest credit card processing costs in the world, typically at 2 percent to 2.25 percent of every purchase. This is eight to nine times as much as the prevailing swipe fee in the European Union. The vast majority of merchants pass these costs on to consumers by charging more for their products — regardless of how one pays.
The result? Lower-income consumers are forced to pay higher prices on the goods they buy, but they rarely receive any benefit from rewards programs, according to the Federal Reserve, which has been tracking the distributional effects of card rewards.

My guess is that Stan's assessment of RS's anti-point and mileage views is accurate.

My point of view is different. R.S. promotes leisure travel. As a frequent business overseas traveler to Asia, I appreciate the upgrades, personal recognition, and service of my chosen airline. Flying out of ORD, I don't have to find circuitous routes to maximize miles and points. Same with hotel loyalties garnered from business travel. Not all travel is optional or for pleasure.

My travel style and the reasons I travel have evolved through the years. RS reminds me of my mindset from my student European backpacking days. No problem with it - just no longer my sole approach.

Thanks for sharing! It was a fun read. There are a lot of smallish towns that have created a "pedestrian zone" in the core. I live near one - Pearl Street in Boulder which does have a bit of a European feel.

Thank you for gifting the forum with this article - very kind of you.

I would love to see him succeed with his little piazza in Edmonds. But I am not too optimistic about it happening. Seattle tried that for awhile, closing one block of Pine Street in 1989 in the downtown retail area by Westlake Plaza to create Westlake Park. It did make a nice pedestrian zone, but the adjacent stores, including Nordstrrom,said it was hurting business, and the street was re-opened to traffic in 1997 after it was put to a public vote. Now Westlake Park has a street running right through it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Street#:~:text=The%20one%2Dblock%20section%20of,June%202020%20George%20Floyd%20protests.

As for the miles and points controversy, I will just suggest that the people who end up with convoluted and illogical flight itineraries are going about it wrong. You need to plan way ahead (almost a year in advance) to get the flights you want in most mileage programs—-the award seats are limited and book up quickly after their release on popular routes.

I completely agree that staying in an American style Marriott cookie-cutter hotel in Rome would be a shame, with the lost opportunity for a more local Italian experience. However, the Marriott portfolio includes not only their own brand but a number of “autograph collection”, “design”, or other similarly designated boutique hotels that are locally owned and managed but affiliated with Marriott for booking purposes.

We spent our arrival night in Rome at this lovely little hotel 2 blocks from the Villa Borghese grounds on a recent trip, courtesy of Marriott points:

https://www.theregencyrome.it/en/

We enjoyed a welcome drink of Prosecco at their bar and good conversation with the barkeep and another guest, both Italian. And then went for a late dinner at the little place up the street where the hotel employees dine, filled with Italians and no English on the menu.

We also enjoyed 2 free nights in Milan at this over-the -top modern hotel literally just steps from the Duomo (I counted 55):

https://www.straf.it/en/

They upgraded us at check-in to a room with a balcony with an amazing view of the Duomo, to thank us for our “loyalty”.

And in London we enjoyed several nights at the elegant and historic St. Ermin’s hotel, where Churchill met with his teams in the group known as the SOE.

https://www.sterminshotel.co.uk/

https://www.sterminshotel.co.uk/about/our-history

This stay was not free, but was affordable for us with our Marriott points discount.

I'm with Lola. I recently stayed free for three nights in Madrid at an excellent 4-5 star property thanks to previously earned rewards points with a European "chain". None of the properties in that chain were "cookie-cutter".

I find that RS tends to generalize quite a bit in trying to promote his version of travel.