[HN Gopher] America's Forgotten Filling Stations
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America's Forgotten Filling Stations
Author : Thevet
Score : 48 points
Date : 2021-05-29 02:53 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.eater.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.eater.com)
| Inhibit wrote:
| That was as long and rambly as a country drive. The author covers
| lots of incidental details like segregation and women owning the
| roadside diners.
|
| I was reading with an eye for shortcomings and enjoyed the
| article. Well written!
| datameta wrote:
| I was suprised to learn that Tea Room moreso than advertising
| tea was advertising a women-friendly environment to the new
| generation since apparently a woman would often not be welcome
| at a restaurant unaccompanied by man.
|
| Also the Green Book is mentioned. It was a guide detailing the
| location of black-friendly establishments which was especially
| invaluable when going for long distance drives in unknown
| territory. Published all the way up to '66!
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Motorist_Green_Book
| BigHackerNuts wrote:
| They're forgotten for a reason... they're just gas stations...
| who cares
| Invisible-Hand wrote:
| I strongly believe that charging stations need to become
| entertainment complexes, particularly if you're going to have
| them on highways. You have a captive audience for however long it
| takes to "fill up" an electric car, you need to offer services to
| fill the time/make profit off of the customers while they're
| there. Get people loyal to your brand, your specific offerings of
| entertainment while you wait for your car to charge. Until we see
| those sort of things pop up to deal with the fill up time
| relative shortcoming of electric cars on long trips, I don't
| think electric cars will have truly "made it".
| paxys wrote:
| The pattern I see emerging is that people prefer to make more
| frequent 15-20 minute stops along the way rather than stop for
| a "full charge". That's enough to stretch your legs, use the
| restroom, buy snacks. Not very different from gas stops today.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| bhauer wrote:
| On long road trips, the ~20 to ~25 minute stops for charging go
| by in a blink. You get out, stretch your legs, hydrate, maybe
| grab a bite to eat, use the restroom, and before you know it
| the charging is done. Sure, some stations like the Kettleman
| City Supercharger have a coffee bar and some other
| accoutrements, but you're not really there long enough to enjoy
| more than a quick walk through.
|
| You could fire up Netflix on the car's screen, but most Netflix
| shows are longer than a charging session.
|
| Maybe a future Quibi clone will find a new home in the Tesla
| app store.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Sometimes the charge is faster than our break, and I have to
| move the car from the Supercharger stall before idle fees
| kick in. Annoying in a good way.
| Gibbon1 wrote:
| On trips I used to time stops for future reference. It's
| surprising how long they take. Sure you can gas up a car in
| 5 minutes. But in practice it's usually a lot longer. 15 to
| 20 minutes is more common. For food, 30-45 minutes. Sit
| down dinner is often an hour and a half.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Sounds like you just described places like Buc-ees.
| burlesona wrote:
| Yeah I was thinking this too. It's not the "chill and sip a
| coffee" experience, but for a stretch break on a long highway
| trip, Buc-ees is perfect. Interesting food, weird shopping,
| high quality people watching. Good place to walk around for
| 15-20 minutes (within the context of being on the side of a
| major highway).
| neverartful wrote:
| I disagree. Buc-ees wants people to stop, buy gas, buy food
| and drink, restroom stop, maybe buy a souvenir and then be on
| their way. If Buc-ees wanted people to hang out and make
| themselves comfortable they would have tables and chairs for
| people to sit and eat the food that they bought. They have no
| chairs meant for customer sitting -- only some to buy and
| take with you.
| dylan604 wrote:
| That's not been my experience at all. Every Buc-ees I've
| been to has a seating section of tables meant for this very
| thing. This section is located near where they are selling
| sandwhiches, ice cream, etc, and opposite where the store
| section is located. Maybe these are newer stores than the
| ones you've visited?
| tomjen3 wrote:
| The people I know who own electric cars can sit in them and
| watch a movie while it charges. That is not much of a captive
| audience.
| Eyght wrote:
| This makes me curious of how the gradual change from gas- to
| charging stations will affect these places. I could see clusters
| of charging stations gathering in the same place and causing a
| resurgence of shopping centers, maybe even malls, in those areas.
| rootbear wrote:
| I had the same thought. It takes time for even a fast charger
| to "top up" an electric car, so taking a half hour or more for
| lunch seems natural. They might even serve tea...
| danans wrote:
| It could even revitalize these places - make them destinations
| in their own right - if the charging is paired with good food
| and a nice setting.
|
| For example, a lot of California highway waypoints function
| that way now, like the saloons and restaurants near the entry
| points to Yosemite.
|
| It would be a temporary boost that would have to sustain itself
| on its non-charging-related merits when charging itself becomes
| ubiquitous though, as even the original restaurants/gas-
| stations in the article were based on the then new novelty of
| countryside driving.
|
| > resurgence of shopping centers, maybe even malls, in those
| areas
|
| I doubt it - you're mostly describing outlet shops which are
| also affected by the decline of brick and mortar retail. Thanks
| to the internet and e-commerce, people don't often go on long
| drives with the objective of shopping, but instead are seeking
| out distinct experiences (think cute tourist towns with "local"
| feeling shops) which may involve shopping, not the same mall
| experience they can already get nearby their homes.
| BigHackerNuts wrote:
| Is HN pining for the days of malls now?! Lol
| BigHackerNuts wrote:
| Is HN pining for the return of malls now?! Lol
| clairity wrote:
| consider that that implies consolidation (malls need much more
| capital than stations) and likely another monopolized market.
| gas stations, for all their faults, still provide an avenue for
| hard-working folks to build a small business without getting
| squeezed by financialized gatekeepers. it's why immigrants
| gravitate toward such businesses, and how dynamic economies are
| perpetuated. you can already see the stranglehold by big
| capital on charging networks start to take shape.
| [deleted]
| pomian wrote:
| We used drive across America - the USA and Canada regularly, for
| over 50 years. In the last 10 years the annual drives, especially
| up and down the west coast or inland up and down (I15 for
| example), have changed completely.
|
| There used to be great country diners along the way, a real treat
| after driving all night to pull in to a gas station, eat a
| country breakfast. At night, there would be steak houses, burger
| joints, chili shacks, taquieras, and so on. Now, there are only,
| these mega stops, with fast food chains, all of them the same.
| You can drive 2000 miles and chew on identical food and cultural
| experience. A big part of the pleasure of travel has been
| destroyed, not to mention the health. What used to be culturally
| local home cooking, is now the the basest junk food, with hardly
| any food value, or pleasure. I would hate to be a truck driver
| nowadays. Now you have to drive away from the highway, sometimes
| miles, to find an eatery.
|
| It would be nice if that changed? But I think the big chain gas
| stations- together with the big car companies, will lobby for
| special funding from the government, as they seem to do, to add
| charging infrastructure. And a chance for local cultural identity
| and food, will be passed into history, again.
| 1123581321 wrote:
| I would attribute this perception to state and county highways
| increasingly being used as last resorts when interstates are
| not available. The major interstate stops are newer and more
| planned out. The diners are still there but are increasingly
| outnumbered as commercial infrastructure is continually built.
| I agree that locally owned, unique stops are a better
| experience than a series of Casey's and the like and hope that
| Americans will become more adventurous again, which could cause
| capital investment to return to unique establishments.
| kasey_junk wrote:
| Conversely with the rise of Sikh driving culture in the US the
| last few times I stopped at truck stops I got much higher
| quality food (samosas & butter chicken thank you!) and was able
| to fuel up on good quality tea.
|
| Those things weren't available ten years ago. I'd argue over
| the last 10 years highway food has gotten better in the US.
| sgt wrote:
| Samosas is quality food?
| handrous wrote:
| I think it's a way that inflation's expressed itself. The only
| way to keep prepared food affordable for ordinary people having
| an ordinary meal has been relentless application of economies
| of scale and making the food worse. That keeps the prices close
| to "the same" but if you find food that tastes like even mid-
| tier fast-food in 1995 it costs 3x what it did then, not 1.5-2x
| like the current fast food joints. That's because they squeezed
| more money out of economies of scale, and made the food worse.
|
| A place serving a decent home-style or local-diner-style meal
| that isn't just microwaved can't compete with the Pizza Hut
| express or a McDonalds for the money of people just popping off
| the highway for a bite and a fill-up. They're too slow and they
| (have to!) charge too much. Plus land and rent's getting more
| expensive all the time, in excess of broader consumer
| inflation, and has been for a while (many fast food chains are
| also plays for real-estate value, as I understand it, which is
| another way they can afford to undercut local competition)
| jws wrote:
| My strategy for end of day meals when driving long distances is
| to look for a non-chain brew pub in a smaller town. You are
| going to find a business that is the passion of the owner and
| that sets a certain minimum threshold for food quality. Plus if
| they felt they needed to make their own beer they will probably
| be paying attention to food instead of selling Sysco glop
| bucket #6.
|
| Override this strategy if you see a non-chain restaurant that
| hasn't had its exterior updated in 3 decades with good reviews.
| They probably have something good going on.
|
| Accept that sometimes this strategy will fail.
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(page generated 2021-05-30 23:01 UTC)