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It should be noted that this was not an accident, but the result of a concerted effort by corporate interests with major influence in state and federal gov't vi
by bsanr2 6y ago
It should be noted that this was not an accident, but the result of a concerted effort by corporate interests with major influence in state and federal gov't via professional connections and their control of the labor market. This not only involved the dismantling of existing, car-agnostic infrastructure - clearly, as most major American cities existed and were designed to provide for the needs of its residents before the existence of the automobile - but also represented yet another chapter in the history of collusion between private and gov't entities in the interest of maintaining America's toxic race and class order.
- bottled_poe 6y agoI would be interested in reading more about this topic if you have any recommended references?
- nullstyle 6y agoI'm not the GP, but I think https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_and_Life_of_Great_American_Cities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_and_Life_of_Great_Am... might be a good fit if you're interested in this arena.
- PascLeRasc 6y agoCheck out "The War on Cars", it's a fantastic podcast: https://thewaroncars.org/ https://thewaroncars.org/
- benplumley 6y agoThe history and politics of this shift were discussed quite thoroughly in Happy City by Charles Montgomery: https://thehappycity.com/the-book/ https://thehappycity.com/the-book/
- Anon1096 6y ago>most major American cities existed and were designed to provide for the needs of its residents before the existence of the automobile Most major American cities that existed before the car still have public transportation. NYC is a prime example of somewhere you can live without a car. Most other cities still have functioning bus systems, though not great. It's the suburbs where you really need a car, and the development of suburbs was spurred in large part by the car. So you have your historical order wrong.
- bsanr2 6y agoSuburbs aren't cities, though it's true that the modern suburb owes its existence to "urban renewal" initiatives which dovetailed with auto infrastructure development (hence the freeway which cuts through the historically black quarter of so many cities, which it connects to said suburbs). Additionally, many of the older small towns had public transit into cities via rail/streetcar.
- rhino369 6y agoMaybe that explains cities that were dense and got less dense. But mostly it’s the suburbs and small towns where cars are totally necessary. Those areas were settled less densely because everyone already had a car. They never had subways and bus routes. Are there any first world cities that substantially grew in area since 1920 that aren’t primary automotive cities?