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When, to your estimation, did cities become “car dependent”? Most cities have been car centric since long before Gen Z. Real wage growth has been stalled out s
by next_xibalba 3y ago
When, to your estimation, did cities become “car dependent”? Most cities have been car centric since long before Gen Z.
Real wage growth has been stalled out since the 1970s, several generations before Gen Z.
- sanderjd 3y agoBy my estimation, the problems highlighted by the comment you replied to indeed started around the 70s. I think what happened recently is that the internet and social media came along as the perfect, but also terrible, solution to those problems. I think the couple generations in between experienced the problems more as boredom and ennui. Indeed, "gen x" is pretty famous for this, and I think "millenials" are just a mish-mash of the late stage of "gen x" and the early stage of the "zoomer" generations.
- foxyv 3y agoI would estimate that it started with Brown v. Board of Education in the mid 1950s. As racial integration started we saw "White Flight" from city centers. Naturally, those people exiting the cities wanted a way to enter the cities for jobs, education, entertainment, etc... So then we saw the construction of Urban Freeways in the 60s and 70s. Before then, cars were unaffordable for almost everyone. It was kind of like owning an airplane nowadays. It was doable, but most didn't bother unless they really needed one since there were more affordable alternatives and you could walk everywhere you needed to go anyways. Since then, things have only gotten worse as we slowly make cars the only viable method of transportation through land use requirements and neglected infrastructure.