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The need for a car to do anything or go anywhere in most cities creates an implicit class divide. Your means of economic activity in any strata is dependent on

The need for a car to do anything or go anywhere in most cities creates an implicit class divide. Your means of economic activity in any strata is dependent on efficient transportation, which is unavailable to car-less people in most cities not either with an extremely dense downtown or great public transit, which are rare in the US.

rayiner 3y ago
Public transit creates a class divide between people who can afford to live near train stations or high-frequency bus lines, and people who cannot. This is true even in places with excellent public transit. And the bar for being able to cross that class divide is much higher than the cost of a second or third hand car. This is apparent if you just look around the country. Cities with good transit have far more inequality and visible class divides than suburban and rural America. My wife is from the Oregon coast, which is both poor and has no public transit to speak of. Virtually everyone has a car. They’re one of the main assets handed down in poor families. And the social hierarchy is extremely flat.
- atleastoptimal 3y ago
  The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, tends to be higher in rural vs. urban areas. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8562858/#:~:text=First%2C%20the%20mean%20level%20of,metropolitan%20counties%20across%20all%20periods https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8562858/#:~:tex....
  - rayiner 3y ago
    The issue isn’t income inequality but lifestyle inequality. Having a nice car versus a beater isn’t a big lifestyle difference in Iowa. Being able to afford to live near a subway station versus living on a bus line is a big lifestyle difference in NYC. Also, census “metro areas” don’t capture “transit dependent” areas. New York City has the highest GINI in the country: https://www.socialexplorer.com/blog/post/social-explorer-analysis-for-the-new-york-times-finds-manhattan-income-gap-exceeds-third-world-levels-13279 https://www.socialexplorer.com/blog/post/social-explorer-ana.... Boston, Chicago, and New York are also much higher than say Idaho.
    - atleastoptimal 3y ago
      NYC's high Gini coefficient I'd wager has more to do with it being the economic center of the world and its disproportionate billionaires than bus line vs. subway line disparity. Likewise Boston and Chicago, their inequality is driven by the economic force of the peaks, not the middle class/lower class.

rayiner 3y ago

Public transit creates a class divide between people who can afford to live near train stations or high-frequency bus lines, and people who cannot. This is true even in places with excellent public transit. And the bar for being able to cross that class divide is much higher than the cost of a second or third hand car. This is apparent if you just look around the country. Cities with good transit have far more inequality and visible class divides than suburban and rural America. My wife is from the Oregon coast, which is both poor and has no public transit to speak of. Virtually everyone has a car. They’re one of the main assets handed down in poor families. And the social hierarchy is extremely flat.

atleastoptimal 3y ago
The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, tends to be higher in rural vs. urban areas. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8562858/#:~:text=First%2C%20the%20mean%20level%20of,metropolitan%20counties%20across%20all%20periods https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8562858/#:~:tex....
- rayiner 3y ago
  The issue isn’t income inequality but lifestyle inequality. Having a nice car versus a beater isn’t a big lifestyle difference in Iowa. Being able to afford to live near a subway station versus living on a bus line is a big lifestyle difference in NYC. Also, census “metro areas” don’t capture “transit dependent” areas. New York City has the highest GINI in the country: https://www.socialexplorer.com/blog/post/social-explorer-analysis-for-the-new-york-times-finds-manhattan-income-gap-exceeds-third-world-levels-13279 https://www.socialexplorer.com/blog/post/social-explorer-ana.... Boston, Chicago, and New York are also much higher than say Idaho.
  - atleastoptimal 3y ago
    NYC's high Gini coefficient I'd wager has more to do with it being the economic center of the world and its disproportionate billionaires than bus line vs. subway line disparity. Likewise Boston and Chicago, their inequality is driven by the economic force of the peaks, not the middle class/lower class.