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["Thomas C. Meggs" <tom AT plik.net>]

Linda Watson wrote:
> At 11:47 AM 1/7/2003 -0500, Thomas C. Meggs wrote:
>
> > [...] Cars breed sprawl growth.
>
>
> Cars + low fuel costs + highly subsidized roads + abundant parking + 
> busy lives + a love of privacy breed sprawl growth.

Right. Because of our love of the automobile, we have subsidized fuel 
costs, roads, and lots parking infrastructure.

A while ago I read a study that estimated that fuel should cost as much 
as $15/gallon if you were to bill all car related subsidies to it. 
Everything from the cost to build the roads, the actual cost of the 
fuel, to paying for the Ambulances that attend roadway accidents.

It is also arguable that our love of privacy was at least partially 
found through the automobile. It gives us a private place to move across 
the earth really fast. Cars are pretty monsterous and intimidating when 
you think about it. There isn't exactly anything quite like them in nature.

> I just spent two weeks in Japan, where excellent mass transit, dense 
> pockets of population, and a lack of zoning creates a New Urbanist's 
> dream. I'm so glad I don't live there! I agree with Gina -- give me 

Japan is a prime example of a place where they were forced to have 
decent urban planning because of geographical constraint. I agree, I 
wouldn't want to live there, but I also grew up in America where I'm 
used to a lot of space.

> *some* space. And knowing your neighbors doesn't mean you'll like them. 
> Go watch "American Beauty" if you think this is the case. Or just think 

"American Beauty" is a cynical story about what American life has 
become. It is a story about how the corporate world is evil and 
unfulfilling, and also about how the automobile is a means of power 
tripping. Kevin Spacey wanted to be a bad boy, so he traded in his 
little family commuter car for some convertible with a big block engine. 
How is that for illustrating the power trip that the automobile 
provides? The car helped him feel better about himself.

As far as the weird neighbors next door, that kind of thing is largely a 
product of suburban living. The story involved a lot of brief 
interactions between Kevin Spacey and Chris Cooper (Colonel Fitts), 
after which everyone receded to their own little private castles/prisons 
and dwelled on their dislike for one another.

Or take the son in the Colonel's family, I think all he wanted was some 
friends, some kind of connection. That was why he was a freak. But for 
the most part he was holed up in his room, courtesy of his suburban 
prison. Imagine if he had moved into a community instead?

> about what it would be like to *live* next to that really annoying 
> person at work.

If you had to talk to them maybe they would have some accountability.

> I've also lived in four different neighborhoods in Raleigh where you 
> really could get by without a car, if you resigned yourself to taking a 
> taxi once in awhile. All these neighborhoods had many of the qualities 
> sought by the utopians (a range of housing costs, local stores and 
> services, parks, nearby mass transit, etc.). My personal circumstances 
> ranged from "starving student" to "fine, thank you." You don't need to 
> be well-off to live in places like these; in fact, poverty can force you 
> into them.

I agree that a situation is what you make of it. I just moved next to 
Cameron Village, and it is very convenient, and I have no real reason to 
drive except for getting to work.

> On the other hand, the vast majority of my current neighbors never walk 
> to the Wellspring or the other shops in the Ridgewood Shopping Center, 
> three pleasant blocks away. Many of these same neighbors *do* walk for 

Yeah, people are to some degree inherently lazy. They do what they know, 
 and they do what is quicker. For example your reference to people's 
busy lives. A lot of people get caught up into thinking that they don't 
have any time. Really, I think we all have a lot of time. You just have 
to stop and smell the flowers once in a while, so to speak.

> exercise. But we're not isolated from each other. We have a neighborhood 
> book club and lots of social events, including a Christmas party and a 
> Super Bowl party.

Yeah it's good. But who wants to hang out with their neighbors? I mean 
come on! ;)

Regards,
Tom