This post is due by Tuesday, October 22 @ midnight. No credit given for late posts.
Read the assigned chapters above, and then:
1. Provide 3 SPECIFIC observations about Cars, Culture and Media you learned from EACH chapter of our book, using 2-3 sentences combining the book and your own IYOW analysis. (Yes, the Introduction counts.)
2. Finally, ask ONE specific question you have of Cars, Culture and Media after completing our reading.
Ch.4
ReplyDelete"One of the problems with cars is that all drivers are not highly skilled- often they are even drunk- and accidents happen. So to remove some of the danger that drivers pose, highway engineers have developed a standard perfect modern suburban street... at least thirty-six feet wide- same as a county highway" (p.49-50) To get a driver's license today you only have to demonstrate some very basic driving skills, briefly, one time. Instead of making the licensing process much more intensive, with mandatory skills instruction, or at the very least creating a more involved license test, regulators have simply added wiggle room to the roads, in an attempt to fool proof them. It seems to be the illusion of safety.
"The house itself became a factory for the production of comfort" (p.52). And while they may not have been much variation in the class of home owners in Riverside, there certainly was another class of people, servants, also living there, just as factories were stratified into large numbers of workers and few superiors. But when you stretch the idea of the home as a factory of comfort a handful of decades, you see it become automated with washing machines, and vacuums, ect, just as factories have increasingly become automated.
"Afterward, all the elements that had gone into creating an illusion of dreamy timelessness...were unmasked as mere stagecraft...because the reaction to the disillusion that followed...Modernism... dedicated itself to the worship of machines..." (p.57). Americans went along pretending the modern world didn't exist, moving away from areas of increasing modernity (cities) to the suburbs, where they could pretend that life was more simple. At a certain point though, most of the space in the suburbs was developed, and modern technology (cars, ect.) became necessary for day to day life, everyone stopped pretending the world was simple, and loved the fact that it was full of new technology.
Ch.5
"This cavalcade of practical improvements inspired a widespread sense of optimism. Industry and technology would lead to utopia..." (p.60). There is a hidden assumption here that utopia, the perfect community, is simply the lack of required effort. The "practical improvements," zippers, electric lighting, pneumatic hammer, all make life easier, they let us live with the least effort. Even the phonograph, we no longer have to go to the theater and see the symphony, we have it in our living room. Strange that utopia here isn't based on moral grounds.
"...and why it [the Beaux Arts] was a fraud. So many of the beloved classical devices- columns, arches, pillars, domes- were forms designed to hold walls and ceilings up...to put a facade featuring arches and pillars on a building that was really held up by a hidden steel skeleton was arrant fakery" (p.66). Just as the Americans turned the suburbs into the appearance of the country, while it was devoid of any kind of community, they designed buildings that had the appearance of grandiloquence. It is having columns and arches for the sake of columns and arches. The Beaux Arts were based on vanity, just as the suburbs before them.
ReplyDelete"Whatever their purpose- motel, casino,... pizza emporium... they were all just cinder-block sheds, and rather 'pathetic' amid the sprawl. What mattered were the signs attached to them and how dazzling it all looked at night" (p.82). Finally, in the modern day, we don't even haven an attempt to make a thin facade something substantial, as with Riverside, but merely cheap attachments to "sheds" which are designed to catch our attention, without being much more significant than being eye-catching. American design is finally debased to pure vanity.
Ch. 6
"Streetcar companies were also heavily involved in the building of amusement parks on the urban fringe, another spur to weekend riding" (p.88). This is interesting for three reasons. First, the streetcar companies felt a need to create destinations for people to go to, because, as we saw in chapter 5, Americans don't really create [public] places of substance- mostly places of empty vanity, and so we need more artificial destinations to give us the illusion we have somewhere to go. Second, it seems that the mediums we use to travel dictate what we do- we ride the street car to go the amusement park, which was put up to get us to ride the street car. Finally, it is strange that we ride one machine to go ride other machines, and somehow one is "amusing" and fun, and the other is mostly utility. They have not yet merged, fun and utility.
"At the same time, having given up their horses, farmers suddenly came to depend on artificial fertilizers. What had formerly cost them a great deal of labor... now cost them a great deal of ash money" (p.93). Once again, we see Americans trading in the authentic for the quick and easy, and just like the country vibe of Riverside or the amusement parks as destinations, for something artificial.
"The Dream, more specifically, was a detached home on a sacred plot of earth in a rural setting, umbesmirched by the industry that made the home possible..." (p.101). From the time the Europeans first come here till the 20th century, Americans highest ideal is individualism, as defined by being physically separated from others and the surroundings by physical structures- "a detached home-" how does that sound ideal?
Ch.7
"Zoning codes devised by engineering firms have been 'packaged' and sold to municipalities for decades, eliminating the need for local officials to think about local design issues" (p.114). Just as over a century ago the country was divided by grids, disregarding topography, zoning codes are applied as if they were one size fits all. "This is one reason why a subdivision in Moline, Il. has the same dreary look a subdivision in Burlington, Vt." (p.114). When we just copy paste design regulations across the country, we end up with the same places everywhere. And once again, when anywhere is the same as everywhere, it certainly seems you're nowhere.
"Because the highways were gold-plated with our national wealth, all other forms of public building were impoverished. This is the reason why every town hall built after 1950 is a concrete-block shed full of cheap paneling and plastic furniture, why...courthouses, firehouses, halls of records, libraries, museums, post offices, and other civic monuments are indistinguishable from bottling plants and ... warehouses" (p.121). In my home town, the courthouse was built in the late 1700s, and is beautiful blocks of sandstone, and it is clear a lot of craftsmanship went into it. It was expanded in the 1980s, and it looks like two different buildings; one side is beautiful old stone, and connected by a glass annex is a giant smooth concrete cube. I've never thought about the fact that it doesn't even come close to meshing with the original style, and it's startling how spot on Kunstler is here.
ReplyDelete"When travel was slow and houses were scattered, with no trivial structures in between, each house stood as a celebration of effort and achievement in the life to its owner" (p.130). This is the opposite of pre-packaged zoning regulations. Before pre-fabricated housing and cheap utilitarian buildings, it was possible to take pride in buildings, because we had to put al little bit of ourselves into them. Now, we just need space sheltered from the outside.
The obvious question, as alluded to by Peirce Lewis, is how do we go about making actual changes to our landscape? It seems logistically impossible.
Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteCars: This chapter made me think about how the transportation system has evolved and how the views surrounding transportation methods have also changed. On page 46, Kunstler writes, "Until the mid-1800's, the practical distance for commuting was limited to the range of a horse and coach". He goes on to talk about how a horse and coach transportation system was difficult--it required a crew to operate, animals to maintain, difficult roads to navigate, and more. All of this led to less commuting and a more centralized living and working relationship. This was soon changed as "the railroad shattered any previous constraints of time and travel to lure people away from the city in greater numbers and at greater distances." (46) I will elaborate by saying that cars shattered the railroad system by allowing people to travel off the tracks, outside of the lines, and wherever they desired.
Culture: On page 45, Central Park is described as "cultural necessity". I found this interesting, because Central Park is a constructed natural landscape. There are plenty of wild natural landscapes, but they seem to go unappreciated in our world. When people are cut off from any rural experience, such as in NYC, nature becomes sort of a commodity/luxury/necessity. It seems backwards to me, and cities are undoubtedly redefining nature for a large group of people. Kids who grow up in the NYC today probably think that Central Park is the perfect definition of wilderness, and I believe the city culture is to blame for that.
Media: All the talk about architectural influences regarding parks, houses, buildings, and roads got me thinking about architecture as a form of media. Seeing a certain type of building can evoke calming, orderly, and elegant feelings, which can in turn persuade people to enter, discuss, or photograph the building. The next chapter even discusses how Hitler saw architecture as a means for political control. I never gave much attention to architecture, but next time I am drawn to a building, I will note why it is I like it, and how the style of the building makes me feel.
CHAPTER 5.
ReplyDeleteCars: On page 78, we are introduced to Corbu's "Radiant City". One aspect of the Radiant City scheme was superhighways. Kunstler notes how superhighways were integral in "creating jobs, boosting rural real estate values, and promoting the sale of cars and oil, two more items America knew how to produce better than anyone else". The introduction of superhighways completely changed our country. It changed us from a local lifestyle to a sprawled lifestyle. If only we could have seen the long term problems rather than the short term benefits provided by highways.
Culture: The theme of this chapter is the damage caused by Modernism. Of this damage, the worst came by "creating a physical setting for man that failed to respect the limits of scale, growth, and the consumption of natural resources, or to respect the lives of other things" (59). Further, "Modernists and their successors tried to stamp out history and tradition, and the meanings associated with them, as embodied in the places we live and work" (84). By moving forwards and leaving the old ways behind, our modern culture has damaged not only the natural environment, but also the history of our land and ancestors. We have created a less desirable future, and it seems that we may need to go back. It almost feels like wasted time.
Media: On page 82, it says, "American space has ceased to be about forms. It was now about symbols--communication, advertising!" This is completely related to our class. Kunstler talks about how it no longer mattered what the actual substance of a thing was, it was about how it could be used to convey messages and sell various things. This can be seen in magazine advertisements for a say, a watch, where there is a gorgeous half-naked girl that is the central focus, and she just happens to be wearing the watch that's for sale. The example in this book is that seemingly boring places, like parking lots, could be transformed into exciting ad spaces.
CHAPTER 6:
ReplyDeleteCars: This chapter hits the concept of "automobilty" on the head when it describes the automobile as " a machine that promised liberation from the daily bondage of place". I find it peculiar how much humans feel the need to 'get out of town'. We really can't stay in one place for too long or it affects our sanity. Why are we so impatient and easily bored? This chapter was also interesting because it reiterated the point of the film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" On page 86, Kunstler begins to describe how the "automobile was heavily subsidized with tax dollars early on," while flourishing, clean, and practical electric streetcars were ignored and left to die. This reminds of how the EV1 was a perfectly good mode of transportation, but it was never fully accepted. On page 88 it describes how cars used to be considered "rich mans play things". I almost think we would have been better off if it stayed this way.
Culture: On page 93, it says that the automobile "destroyed farming as a culture…and turned it into another form of industrial production, with ruinous consequences." The culture of automobility made it undesirable to be carless--rural farm families began to lose access to medical care and good schools. "The mechanization of the American farm disrupted the rural economy so badly that more farmboys fled to the cities than ever before and the farm population plummeted." The automobile changed farm culture by introducing methods and machines that made the old ways seem useless. Mechanized farming led to monoculture, so the supply of one crop went up while demand stayed constant. As a result, farmers saw dwindling profits, and agriculture turned into the agribusiness we see today.
Media: Page 89 described how increased vehicle production led to widespread planning to accommodate motorists. "City planning boards were often dominated by realtors, car dealers, and others with a keen personal interest in advancing auto use, and little though for long term consequence." Since car culture included so many different industries and employees (tires, roads, builders, painters, mechanics, drivers, ect,) there was so much money to be made! So naturally the people that already had money got behind the automobile. Time after time we have come to see that time, energy, and advertising goes where the money is, not necessarily where the humanity is.
CHAPTER 7:
ReplyDeleteCars: It is articulated in this chapter that the car has created "two separate classes of citizens: those who can fully use their everyday environment, and those who cannot." (115) It baffles me how we have allowed something nonhuman, and nonliving for that matter, to dictate how we life and who we are. The car cements the fact that we are controlled by machines. We are no longer the masters of our own destinies, that fate lies in the mechanical hands (or wheels) of industry. With cars we have gained mobile freedom, but have lost personality. Is one even worth it without the other? "Anybody who commutes an hour a day in each direction spends seven weeks of the year sitting in your car" (118).
Culture: The car as an actor also helped to create the shopping mall culture. "the mall commercialized the public realm" writes Kunstler. Malls are generally outside of town, requiring a car to get to them. This already excluded people from what is marketed as a "public space". I'm beginning to HATE cars with a passion, but there is no use in hating an inanimate object. Cars are undesirable human and cultural traits personified--exclusivity, vainness, greed, corruptness, short mindedness and more. We did this to ourselves!
Media: "Tens of thousands of motorists die in cars every year, yet Americans have a strangely detached attitude about it" (131). I find it strange that we invest so much time and energy into the car industry when it is one of the most dangerous things in the world. It just proves that media backed by special interests can make anything desirable. Imagine what is heavily advertised (cars, cigarettes, celebrities) vs. what could be heavily advertised (wellbeing, friendship, love). The problem with the second group of items is well, you can't buy them (or can you?)
QUESTION: On page 92, Kunstler says that we went forward with the car industry without thinking about what problems it would bring in the future. What may we be doing now that seems innovative and progressive, but may have various unseen repercussions in the future?
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ReplyDeleteChapter 4:
ReplyDelete- On the opening of the chapter, Kunstler states that public spaces were not prioritized while American cities were coming into being. This caused many people to move to the suburbs – a nice mix of urban and rural. (40). Although the suburbanization culture is environmentally unfriendly (as it parcelizes natural areas), the incorporation of public space by many European cities has caused a similar effect. For example, London is so geographically spread out, that its city limits incorporate an area that would encompass an American city and its suburbs…
- Pages 46 and 47 state that the railroad system, Llewellyn S. Haskel, and polluted cities are all jointly responsible for birthing the American suburb. This debunks my preconceived notion that car culture was solely responsible for creating this middle class living space. I also find it ironic that suburbs were partly born out of a love for nature; if only Haskel new that this trend would spread like wildfire, damaging many beautiful landscapes.
- Kunstler posits that the Riverside suburb is one of the best in the country, as it allows for inhabitants to easily access the natural space laid out along the Des Plaines River. Automobile and pedestrian pathway design also facilitated travel. Although I agree that this suburb is ideal in comparison to many others in America, I disagree with Kunstler’s implied suggestion that other suburbs should strive for something of the like – I feel that we should attempt to move into cities, and revivify areas with their natural vegetation. (48-49)
Chapter 5:
- Although I agree with Kunstler that the modernization paradigm has had a negative impact on environmental and human health, I do not completely agree with the notion that suburbs prevent a sense of community. (60-61). Looking back on my own suburban upbringing, I realize that I became close friends with many of the other kids in my neighborhood. All of our parents then became friends, or at the very least, acquaintances. A sense of community was therefore not completely void.
- Similar to Seiller, Kunstler notes that monotonous factory work became a ubiquitous occupation among the laity in the early 20th century. Kunstler sites another liberating outlet besides the car, however: building design. On page 69 he states that architects would attempt to make workspaces as appealing as possible so that people would continue toiling for “the common good”.
- Why contemporary (20th century and beyond) architects would decorate skyscrapers is beyond me. These structures are magnificent enough to stand on their own. Hopefully buildings like the new world trade center will usher in a fresh architectural paradigm. (The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand)
Chapter 6:
ReplyDelete- The very beginning of chapter 6 draws another connection to the The Republic of Drivers – a couple leaves the doldrums of daily life behind for a while, driving off a in a new sports car. Here, the automobile is again depicted as a means of liberation.
- On page 92, Kunstler reflects on how much the automobile industry has affected American economy and business practices in the 1920’s. This intuitively makes sense, as any novel product (iPhones and other techonological devices are contemporary examples) is likely to affect an entity’s financial wellbeing. Until watching Who Killed the Electric Car, I had underestimated the long-lasting influence such products and business have. For example, the auto industry has become so powerful that it is able to explicitly influence American life by employing its financial clout. I wonder if tech companies will soon reach a similar status (if they haven’t already).
- I find it interesting that the first form of an automobile sharing economy arose out of the great depression; car production slowed in the 1930’s, causing used cars and parts to remain in circulation. We are seeing this again in many places where individuals – driven by frugality, environmental concern, and/or human health – have begun to share and buy used vehicles. Car share programs also exemplify this paradigm. The question remains, however: how can the most affluent peoples be convinced to partake in such a system?
Chapter 7:
- I think that the uniform civic engineering paradigm mentioned on pages 133-115 may be on its way out. City planners and civilians have begun to realize that using a cookie-cutter template fails. Current policies that promote active transport, alternate road design in highly populated areas, and parking space removal are helping to reverse this trend.
- A contemporary bromide In American society states, “the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer”. This actually has some scientific basis, as studies are finding that upward mobility in the USA has decreased significantly over the last half century. Part of this is due to the zoning codes mentioned on page 117 that literally prohibit less affluent residents from building in particular neighborhoods. This system perpetuates a culture of “us vs. them”, where there is little crossover between camps.
- Pierce Lewis lays out a bleak scenario on pages 122-123: we are stuck in our current culture of suburbs, chain corner stores, asphalt parking lots, and freeways. I hope he is wrong. I will play devil’s advocate again though, and say that having a Dunkin Donuts right off of the highway, or a Rite Aid right down the street is very convenient. I would be much more aesthetically appealing and beneficial to the local economy, however, if such businesses were mom and pop shops.
- Q: how to we reverse this culture of cheap commerce/suburbia/unlivable cities?
Ch4:
ReplyDeleteCars: In the 1800’s commuting to work was not an option like it is today. As it talks about on page 46, Contrary to popular belief not everyone owned a horse and buggy, and getting one going usually required a number of servants to get all the horses harnessed and moving. Therefore commuting to work was really difficult especially with nowhere to leave the horses all day while you were up at the office. “you couldn't just park a horse and coach at the curb a day while you went up to the office.” (Pg 46)
Culture: Unlike today, suburbs originally had a bit of a country feel. In the late 1800’s “housekeeping required real skills and intelligent management” (Pg 50) There were no convenience stores as there are today and people still did more for themselves. Interesting to see how the culture of suburbs has shifted to complete dependence upon the government and the system of industrialization.
Media: Many ideas going into the development of the originally suburbs got scratched when it came to money. And many ideas were sold off in place. As it talks about on page 50, the developers were originally planning to put a town center in the middle of the suburb riverside outside of chicago, but had to scratch the idea due to financial panic and sold the space as building lots.
Ch 5:
Cars: pg 78: Corbu hated ordinary streets and spearheaded the building of the early superhighways. These created thousands of jobs, boosted real estate values and perhaps most importantly laid the groundwork for Americas soon to be favorite possession: the car.
Culture: The Beaux Arts movement grew rapidly in America and started being called an “American Renaissance”. Cities all over the place began construction in this new architectural school of thought
Media: Architecture was a way to control the masses, a tool for political control. It is interesting to see that the style favored by dictators (both Stalin and Hitler) was neoclassical architecture, thus neoclassical became the official style of “despots and Maniacs” (pg 76) Very interesting to see a style of building associated with a certain personality/person, especially after being around for so long, and then taking on a whole new meaning.
Ch 6:
ReplyDeleteCars: As cars came out, horses began to be seen a a nuisance to the streets and just getting in the way of the motorists. Interesting to see the thought at the time, “When the last horse is off the streets, there won’t be any need for traffic police” (Pg 85) However, I think this worked the opposite way, with more traffic police to monitor the motorists than was needed to monitor the horses.
Culture: The culture of freedom that came with the car was bigger than ever in the early 20th century. To be freed from “the daily bondage of place” (Pg 86) and travel at will and explore the countryside must have been incredible. Also opening up the possibility to live well outside the city limits and still work in the city. It must have been quite a time when the car came out, a machine that opened up so many doors for people.
Media: GM’s ploy to dismantle the public transportation network and turn America into a place of private transportation. They ripped up all of the electric trolley cars and replaced them with Gasoline powered buses, however this was all just a big diversion so that they could get the trolley cars out of the streets and out of the way of the car owners.
Ch 7:
Cars: All streets are built with dimensions for cars to drive up to 50 MPH! Regardless of speed limit. This is why cars often speed because on a road that big you will feel like you are barely moving and CAN go faster because they road permits it.
Culture: The culture of suburbs was created around the car, and for people that cannot use a car, for one reason or another, makes the environment unusable. “This produces two separate classes of citizens: those who can fully use their everyday environment, and those who cannot.” (Pg 115)
I found the idea of a collector road to be very interesting too. The place where only cars are welcome and nobody would want to be on foot their. And if you are on foot their people may suspect you of being abnormal and not a good person. “Any adult between the ages of 18 and 65 walking along one could instantly fall under suspicion of being less than a food citizen.” (Pg 117)
Media: Architecture and art are things that are plainly visible everywhere, but something that I had never stopped and looked at and thought about. All our buildings look the same! There is little intrinsic value in new buildings, yes they can serve a purpose, but they do not have the time put into them like they used to. “...why courthouses, firehouses, hall of records, libraries, museums, post offices, and other civic monuments are indistinguishable from bottling plants and cold-storage warehouses.”( Pg 121)
Chapter 4:
ReplyDeleteCulture : “Two generations would pass before an automobile-centered way of life began to destroy the pattern—long enough for people to take for granted that suburbs were the highest expression of civilization: (p.51) Before the automobile, early railroad suburbs were the places to live. People were in close proximity to the city and their jobs and they could still have their piece of the rural/suburban lifestyle. The automobile created a new paradigm shift and altered our landscape and turned that unspoiled rural land to support road infrastructure.
Cars: “There were few public coach routes, and private ownership of wheeled vehicles was confined to people of means…” (p.46) Transportation throughout history, whether it was a horse and coach or the present day vehicle, has been reserved for a privileged class of people. Commuting was a lot more difficult in the 1800’s and with the roads in rough shape and the man power necessary to travel with horse and carriage was significant. It’s no wonder why the automobile caught on so quickly. People could live where they wanted to and easily get themselves from point A to point B. For a while, like the horse and carriage, it was reserved for the upper class.
Media: On page 57, Kunstler wraps up the chapter by talking about how the car changed the suburban ideal. Artists and Architects spent so much time and effort to create this illusion or “stage craft” of suburban life. Instead this illusion and way of suburban life was tarnished by Modernism and the introduction of the automobile.
Chapter 5:
Cars: “Coincidentally, the automobile, with its promise of freedom and adventure, had commenced to transform American space in a new and horrible way, for which no one was prepared.” (p.67) It’s amazing to me how the automobile was perceived and was adopted in our culture. Before the automobile, we had a decent railway system to transport the masses. Cars transformed our landscape. With the introduction of the automobile, people had the freedom to go where we wanted and they could live where ever they wanted to that went beyond the railway systems and horse and buggy.
Culture: “…America was raring to build more superhighways.” After World War II, America had this hunger to build their industry as well as their landscape. The creation of superhighways created thousands of jobs, promoted the sales of cars and oil. Here is another example of how the automobile transformed our landscape, developing our cities and road infrastructure.
Media: “American space had ceased to be about forms, they said. It was now about symbols—communication, advertising!” (p.82) Architecture was no longer just a building, but a way to communicate and portray a message to the public, like visit this place or live here. With the right persuasive techniques, any place could look desirable, and the automobile was your mode of transportation.
Chapter 6:
ReplyDeleteCars: “…a machine that promised liberation from the daily bondage of place…with the unrestricted right to travel, a vast geographical territory to spread out into, and a national tradition of picking up and moving wherever life at home became intolerable, the automobile came as a blessing.” (p.86) Here we go again, the car is depicted as a thing of refuge and freedom. The car offered the public these conveniences, but many people did not realize the repercussions it had. For example on our overall health, our landscape, and our overall culture. Cars are more than just an accessory in our day-to-day lives, they control and dominate our culture.
Culture: “Some Americans were willing to give up their homes before they sold off their cars.” (p.96) Our culture and our lives have been so impacted by cars, we will do anything to keep the automobile in our possession. The symbol of the car went beyond freedom and offered and “embodied the elemental need of living creatures” to live and travel where they would like. It still shocks me how cars are so intertwined in our culture and how desperate we will become to keep them in our lives.
Media: On page 86 and 87, Kunstler talks about how the automobile and the streetcar were invented around the same time. The car offered private, heavily subsidized mode of transportation, while the street car was a non-subsidized, public mode of transportation. To get people to travel by street car, streetcar companies offered cheap flat fare rates. The tickets themselves, served as method to encourage joyriding, as well as commuting to the suburbs to the city. Streetcar companies were also often engaged in suburban real estate development and the cheap rates of the streetcar was free advertising to get people from the urban fringe and to these new urban developments. Streetcar companies were very clever, but they could not compete with the automobile.
Chapter 7:
Cars: “With the advent of the car, shopping became a more or less mechanized activity.” (p.117) Kunstler talks about the separation of industry, where it was okay to be polluting and dirty, from where people lived, a clean environment. He continues on and talks about how cars cluttered and polluted the streets similar to industry, and the need to separate commerce from where people live also arrived. Cars continue to influence our landscapes and chews up more available land that we could use for other more practical uses.
Culture: “Americans have been living car-centered lives for so long that the collective memory of what used to make a landscape or a townscape or even a suburb humanly rewarding has nearly been erased.” (p.113) Kunstler opened up chapter seven with this statement and even re-reading it right now, I can’t even fathom what our landscape would look like without roads. My grandfather has old pictures of what Dorset Street used to look like, with farms all the way down the strip and Kennedy Drive didn’t even exist. If cars were never invented, what would our landscape look like?
Media: “The road is now like television, violent and tawdry. The landscape it runs through is littered with cartoon buildings and commercial messages.” (p. 131) Our American road systems are cluttered with fast food chains, gas stations, souvenir shops, billboards, all of which are trying to get us to buy something. Kunstler talks about how we drive by them and forget about them because all of these buildings look alike. There is a lack of diversity on our road systems and their only function is to get us to spend our money at their establishment.
Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteKunstler on page 39 states that due to cultural differences between Americans and Europeans, cities in the new world developed differently. This was due to the copious amounts of land in America along with American’s lack of respect for the public realm. This illustrates key disparities in the developments of car culture between Europe and America.
On page 40 describes the beginning of the Romantic era in American art and literature. This occurred in the mid nineteenth contrary in contrast to the industrial revolution, which commenced earlier in the century. The Romantic Era in America was about retreating into the formerly feared wilderness for solace from the industrializing cities.
On page 49 Kunstler likens Olmsted and Vaux’s Riverside project to the blue prints of the future car oriented suburb. There were key differences however in the layout, because Riverside sported large amounts of pedestrian accessible space in a continuous natural fashion. Natural features, namely trees, were also used to separate households from the road. Modern day suburbs are far different in that streets run along sidewalks, and all houses are visible to be showed off.
Chapter 5
Utilitarianism, the ideology behind Modernism as introduced on page 66, is the idea that form follows function. This was the triumphing architecture and culture over civic art, which was gloriously portrayed in several expositions around the turn of the century. This is another symbolic victory over what could have been a greater appreciation for public places. In terms of cars this can be compared what parkways are now as opposed to the original idea of a road with a continuous park where families could picnic.
“The neoclassical thus became the official architecture style of despots and maniacs,” (page 76). With the rise of dictators and communists western architecture was forced into the modernist style, especially after World War II. This is the final step, in Kunstler’s opinion, as to how modernism won.
On page 78-79 Kunstler describes Le Corbuier’s idea of the “Radient City”, which was a guideline for new American cities. Key components included skyscrapers, and super highways. This idea created ‘wastelands’ in between high-rises and under bridges, all under the façade of growth.
Chapter 6
“I feel like the whole country is ours. It’s like a dream, a wonderful never-ending dream!” This quote in the introduction to chapter six is a good representation of many past themes discussed in class. It draws upon past themes of the autonomous individual, and how the road produces a restricted illusion of freedom.
On page 93 Kunstler describes how the automobile upended the former rural culture. Mobility allowed the youth to explore the world and reach services that were previously unattainable. It did however lead to industrialization of agriculture and the economic shift to larger monoculture based farms. Never being to middle America I never seen these industrialized rural environments, it would be interesting to witness the transition first hand.
ReplyDeletePage 96 Kunstler directly compares the car to freedom, mobility, and flight. Because the car saved them from their failed farms in Oklahoma, the Okies as they were called, held the car with high esteem. Thus Southern California as a whole embraced car culture.
Chapter 7
“The culture of good place making, like the culture of farming, or agriculture, is a body of knowledge and acquired skills. It is not bred in the bone, and if it is not transmitted from one generation to the next it is lost.” This is a powerful thesis for this chapter, but I am skeptical as to whether it is actually true. As Kunstler previously wrote Americans art and literature did not form until after the Revolutionary War, and its uniqueness (Olmsted’s landscape design) appears to be ‘bred in the bone’.
On pages 115-116 I learned that the roads of many post WWII suburban housing developments are able to handle speeds of up to 55 miles/hour. They also create an effect that the vehicle is not moving that fast fostering a dangerous environment for pedestrians. This is relevant to the themes of the Carjacked chapter concerned with car safety, except what the author of Carjacked found was that there have been far fewer accidents in suburban environments.
“The road is now like a television, violent and tawdry…. There is little sense of having arrived anywhere, because everyplace looks like no place in particular.” The last paragraph in the chapter is a powerful summation of the previous ones. Kunstler suggests that the modernist architecture and fast roads lead motorists to just drive themselves places without any wonderment or satisfaction. This is in opposition to the illusion of freedom previously discussed in the semester.
Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteCars: “The people who lived there would not draw their livelihoods from it, either in farming or businesses. Rather it was a place strictly of habitation and pleasure.” They didn’t have cars in the 1700’s but the separation of living and livelihoods is huge part of our poor development decisions even today. People have to rely completely on their cars to get to work or any stores.
Culture: “During the 1700’s in England, the aristocracy had practiced a method of private park-making in which property was carefully graded, lakes dug, and trees asymmetrically planted in an elaborate effort to give a “natural” effect.” There is nothing natural about these parks. Cities completely isolated people from the natural world so city planners started bringing in small areas of “nature” to the people making it more of an amenity and feature rather than a necessary part of life.
Media: In this chapter painter Thomas Cole’s paintings were a form of media, one in particular being “The course of empire” showing the destruction and development of Rome. “The moralistic streak in him wanted to post a warning for America.” He wanted to warn people that the way we are living and our form of development can be sustained or maintained for much longer.
Chapter 5
Culture: “…by creating a physical setting for man that failed to respect the limits of scale, growth and the consumption of natural resources, or to respect the lives of other living things.” This part of the chapter talks about modernism and its contribution to the amount of destruction our infrastructure has had on our landscapes. Public spaces and buildings were pushed to the side and replaced by gigantic corporate buildings swallowing out lands.
Media: “Technology would lead to Utopia” People believed and still believe that technology is the answer to all their problems, but one of our major problems is the overuse of resources. The chapter touches on how many resources and materials have been wasted over the decades and much of our technology and inventions contribute to this major problem.
Cars: The way that our architecture has evolved over the decades reminds me of the ways our cars have evolved. First our architecture started out small and deliberate only consisting of things that were necessary then eventually if moved toward bigger, better, stronger just life the shift we caw in our cars. They were first artfully handmade including just the things the car needs to run, now they are machine made, stuffed with all kinds of electronics, cup holders, folding seats, and way more.
Chapter 6
ReplyDeleteCulture: “There was nothing like it before in history: a machine that promised liberation from the daily bondage of place.” I am completely guilty of constantly wanting to travel and just get “away” from the daily routine and I think a lot of Americans are guilty of this as well. I feel like after being in Burlington for weeks on end I am ready for a “quick” trip to Boston or pretty much any place other than Burlington.
Media: “Street car companies received little government support, and the organized auto interests conspired actively to kill them off.” Car companies like GM gained so much authority and political pull extremely fast that they had the wealth and power to buy up street car tracks and buses eliminating as much public transportation they could, decreasing options making people reliant on cars.
Cars: “It also destroyed farm life as a culture—that is, as a body of knowledge and traditional practices—and turned it into another form of industrial production, with ruinous consequences.” By using the same industrial practices/methods on the farms, they turned agriculture into agribusiness, intensifying human destruction to the land through things like monoculture and increased use of pesticides.. As farming became more mechanized the art of farming died along with its economic gain for farming families causing more and more “farmboys” to flee to the city for other opportunities.
Chapter 7:
Cars: “The traffic engineer is not concerned about the pedestrians. His mission is to make sure that wheeled vehicles are happy.” Machines have become more of a priority than humans. If you don’t own a car you are left in the dust. People who can’t afford a car a pushed into even deeper poverty because our communities are built to cater the needs of people they are built for cars, and without cars people can’t reach the opportunities they need to live a better life. This makes an even greater divide between the rich and poor.
Culture: “It would be a contribution to the public realm which has little value in our culture.” It’s no longer about the common good anymore it’s about personal gain. There isn’t any money seen in public transportation so companies are more concerned with the private realm where all the money is. Focusing all their energy on how they can make more money off the American obsession of owning their own car rather than channeling their energy to something we really need.
Media: “There is no seating, no table service. They do not encourage customers to linger.” Things like shopping malls and supermarkets are built to promote the fast life style the automobile has created. The want you to keep moving, contributing to our constant consumption of goods.
Question: “hardly anyone understood the automobiles potential for destruction.” A huge issue was our lack of knowledge and understanding of the consequences caused by our daily actions, including our use of the automobile, but even now that we are more informed and aware of the destruction, we haven’t seen a huge shift in our thinking or our actions, how can we push our nation into a new direction re-configuring the way we view our infrastructure and our automobiles?
Chapter 5
ReplyDeleteCars
“The naked brutality of industry was the most difficult thing to reconcile with any new theory of the utopian future.” (Page 71)
The start of the factories and a new way of building everything was the start of a new utopian group of communities. Factories were going to bring a different group of people from the rural area into the suburbs and cities for work. This would be the beginning of a new era that would allow people to live a different life than they did previously. Although this was before most cars were popular in households, it was the start of the mentality that people would want cars to become more mobile.
Culture
“Make no small plans.” (Page 61)
This quote explains the American culture exactly, whether it is cars or houses or even food, Americans want everything to be bigger. The urban planner, Daniel Burnham was the first to create big buildings and the motto was to build nothing small and this could have been the turning point of Americans wanting everything bigger. Environmental issues around the country are based off this quote that we have everything made bigger and now we are dealing with the repercussions.
Media
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” (Page 71)
This quote was from people talking about the advancements of machines and other factory goods. This quote also meant to me that it was the typical bandwagon slogan. Americans are always trying to keep up with everyone around them, whether they are seeing the newest products from advertisements or watching their neighbors. Americans are constantly trying to keep up with everyone else and they are learning most of the newest advancements through media, because our worlds are surrounded by media.
Chapter 4
Cars
“The suburban “developments” of today and the shopping smarm that clutters up so much of the landscape in between them, arose from the idea, rather peculiar to America, that neither the city nor the country was really a suitable place to live.” (Page 39)
This was the beginning of the need for cars, with little public transportation in suburban areas there was a need for the car. People believed that cities were too crowded and that rural areas lacked the job opportunities besides farming. The new suburban area was the perfect mix of both, but it would require each family to have their own transportation.
Culture
“Nothing lie the enormous mechanistic grid of Manhattan existed in European cities either.” (Page 45)
New York is one of the most densely population cities in the world and even in the 1800s it was considered to be a grid of streets upon streets. Although NYC is one of the only cities that is designed like a grid it was still well known for its urban planning from the beginning of the city.
Media
“The explosive and implacable manner of New York City’s growth-plus its unique character as an island- had all but completely cut off the population from access to any rural experience.” (Page 45)
NYC was the ultimate place for someone to move in the 1800s if they were looking for an urban lifestyle. Even today NYC is known as one of the top cities to move to for a job because of the vast amount of companies that are located in the city. The media influenced people from rural areas to move to the cities. It was secluded within a smaller limit of area, it was secluded in a sense that the people living there were living in a small area that was distant from other areas, but it had many opportunities.
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ReplyDeleteCleopatra Doley
ReplyDeleteCh4:
When the author talks about the Romantic era in American art and literature, it was interesting that this also coincided with the industrial era. The industrial era was full of machines, and the romantic era was for going into the “scary” forest, and experiencing nature. The dynamic between the industrialized cities, and the romanticized nature is huge.
Apparently, suburbs were more country than anything. The part with “housekeeping required real skills and intelligent management” (Pg 50) illustrates that communities were less developed and therefore needed certain skills to live there. But industrialization takes over when cars are further imbedded into the suburban system.
In the start of chapter 6 Here, the automobile is shown as a way of freedom when it’s depicted as a liberating vehicle. The car continues to advertise that it’s the only way to have true freedom.
Ch 5:
The hatred of regular streets by Cornbu who went for the building of superhighways was interesting. These created a better economy with the amount of jobs it’s created, and it also paved the way for the foundation of car culture.
The Beaux Arts was equated to the American Renaissance. When people started to adopt this school of thought, cities started to urbanize further and create better infrastructure.
Woah! Both Stalin and Hitler used neoclassical architecture to control people! I am super surprised and really upset about this. The very idea that buildings can control us is insane. It reminds me of the way some dorms on this campus were built to “stop riots” because it was built by someone who previously designed a countless number of jails.
Ch 6:
Kunstler talks about the 1920’s and the affect of businesses and the economy. The idea that cars are VERY expensive, but cars can have influence over banks to give loans to forward their businesses shows the extent money reach. People are dependent on their cars, and even their debt is intertwined in the car.
Kunstler compares the car to freedom, movement, and flight. (Page 96 ). The car helped people in Oklahoma and other states because their homes would have gone under if they didn’t use the car to make money. People with cars in Oklahoma were able to embrace car culture and rely more so on them.
It makes sense that as cars became more popular, horses were ran off the roads. The road infrastructure was for cars, not horses. Horses had to go in order for cars to continue development.
DeleteCh 7:
Streets are made for 50mph, and that’s totally disregarding the speed limit. When people who own cars are speeding, perhaps they’re doing so because the road permits it? Who needs to follow the law when they’re so intertwined in their cars?
this “uniform civic engineering paradigm” which basically insinuates that city planners and civilians need to use a step by step plan to engineer a city is definitely changing. Being from NYC, places of the city are becoming more walkable and less attempting to cater to cars.
When large amounts of people are because of vehicles we use everyday, where is the attachment we are supposed to experience? If the killing of innocent people based on the lack of safety of our vehicles is normalized, how do we bridge that gap? People spend so much money for their cars, but disregard how damaging cars are to the human lifecycle.
Question: How do we change our detachment from the safety of our vehicles?
Chapter 6
ReplyDeleteCars
“There was nothing like it before in history: a machine that promised liberation from the daily bondage of place.” (Page 86)
The car gave Americans a new sense of freedom that they had never experienced before. The freedom of movement at their own leisure became something that Americans would become addicted to even hundreds of years later. The car gave people the freedom to move where they want, when they want, as long as they were able to afford the costs of maintaing a car.
Culture
“The rest of the American economy soon followed the farmers into the Great Depression.” (Page 94)
The culture of cars and anything that was involved in the economy crashed and burned during the Great Depression. Car sales were at a high and production rates were through the roof and when the depression hit, everything had to stop in production because no one could afford cars. Cars and other products were being created a high rates that was not helping the failing economy. Cars were not the reason for the crash, but the cars economy suffered until after World War II.
Media
“The automobile rapidly reshaped the nation’s economy in ways that had strange and unforeseen repercussions.” (Page 92)
The unforeseen repercussions could be related to the fact that everything was heavily advertised, everyone in America saw cool ads and heard from people how great cars were and how everyone should have one. But the issue with this was that not everyone could afford one, and with rising wages people were able to afford the upfront costs, but not the maintenance. Also job security showed its true colors when the economy crashed in the late 1920s.
Chapter 7
Cars
“This is precisely the outcome in ten thousand highway strips across the land.” (Page 121)
America set out to create a highway system that could take you everywhere in the United States at a higher speed than “back roads.” It was created during the time when other European countries were creating extensive public transportation systems that would allow their citizens to ride pubic transit almost everywhere and never have the need for a car. The highway system is a America’s form of public transportation, but the problem is that you still need a car to it.
Culture
“Children are certainly the biggest losers-though the suburbs have been touted endlessly as wonderful places for them to grow up.” (Page 115)
Growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey was such a great place to grow up, or so I thought. When I think about cars and my childhood those two terms go together very well because my parents drove me everywhere. The only time we rode public transit was to go into a city. There was limitation as a child growing up in the suburbs, because you needed your parents to drive you everywhere.
Media
“The suburban streets of almost all postwar housing developments were designed so that a car can comfortably maneuver at fifty miles per hour.” (Page 115)
Every neighborhood was developed this way on purpose because they knew that every family living in these neighborhoods would have at least one or two cars. The media attracted people to these developments like the Levittowns in NJ, NY, and PA. These developments were the first of millions that would be built in the United States over the next sixty years.
After learning about the past hundred years of development, what do you think the future holds? What will be the new form of development and modes of transportation?
Chapter 4:
ReplyDeleteCulture: “ ‘Are railroads and canals favorable or unfavorable to the morality and happiness of the present generation in the United States?’ His last works are steeped in sentimental artificiality, as though he despised what the wilderness was becoming.” Pg 41 Little did Cole know that that was exactly what made the present generation happy, and they would stop at nothing to transform the entire landscape to cater to their traveling needs, IE the car.
Cars: pg 46 “ In short, commuting as we think of it was a rarity, and very few business men of the city lived outside the town.” Commuting was created by the ease of aquiring and driving a car, eventually making cars a necessity. We make the shift from living where we work, to living away from where we work, and now in the 21st century have to reexamine our lifestyles and consider a shift back to living where we work and moving away from cars.
Media: It is not shown in an article in this chapter, however I am inferring that the architectural structures and variety caused a domino effect throughout the city. Each builder wanted to model their ideas after the “up-and-coming” structures, which seemed to stand as enormous billboards themselves. If the building was functionally outstanding as well as visually amazing, it advertised itself.
Chapter 5:
Culture: pg 64 The classical style of building, modeled after the oldest New England towns, soon became the modern style of New York City. First mansions were built in this style and then, to emulate the feeling of wealth, other places such as museums were created in a classic manner. This is ironic because it is in the middle of a city, and a step backwards in time.
Media: pg 69 Gropius wrote to the Jahrbuch des Deutschen Werkbundes and declared that America was the future and the “motherland of industry”, due to our growing ideas and methods for building construction. However, he did not agree with our production methods for materials- factory lifestyles with little to no compassion for the workers. His beliefs I can relate with- good work only comes from those who are passionate about what they do- it is kind of hard to be passionate when you are locked into a dark, dangerous and dingy factory for 10-12 hours a day and paid nothing for your suffering.
Cars: pg 77 This passage talks about America thriving after WWII, because we were the only industrial country left standing. Although it doesn’t mention cars here, this is where the automobile industry takes off- the American economy is doing very well, we are able to sell to all different countries, the people are happy, and we are continuing to build and sprawl away from our places of work creating a niche for all different kinds of cars.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 6:
ReplyDeleteCars: pg. 89 talks about Ford creating the Model T- a car that was both reliable and, with the ford assembly line, well put together. The trend from 1908-1927 was the falling price of the Model T, making it so that just about everyone could afford to have their own brand new car. It reminds me of today where you can purchase a brand new car with little down, and pay monthly 100-300 dollars- which, up front, does not seem like very much money in comparison to other expenses. It is incredible how the auto industry can and will make personal new vehicles so readily available to the consumer.
Culture: pg 99 “A basic formula of traffic engineering states that one land of limited- access highway can accommodate 2500 cars per hour, while one lane of light rail can accommodate 40,000 passengers per hour. Cars on Long Island carry and average of 1.1 persons.” There you have it- a stat that we all kind of know but pretend not to. Public transit, especially railway, is much more efficient than personal vehicles, and yet we spent a lot of money and time ripping up the extensive rail that we had spent, again, a lot of money and time laying all across the country for cross-country railways. Ironic, I would say.
Media: Because of the newly available personal car, and the affordable price at which it was sold, more and more people were able to own them. This was an opportunity for not just the automobile companies to make a ton of money, but a lot of other industries. The chapter goes on to discuss how the shape and feel of the city and the entire country began to change purely based on the car, because each industry was able to profit from this and mark their products to the car consumers.
Chapter 7:
Cars: Humans have become the background noise, so to speak, when it comes to the cars. It seems that it is strangely and yet easily forgotten that the human is what operates this machine, as well as produces it. As it says in the chapter, the roads are not build for people or to keep people happy, but to keep the cars happy… which is kind of creepy, that we are personifying the cars to make them happy. As with many other systems in the US, these values are corrupt and need to be reconsidered and reformed.
Culture: pg 123- It is scary to me that we no longer have a sense of true community, and instead feel more connected to the stores and roads that make up our hometowns. Most people today only know this fake sort of doll-house like setting, where we don’t even really care about one another. I’ve done a lot of traveling, especially to remote, rural areas in developing countries and I am always shocked and feel a longing for what they have- which is not money, or cars, or even adequate food or housing, but they do have a true sense of community and cooperate as such with a deep compassion for each other.
Media: pg 131 discusses how nonchalantly car accidents, especially fatalities, are discussed via the media. Cars are literally the number one reason for deaths in the US due to careless and reckless driving, and we are the least bothered by it. We are so engrossed in our cars and repulsed by the idea of ever getting rid of them that we’d happily sacrifice 30,000 lives or so so that the rest of us can continue our daily commute.
Chapter 4:
ReplyDeleteCars: The disparity between city life and country niceties was created by the space placed in between them. This space was a buffer zone that was "the ultimate expression of privileged detachment from the toils and stenches of the city"(46).
Culture: Kunstler's statement that "neither the city or the country was really a suitable place to live" (39) explains the surge of urban sprawl. In an attempt to mix city living with space and freedom of urban living, housing outside the city limits, but relating still to the city flourished. Not wanted to earn the wages, and the associated hard work of a farmer, enjoyment of the niceties of city life, close contact with lots of other people, the loftiness associated with the city life, while also having a place to call your own, a yard for the kids to play with the dog in, and the peace and quiet has tempted millions of people.
Media: Much of the attention of artists was focused on parks and creating the right effect of combining nature and homesteads. Just as we have tried to make our living spaces, even in major cities, incorporate natural beauty, artists depicted the rise and fall of humanity alongside the ever-changing natural places they inhabited.
Chapter 5:
Cars: The development of factory culture set the scene for a booming car trade. As companies became more experienced in mass metal working for the buildings that were being erected, the ability to create car bodies and associated parts in mass quantities was realized as well.
Culture: We have created a landscape that is unsustainable. There is too much of it to love, too much space that is not cared for or is unworthy of out attentions, "a crisis of the human habitat"(59). Our design has led to our dependance on automobiles and their associated industries, removing the freedom they once gave us when their use was optional. At the same time, irrational attention to detail in the creation of many structures, at incredible cost, lead to a hodgepodge of design styles for no real reason other than whim.
Media: Civic art became a new piece of interest after the Columbian Exposition, a way "to appreciate grand public spaces" (67), but to some Americans only individual building design mattered, not the grouping of buildings.
Chapter 6:
ReplyDeleteCars: The US is a massive territory, which for most of its history has consisted of pockets of culture and expanses or land untouched by humans. Now there is barely a spot that isn't within 22 miles of a road. "with the unrestricted right to travel"(86) and a history based on moving out of ones land to explore the wilderness beyond, Americans embraced the car as a blessing of freedom and returning to their roots.
Culture: With our need for freedom, the competition between cars and electric trolleys was decided at the start. An individual, doing individual things and carving his own tracks in the world was always going to be more supported by the American public. The autonomy afforded with automobility was the clear reason for the victory of the car.
Media: At the start of "the twentieth century, automobiles were considered rich men's playthings" (88), and as all thing in the US must be fair and equal, all men desired and insisted on owning what the rich men had. The public view of the car was luxury, but everyone felt that they deserved it. This led to the destruction of the streetcars as "General Motors Corporation undertook a systematic campaign to put streetcar lines our of business all over america"(91).
Chapter 7:
Cars: Streets now dominate the suburban landscape. Wide enough for two cars to zoom past each other at speed, the previous roller hockey or soccer court has been turned into a dangerous area. Where kids who were fortunate to have neighbors of their same age once played, now it is much more dangerous for them.
Culture: Landscape have been transformed by cars, and the systems that the cars affect as well. The transformation of urban planners from "architecture schools and into the schools of public administration" (113) demonstrates how we have transgressed from art mindedness into useful appreciation. Landscapes are works of art in the way that they function instead of how they look. Beauty is the number of passengers carried on a motorway, not the countryside beyond. In suburban areas, the smooth travel at speed of suburbanites to their destination is much more important than the communities devalued and polluted on the way to the grocery store.
Media: The artwork created by the transit system of our age depicts a scene very hazardous and uninviting to pedestrians. Our neighborhood streets at least contain a buffer zone of parked cars, and if were lucky a sidewalk, but that is about it outside of downtown areas. Suburban hubs are inaccessible by foot, unless you are willing to walk next to cars flying at 50 miles an hour feet from you. Highways are off limits completely, without an idea of a sidewalk, or even the buffer of cars parked to protect you, as they would only hinder the consistent never ending traffic.
Chapter 4
ReplyDelete-Kunstler describes how in Europe, the space between buildings is just as important as the building themselves. In America, however, property-ownership traditions caused people to put all their money into the buildings themselves, neglecting the spaces between them. Having a railroad track in town rather than a town square discourages people from walking around outside, opting instead to take a car.
-When discussing Riverside, Kunstler mentions how the layout of the streets encouraged walking around. Curved streets that are lined by trees and other vegetation give a "sense of shelter on the street." This encourages people to walk to their destinations, as the street is not a dangerous or unpleasant place, but rather it is inviting and feels "good to be in."
-As factories began to appear in the wake of industrialization, suburbs also started to appear as a refuge from the pollution that the factories caused. In order to reach these suburbs, however, a car was needed which only exacerbated the problem.
Chapter 5
-The fifth chapter discusses the effect of modernism on America. Kunstler is explicit in stating that one of the ways in which modernism caused damage was by "creating a physical setting for man that failed to respect the limits of scale, growth, and the consumption of natural resources, or to respect the lives of other living things." In essence, it spawned selfish behavior that took no consideration for long-term effects.
-Kunstler mentions how the post World War II world favored the Americans greatly because no damage was done to local infrastructure. While the other powers from the war lay in ruin and despair, America took the opportunity to industrialize very quickly and sell products overseas. The lack of competition insured high demand that could only be met by destroying pockets of nature around the country.
-Kunstler discusses how from the late forties through the eighties, developments began appearing in the style of Radiant City. The plan involved building multiple high rises that caused the space between them to come "wastelands." Of course, the public had no interest in spending any time in these spaces, yet developers continued on knowing that people would happily occupy the space inside the buildings, where everything seemed a bit more comfortable.
Chapter 6
ReplyDelete-I found it interesting that many people predicted the need for traffic police would cease to exist once the car took over from the horse drawn carriage. I think it represents nicely just how quickly the car-based infrastructure of America developed.
-I was really surprised to read that General Motors was responsible for the dismantling of streetcar lines throughout the nation. Through the use of subsidiaries, they purchased many streetcar companies and replaced them with buses, eliminating an entire field of competition to the car. The company was occasionally charged with criminal conspiracy, such as in Los Angeles in 1949, but the penalty was often an amount that they made from selling just a few cars, pocket change.
-Kunstler states that, "mechanized farming lent itself to monoculture." I think we are all aware of the dangers that prolonged monocultures have on the land. Farmers were often in a financial struggle to make a profit, and had to borrow money from the bank in order to plant their crop, hoping that the harvest would be plentiful enough to pay the money back and still have enough left over to make a living.
Chapter 7
-I was unaware that zoning codes are often sold to municipalities as "packages" that were created decades ago While the process eliminates the need to think about local design issues, it takes away the opportunity to adapt the community to the land. It is difficult to allow progress when decades old plans are still being sold for ease of planning.
-I thought it was interesting that most streets are designed so that cars can travel comfortably at fifty miles an hour, which is almost never needed in a neighborhood that only has homes. Kunstler describes a typical street as a "hostile" environment for pedestrians. It is hard to encourage people to walk or ride their bike when it also increases their likelihood of injury due to speeding cars.
-Kunstler mentions that there are no corner stores in housing subdivisions, creating a great inconvenience to those who want to buy something quickly without having to drive across town. Luckily in Burlington, corner stores are plentiful. I often go to Willard St. Market or Henry St Deli in search for something that I would have to use my car to get if those stores weren't around. I think they are vital to the health of a community.
Chapter 4
ReplyDeletePage 40 talks about how Thoreau lived outside of Concord, MA at Walden Pond, a place I live only a half hour away from and have never been. He “gnashed his teeth whenever the train from Boston to Lowell” passed by his cabin. I think I might hear that same train from my house in Chelmsford. It’s odd, I only notice the sound late at night when I’m in bed or when I was outside in the backyard enjoying nature. It seems like when I wasn’t relaxing I was too busy to notice the humdrum of railroad.
Page 52: “The house itself became a kind of factory for the production of comfort.” I love this quote, it totally speaks to the way I like to think of a home. When I get home from class, work, etc. all I want to do is be comfortable and relax, leaving all the stresses and worries of the “real world” behind. That is why it is difficult for me to do homework after a long day in class or at work because up until recently, the home is for comfort.
Page 55:”…the supply of people who could afford suburban villas was limited. The opportunities for tradespeople in such a setting was even more limited. The suburbs were places without economies of their own. That was intrinsic to their charm. Economic activity remained in the city and workers stayed there with it, near their work” And by having suburbs without economies of their own, the need for the automobile grew. Having work, shopping, schools, etc. not in the suburbs caused people to commute for those things instead of being able to walk or bike to them.
Chapter 5
The chapter opens with a discussion on modernism that “...failed to respect the limits of scale, growth, and the consumption of natural resources, or to respect the lives of other living things.” And it has led to the growing problems of global warming, dwindling natural resources, exploding population and shrinking biodiversity. The lack of respect of limits is a major problem that continues to plague us today and is something that needs to be changed.
Pages 76-77 discusses how a group of like-minded architects got hold of very prominent positions in their field and shaped how many buildings were designed because of their influence. This makes me think of all the big oil companies executives that have found a place in prominent positions in our government over the years and have influenced decisions in their own best interests instead of what might be best for the country.
Page 81: Referring to the type of architecture being produced at the time, “Architects in particular were most reluctant to backtalk these gods, for it was all the huge, out-of-scale, inhuman, corporate glass boxes that put paychecks on their desks every Friday.” I wonder how many people are in this predicament daily. Having the things that pay your bills be against your beliefs must be a very difficult thing to deal with. I wonder if any of the big oil executives have these kinds of conflictions, but probably not they love money too much to care.
Chapter 6
ReplyDeletePage 89: “City planning boards were often dominated by realtors, car dealers, and others with keen personal interest in advancing the auto use, and little thought for long term consequences.” It sucks that this happened, plain and simple. People making decisions based on their own personal gain is terrible and continues to happen to this day. Picking the people who make these decisions should be like picking a jury, making sure they hold no biases or will discriminate based on their beliefs and will only base their decision on the common good.
Page 104-105: “Levitt made buying a house so easy that you could sleepwalk into ownership, eliminating even closing costs. Classes of citizens formerly shut out of suburban home ownership could now join the migration, in particular the blue-collar workers and young marrieds.” This harks back to our discussion on how buying a car today is so easy. The “sign and drive” promotion that Volkswagen employs is a prime example of this.
Page 110 talks about because of the drop in the price of crude oil during the Reagan administration, that he abandoned all of the alternate-energy research programs that Carter had started. It’s sad to think about how much further we could have been along in this research had it not been for decisions like this. Just because oil prices went down doesn’t mean that it would be the end all be all fuel but I guess that notion went right over Reagan’s head.
Chapter 7
Page 114: “…because it was a foolish waste of resources in the first place, and it remains to be seen whether its components can be recycled, converted to other uses, or moved, or even whether the land beneath…can be salvaged. In the meantime, Americans are doing almost nothing to prepare for the end of the romantic dream that was the American automobile age.” I’m very interested to see if we can figure out how to reuse and repurpose our built environment in a better more efficient way. Being able to recycle and repurpose will be much better and efficient than bulldozing and rebuilding.
Page 117: “ The two elements of the suburban pattern that cause the greatest problems are the extreme separation of uses and the vast distances between things…This is why these are no corner stores in housing subdivisions, though the lack of them is a great inconvenience to anyone who would like to buy a morning newspaper or a quart of milk without driving across town.” Those elements truly did doom the idea of a more citizen friendly community and led to the growth of automobility. The corner store that is a 10-minute walk from my house recently closed during the spring causing my family and others to funnel onto the main roadways and into the crowded grocery stores, even if we only need a few things.
Page 125 describes how the Parisian boulevards were set up and how the hell did we not catch on to this design in America? We used to look to Europe for ideas but there was a shift that caused the opposite to happen but how could you not look at that design, notice its utility, and adapt it for America? The roadways would no longer be car-centric and would allow the roads to be more bike and pedestrian friendly while also looking better.
Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteBetween the years 1800 and 1860, climate was the most valuable agricultural commodity in the world, enabling the large southern plantations that were prevalent in the time period. In an effort to ‘keep up’ with the prosperity of the south, “northerners gravitated first to maritime trade and then to manufacturing when new mechanical inventions made it possible”. This economic boom led to the creation of country villas with hobby farms and villas, which could be considered the “prototype for the modern suburban house”.
Kuntsler discusses the idea of artificially constructed landscapes within traditionally urban areas. An area like Llewellyn Park was carefully constructed to appear as a “little bit of heaven”, or completely natural. Though they were successful in creating a wild and romantic community, in actually it “lacked almost everything that a real community needs to be organically whole: productive work, markets, cultural institutions, different classes of people”.
Trees planted at formal intervals along roadways are designed to “invite walking, offering strong focal points and a sense of destination, and feel good to be in”. This resonated particularly with me, as I am always attracted to long driveways lined with trees planted at formal intervals. “In today’s subdivisions the streets have no other official function except to funnel the cars to and fro”. Trees are seen as another potential hazard for motorists “incapable of keeping their Buick within the thirty-six-foot-wide street”.
Chapter 5
The last half of the nineteenth century was filled with technological improvements, leading to the widespread belief that “industry and technology would lead to utopia—and utopia seemed to be scheduled to arrive within the twentieth century”. In fact, at the same time factory workers were living in industrial slums, and representing “a new kind of slavery”. It was hoped that in the future, equality for factory workers would emerge and create “the new industrial man” who would obtain their own means of production.
“The naked brutality of industry was the most difficult thing to reconcile with any new theory of the utopian future”. Factory workers were subject to mind numbing work, and “color was banned”. This grey-scale is important to note in our history as it led to the eventual introduction of the automobile as a means of freedom and autonomy. In relation to architecture, the idea that ornaments are used to hide the buildings true design is no longer an issue in our society.
Kuntsler discusses how the neoclassical style “became the official architectural style of despots and maniacs”. Interestingly, Adolf Hitler preferred neoclassical architecture, using streamlined buildings and creating a “new Nazi style”. This preference was used in the future in support of ornamental buildings, and Modernism in general. “By the time Hitler and his regime were vanquished, in 1945, no decent person in the Western world could speak against Modernism and its practioners”.
ReplyDeleteChapter 6
Kuntsler notes that “a civilization completely dependent on cars, as ours is now, was not inevitable”. The automobile and the electric streetcar were actually both made commercially viable at around the same time. Although the streetcar could have represented a significant improvement in transportation, it was crowded out by General Motors, who used purchased and destroyed existing infrastructure in an effort to monopolize transportation.
Although General Motors “sordid tale of greed” was aired and exposed in 1974, it was determined that “it was ancient history and the damage could not be undone”. It appears as if General Motors has single handedly been responsible for ruining any existing infrastructure of electric powered vehicles in the United States, enforcing the publics ‘need’ for gasoline-powered automobiles.
The introduction of affordable mechanized farm equipment was a landmark in American history. However, in combination with industrialization, “these events led to a fundamental crisis of capital”. As a nation we reached a kind of natural limit, and the Great Depression took hold. Despite this nationwide deficit, the automobile remained an “irresistible force” in American life. Cars were more than a symbol of freedom, they represented “the elemental need of living creatures to flee adversity and seek a new home where they might thrive”.
Chapter 7
Kuntsler points out that “the suburban streets of almost all postwar housing developments were designed so that a car can comfortably maneuver at fifty miles per hour—no matter what the legal speed limit is”. This is grossly unnecessary in areas where kids play in streets and bicyclists share the road. It is enforcing the unsafe behavior that leads to the multitudes of deaths in the United States every year, and as Kuntsler notes, is a perfect example of “the folly of professional overpecialization”. It is necessary to take into account pedestrians along with the wheeled vehicles when planning a road.
Collector roads, or two-lane or four lane highways are concerned solely with the motorist. There is no clutter in the lane, and no sidewalks under the assumption that “nobody in their right mind would ever go there on foot”. It is arguably one of the most hostile environments to pedestrians. Walking along the side of a large highway will be associated with suspicious or less than moral behavior, a stigma that isolates pedestrians and enforces the growing highway culture of motorists as superiors.
Kuntsler discusses the history of the alleyway, and the fact that historically, members of the lower socioeconomic classes would inhabit these cheaper living spaces, merging in with surrounding communities. Now, alleys are not a viable living space. “The official reason is that a classic alley is not wide enough to accommodate a fire truck”. Unfortunately, this removal of alleys as living spaces has contributed to the “segregation of people by income groups”, with the wealthy living in leafy neighborhoods and those in lower socioeconomic classes living in separate ghettos.
Q
How can we update our existing infrastructure in a just and ecologically friendly way? Is there anyway to undo our historical actions that have led to our need for ornamental buildings and wide suburban streets?
Chapter 4:
ReplyDelete“In short, commuting as we think of it was a rarity, and very few businessmen of the city lived outside town” (46) Referring to the era in the mid-1800s when commuting was via a horse and coach, limiting travel due to time, road qualities, and weather, living far from the city was unlikely if one worked in the city. What we gather from this, is that as soon as travel is made easy, commuting is thus made easy, and therefore sprawl is born and erected. This is the bottom line defining how society grew and expanded, sprawl led to suburbia, people wanted the best of both worlds, a good job in the city with the benefits of living outside of the city in the open landscape, but as suburbia grew, so did strip malls, and a new idea of the abuse and use of transportation to shape societies values and way of life. Here we are now, with much of the natural habitats destroyed by sprawl and transportation and the use of single vehicles coupling to destroy our landscape.
“The result was a system of streets that were scaled to the pedestrian, streets that invited walking, offering strong focal points and a sense of destination, and felt good to be in” (49) This quote is referring to suburbia but an almost ideal look at it, an older version, that is nothing like modern suburbia, it was almost a nice balance of desire to expand beyond the city but still value nature and walking as forms of transportation. I think what I got out of this quote, is what we call in this modern era as “complete streets”. The suburbia they’re referring to shared the road between walkers and drivers, but also have paths that created a trip that interacted with riverbanks, green lawns, and wooden glades, encouraging people to choose to walk because it was both safe and provoke curiosity to the natural world. If you see birds eye views of modern sprawl there are only streets for cars, and little to no unique landscapes, so even if someone lives fairly close, people chose to drive as theres no safety to the walk or curiosity. Many cities, like Copenhagen, flourish because even if someones commute is 20-30min, biking would take the same amount as the streets are designed for bikers to have a quick, easy rides. The way we design our roads impact how people chose to be mobile.
“segregation by income would become a permanent feature of suburbia, long after servants were replaced by household appliances.” (52) I thought this quote was interesting in defining cultural actions. I kind of think of suburbia in how you see it in movies, everyones lawn is perfectly groomed by hired landscapers, pool boys maintain the pool, and the stay at home mom stereotype. I worked landscaping for four years, and the majority of lawns I did fit this description perfectly, but what was interesting is as I’d be doing one lawn, I’d look around the neighborhoods and see similar workers at the majority of the homes. There was a quote I read earlier in this chapter of how suburbia separated people financially, which I think is evident, when people can afford to driver everywhere, which is a rather pricey endeavor when you realize how much you spend on transportation, something like the third highest expense in a household, these stereotypes and separation based on financials seems to fit the suburbia description quite well.
Chapter 5:
ReplyDelete“The result of modernism, especially in America, is a crisis of the human habitat: cities ruined by corporate gigantism and abstract renewable schemes, public buildings and public spaces unworthy of human affection, vast sprawling suburbs that lack any sense of community, housing that the un-rich cannot afford to live in, a slavish obeisance to the needs of automobiles and their dependent industries at the expense of human needs, and a gathering ecological calamity that we have only begun to measure.” (59) While this quote is rather lengthy, I think it’s a great thesis for this whole book, it sums up many thoughts on modernism, I really don’t have much to say, as it’s all written profoundly above, just wanted to be sure to highlight this quote. Human habitat, growth, and mobility are huge issues and impacts we’ve had on our present and future.
The office building was made possible by two technological innovations: structural steel and the elevator...and with the elevator, buildings could climb until they scraped the sky. ” (65) The key to this quote, is the concept of technological innovations. With every technological innovation in this modern era, we are able to advance farther and farther, to expand and grow. Think of the car, we were able to have highway systems, and go from traveling short distances by horse, to driving across the country. Then the office buildings were able to grow upward by technological innovations, thus we’re growing up and out, expanding ourselves farther, which also means creating more of an impact. We’ve already grown and expanded so far that earth can’t withstand this way of life for very much longer. Can we somehow continue to advance in ways that become more beneficial then destructive, yet at the same time while we’re advancing we also have this issue of life spans of technology, which aren’t designed to last long. Technology has a lot of control over this culture, both good and bad.
Yesterdays tomorrow turns out to be no future at all. And this destructive, futureless economy is precisely the predicament in which American finds itself today.” (84) My last statement from the quote above segways right into this quote. We really aren’t creating a future, because we’re missing the idea of looking into the future, if we were truly designing and progressing for the future, it’d be far less destructive, and far more sustainable...
ReplyDeleteChapter 6:
“However, the automobile, a private mode of transport, was heavily subsidized with tax dollars early on, while the nations streetcars systems, a public mode of transport, had to operate as a private companies, received no public funds, and were saddled with onerous regulations that made their survival economically implausible.” (87) I thought this concept was fascinating, I had no idea that this public mode of transport was operating privately, I would have never guessed this. Which I think clearly has a strong impact on how people chose to transport, and eventually this became their norm, the nations streetcars if publically operated I think could have started trends in the right direction if they had be more accessible.
“The main problem with it dispensed with all the traditional connections and continuities of community life, and replaced them with little more than cars and television.” 105
This quote is in regards a developer, William Levitt, and his mass production of model homes and it’s assistance in expanding and creating suburbia’s. While these development allowed for lower income citizens to escape the city, gave them a yard to play in, but yet no privacy, nor escape from people into nature, instead blocks and blocks of similar homes, and thus this life converted connections and community lifestyles and replaced them with T.V’s and cars, very very individualized activities, far from their ideal and connection with nature. This life added to individualism and the need to transport, and thus society changed when suburbia grew.
“Reagan’s energy policy was likewise predicated on the idea that the future didn’t matter. By the time he left office, America was importing more than half of its oil, and as long as the price was reasonable, why make a fuss? (111) I wanted to pull this quote out because I think it’s key to note the presidency and thus it’s impact during such a crucial time, especially with Jimmy Carter putting solar panels on the white house and seeing Reagan take them down, makes me really wonder, if Reagan hadn’t taken office following Carter, could we have seen a different future? Does government have that strong of an impact on societies growth, that things could have been reversed, or at least delayed?
Chapter 6:
ReplyDelete“However, the automobile, a private mode of transport, was heavily subsidized with tax dollars early on, while the nations streetcars systems, a public mode of transport, had to operate as a private companies, received no public funds, and were saddled with onerous regulations that made their survival economically implausible.” (87) I thought this concept was fascinating, I had no idea that this public mode of transport was operating privately, I would have never guessed this. Which I think clearly has a strong impact on how people chose to transport, and eventually this became their norm, the nations streetcars if publically operated I think could have started trends in the right direction if they had be more accessible.
“The main problem with it dispensed with all the traditional connections and continuities of community life, and replaced them with little more than cars and television.” 105
This quote is in regards a developer, William Levitt, and his mass production of model homes and it’s assistance in expanding and creating suburbia’s. While these development allowed for lower income citizens to escape the city, gave them a yard to play in, but yet no privacy, nor escape from people into nature, instead blocks and blocks of similar homes, and thus this life converted connections and community lifestyles and replaced them with T.V’s and cars, very very individualized activities, far from their ideal and connection with nature. This life added to individualism and the need to transport, and thus society changed when suburbia grew.
“Reagan’s energy policy was likewise predicated on the idea that the future didn’t matter. By the time he left office, America was importing more than half of its oil, and as long as the price was reasonable, why make a fuss? (111) I wanted to pull this quote out because I think it’s key to note the presidency and thus it’s impact during such a crucial time, especially with Jimmy Carter putting solar panels on the white house and seeing Reagan take them down, makes me really wonder, if Reagan hadn’t taken office following Carter, could we have seen a different future? Does government have that strong of an impact on societies growth, that things could have been reversed, or at least delayed?
Chapter Seven:
ReplyDelete“America has now squandered its national wealth erecting a human habitat that, in all likelihood, will not be usable very much longer, and there are few unspoiled places left to retreat to in the nations habitable reaches.” (114) Wow. What a quote, and here we are in the 21st century, a world full of technological advancements, a society built around mobility. To think it wasn’t until the 1970’s when environmental studies courses began in colleges, when the concepts of sprawls were at it’s heights and excitement, it was beginning to be seen by few it’s negatives aspect, and here we are many years later, environmental studies being the biggest major here at UVM, it’s clearly become quite a concern to see where we stand now, and how people are reacting, especially the fear. The fear of the earth not being able to withstand these livelihoods. It’s harder and harder to find retreats to the natural world, a place with fresh air, no noise pollution, and a vast habitat or species and animals, these places are limited. We kept pushing and pushing and now we’re in a crucial time, we’re in the phase we either do something or admit defeat...
“The two elements of the suburban pattern that cause the greatest problems are the extreme separation of uses and the vast distances between things.” (117) It’s evident that sprawl didn’t do much to help. People moving out of the city we’re looking to have a closer connection to nature, a lawn to play on, fresh air to breath, but the more we expanded and the way we chose to only meant more driving, and more separation, the development of motels, because of vehicular travel, the growth of strip malls, the demand for driving grew and grew, and suddenly society is structured so differently. We rely on our cars.
“It remains to be seen how the shopping malls of America might evolve over time. The conditions under which they flourished - cheap energy, cars for everyone, a credit drived consumer economy, special tax breaks for big real estate ventures - may be viewed as abnormal and transitory, a fragile equation that could fall apart like a house of cards if any of the factors changed.” (120) I thought this quote was very interesting, we’ve seen strip malls grow from sprawl, but I think we’ve reached our peak, resources are limited (which I’m sure they didn’t think about during the time of their growth). With gas prices rising, becoming more challenging to drive, which strip malls get all their consumers, even people finding the simplicities of shopping online instead of in stores, strip malls were a result of an era, and times change. I’m curious about their future.
Question: I think my big question has to do with the government’s influence, I can’t help to compare Carter and Reagan and my curiosity with how things we’re run so differently between these two men, I just wonder how things could have been differently if Carter’s beliefs had carried over into following presidencies and there priorities, and how things could be different today if the leadership had been different.
Rev up the reflections, CARS posse!
ReplyDeleteExcellent work thus far - looking forward to more VIDEO presentations today!
Dr. Rob
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4
ReplyDeleteCars: Throughout this chapter suburbs are consistently discussed beginning on page 39. Suburbs are designed away from city messes and industrial areas as a form of escape, and therefore are based solely around transportation. Suburbs are car dependent in order for people to be able to escape the industrial activates that man had created for themselves.
Culture: On page 52, Kunstler discusses “the standard of living” in certain newly developed suburbs. “Streets of fashion” is the term he used because people living in the area had to keep their houses clean and neat looking, to create a “socially one-dimensional society.” By having everyone look the same, act the same, and keep their homes the same, everyone is equal and no problems were expected to arise.
Media: On page 40, Kunstler talks about when native born American art began to flower in the 1830s it was the same time as the industrial transformation and that by 1840, 2800 miles of railroad track were in operation. I am sure lots of media of this time, art especially, and was depicting this transformation and new means of transportation.
Chapter 5
Cars: “Coincidentally, the automobile, with its promise of freedom and adventure, had commenced to transform American space in a new and horrible way, for which no one was prepared” (p.67). This is a very powerful quote for this book. Having read this in a previous class, I know how much Kunstler views automobiles as the downfall of our society and creates giant wastes of space. I thought it was interesting that such a thesis like quote was hidden in the book in a section that was about the past, and not further discussed at this point; very interesting.
Culture: On page 75 Kunstler discusses when skyscrapers were being commissioned and people wanted to test materials to see how high up they could go. This is so much like American culture; we are always trying to test the limits, get the next best thing of out the least amount of money. This quote was the defining essence of how our culture is manipulated to want the next big thing, and push all limits to get it.
Media: “American space had ceased to be about forms, they said. It was now about symbols, communication and advertising!” (p.82). This was the boom of cars, and media. America now had these vast open spaces, like parking lots and big buildings that could be flooded with advertisements and other media messages. This is still largely how advertisements are shown today (minus in Vermont since billboards are not allowed thankfully).
Chapter 6
ReplyDeleteCars: On page 92 to 93, Kunstler discusses how the automobile was a great asset to farm life, but ultimately was ruinous to the practice as a whole. I feel as though the automobile revolutionized farming, yes, but helped to kill the surrounding environment. Now-a-days people do not know how to work without the use of fossil fuel driven machines (there are some exceptions) and this is said because that means there is less traditional ecological knowledge.
Culture: On page 101, it is discusses that the American Dream is out of the city, and away from the industrialized world we built for ourselves. I found this ironic because so many people want to have these new technologies and great things, however, they do not want to live with the negative consequences that result, and therefore they flee to a “safer” place that soon will be overrun too.
Media: On page 89, the government was discussed in the matter of roads. They were beginning to pay for new infrastructure. This action alone was a promotion for people to move away from streetcars and go towards the single occupancy vehicle because that is where the government was putting money. I would certainly be utilizing my money if I were a tax payer back then, so to do that I would need a car to be on those roads.
Chapter 7
Cars: The two elements of suburbia are: the extreme separation of uses and the vast distances between things (p.117). With these two key elements, cars are essential for suburban life to exist and continue. If cars were not there, people would have longer commute times, and most would not chose to live in such a secluded area. Today I feel like there is no such thing as suburbia because every city and area has a store within walking distance for necessities, but sadly I am sure people still drive there.
Culture: On page 115 Kunstler talks about how children of suburbs suffer the most. Once in suburbia they are trapped there and the only way to get around is by having the parents drive them. This is makes cars that much more important. Cars then become the gateway to freedom to be able to get out of the suburbs and actually are able to do fun stuff that is not in a friend’s basement.
Media: On page 121, Kunstler talks about how boulevards have become a place of sale. “Drivers are assaulted by a chaos of gigantic, lurid plastic signs, golden arches…” all sheer advertisements. This was shocking because I have always lived in Vermont where billboards are not allowed. I remember when I was younger go to Mass all the big signs and being amazed and wanting to go to every place depicted on a sign. I am happy to have grown up shielded from that.
Question:
If we create these areas of "no places" then is the future just going to be cracked asphalt and deserted buildings? Scary image