Final Project: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Our automobility is defined by existing infrastructure...  
      
The American people have come to view the freedom of automobility as a right. While I would agree with this statement, I had never before considered that this supposed 'freedom' was still very regimented, constraining our movements to places which the government lays down infrastructure to reach. Cotten Seiler references James Clifford, who points out "the mythic nature of the figure of the "free" traveler, noting that most bourgeois, commercial, aesthetic travelers moved within highly determined circuits. These circuits have structured patterns of power, exchange, and selfhood long before the interstates..." (Seiler, loc. 1670 (kindle user)). We are confined by our roads and our cars, and provided with misplaced feelings of automobility. I think that Shel Silverstein's poem Where the Sidewalk Ends is especially relevant, as it encourages people to escape industrialism, but instead of using our cars to escape the asphalt and smoke (as we have historically) he suggests taking a walk.

We continue to sacrifice practicality for perceived individuality...

Over the past decades, technology has made amazing gains. Despite our ability to create and own practical fuel efficient vehicles, we continue to embrace the unnecessary. In many cases when purchasing a car, people buy for the maximum they might need it for, rather than a vehicle suited for typical life. An SUV for those once a year family camping trips, or a 4-wheel drive truck for that time when you have to bring a couch home from the store. I found it astounding and slightly horrifying to discover that "advances in fuel efficiency have been offset by increases in horsepower, with the result that average gas mileage has remained basically flat: the Model T got an astounding 28.5 miles per gallon, and in 2004, the national average was down to 24.7 mpg" (Lutz, loc. 176). I believe that the Model T was the epitome of practicality, it was versatile, practical, and fairly uniform. Today as we attempt to customize our automobiles and assert our status and individuality, we sacrifice practicality and efficiency, and embrace bigger, more ecologically (and economically) destructive vehicles.

We may think we're immune to advertising, but...

As Americans, we are deeply rooted in our notions of freedom and independence. These beliefs cause us to assume that we are above advertisements, and that we recognize market ploys when presented to us on the television, radio, or computer. However, advertising yields results, materializing in a number of different ways, from subconscious tendencies and associations to the brand loyalty of kids. "Corporations spend huge amounts each year on advertising in the welter of media space: on network and cable television, in newspapers and magazines, on the radio, on the Internet, on billboards, buses, and other "outdoor" advertising, and through the mail. When it comes to creating brand image, nothing does it like advertising" (Lutz, loc. 928). Brand image is extremely important, and portraying a positive brand is equally as important as showcasing the merits of the products.

In this Volkswagon ad, the car isn't mentioned once, yet at the end the viewer is left thinking what a wonderful commercial it was. I don't know about you, but I'm hooked.

We're sitting in a metal weapon moving at 70 miles per hour...

Car crashes produce terrible outcomes, as many are "unexpected, violent, and gory". Death is never easy, but in many cases illnesses or old age allow some degree of preparation, or expectation. Car crashes, on the other hand, can happen to anyone, at any moment, and on even the simplest of trips. They have the ability to extinguish multiple lives at once, regardless of one's driving ability or cautiousness. Cars are dangerous regardless of 'safety features', but Americans will not consider completely relinquishing our automobiles, despite the many associated risks. "Car crashes thieve more years from more lives than any other single cause. They are the leading cause of deaths for all Americans between the ages of 1 and 34 and have been for years. Since 1899, crashes have killed 3.4 million Americans, claiming far more victims than all U.S. wars combined" (Lutz, loc. 3,315). This staggering statistic does nothing to influence our desire to drive, as high schoolers continue to receive cars for their birthdays,  and people continue to speed down the highway while simultaneously texting and eating McNuggets. 

Check out this "deluxe, in-car office"...

Cars are making us heavy and anti-social, the vicious cycle...

Americans are becoming heavier due to prolonged car usage. Instead of walking or biking to get around, we revert to driving short distances for the sake of convenience, despite fuel costs, traffic, and parking hassles. "Roughly 40% of U.S. adults could be labeled "sedentary" because they undertook no physical activity during their leisure time, and in the past two decades, the number of trips Americans take on foot has declined 42%" (Lutz, loc. 2,965). This is an extremely relevant statistic because not only are we becoming more insularized, and losing our connection with nature and our surroundings, but we are on a slippery slope of never resuming active tendencies. We have each individually eliminated negative feedback cycles, as we grow accustomed to drive-thrus and being inside our car, rather than outdoors.  This raises the question, how do we get people OUT of their cars, and utilizing other methods of transportation when we are so comfortable inside our own vehicles?

Suburbia, no place to go, no way to get there...

Suburbia is creating a unique culture for children. The sprawl which most American children are growing up within is denying them of destinations. They become focused on automobility, and the desire to 'get out', or to start driving as soon as possible so that they can go places with their friends. Suburbia doesn't have green spaces, but it also doesn't have meeting places or destinations within walking or biking distances. It does not provide children with any outlet, and "since they had no public gathering places, teens congregated in furtive little holes--bedrooms and basements-- to smoke pot and imitate the rock and roll bands who played on the radio. Otherwise, teen life there was reduced to waiting for that transforming moment of becoming a licensed driver" (Kuntsler, loc. 288). The culture of automobility is accentuated in the suburbs, as kids with cars have the ability to go someplace new, and look forward to that perceived freedom.

Our transportation infrastructure didn't have to be like this...

The automobile and the electric streetcar were both made commercially viable at around the same time. This shocked me as much as the tale about the EV1. If these technologies had been utilized and developed correctly, they may have created a very different reality from what we know today. The streetcar and EV1 could have both represented significant improvements in transportation. General Motors seems to have single handedly been responsible for ruining any existing infrastructure designed for electric powered vehicles, and instead enforced the publics 'need' for gasoline-powered automobiles.  "A civilization completely dependent on cars, as ours is now, was not inevitable... the automobile, a private mode of transport, was heavily subsidized with tax dollars early on, while the nation's streetcar systems, a public mode of transport, had to operate as private companies, received no public funds, and were saddled with onerous regulations that made their survival economically implausible" (Kunstler, loc. 1,382). This demonstration of our capitalistic society makes me nervous for our future. I can only hope that the paradigm will change so dramatically that car companies will be forced to produce efficient vehicles, and to invest in other modes of transportation. 

We may be losing our connection to place...

My childhood and my background have given me a profound sense of place. Having a connection to the biological community that surrounds you is natural, and an inherent part of human nature. I formed these connections as a child, when I was roaming around the back fields and woods, as in independent being long before I was able to drive. Today, "our obsession with mobility, the urge to move on every few years, stands at odds with the wish to endure in a beloved place, and no place can be worthy of that kind of deep love if we are willing to abandon it on short notice for a few extra dollars. Rather, we choose to live in Noplace, and our dwellings show it" (Kunstler, loc. 2,796). This seems to capture the lack of effort and design that we put into our mass-produced homes, that serve as temporary stops for millions of Americans as the plan to move on. Like in suburbia, people in these temporary homes are looking for the next move, or for an escape route. 

Bigger is better...

'Bigger is better' could be used as a sort of slogan for American consumerism. What we don't realize, however, are the consequences of our lifestyles and living arrangements, which we design to reflect the maximum level of our income. "Living in places where nothing is connected properly, we have forgotten that connections are important. To a certain degree, we have forgotten how to think. Now that we have built the sprawling system of far-flung houses, offices, and discount marts connected by freeways, we can't afford to live in it" (Kunstler, loc. 3,928). We don't think about our consumption, we mindlessly drive to food and shopping chains where we spend money on products not build to last, which we'll later throw in a dumpster never to see again. We perceive our actions as having no direct consequences, and continue to consume at our maximum budgets, saving repercussions for later. Automobiles partially enable this trend in consumerism.

But he's a member of the family....

It's the end of the semester, and we've spent weeks learning about car culture in the United States, and how it interconnects with our economic and social needs. While my eyes were certainly opened about the negative associations of automobility, it's a hard to call my own habits into question. I do own a car. I don't drive a lot, but I definitely fall into the category of folks who are automobile-dependent. I go to school four and a half hours away from my family, and I drive home on breaks. My town in Connecticut had a walk score of 3. This class has forced me to consider my own actions, and worse, forced me to question whether I plan on changing them. "The adjustment may be painful for a nation that views car ownership as the essence of individual liberty. But the future will require us to make this adjustment" (Kunstler, loc. 3,962). So, now the question stands; how and when will this change take place? And will you find yourself at the front, or back of it?

A little clip from my high school yearbook... we had a section where everybody posed with their cars... sigh.