Comments on: We Must Imagine a Future Without Cars http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/ Covering the New York City Streets Renaissance Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:31:30 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Gizler http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30724 Gizler Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:18:58 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30724 Also, his "Eyesore of the Month," usually top notch, this month is kind of just . . . mean-spirited. http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html Also, his "Eyesore of the Month," usually top notch, this month is kind of just . . . mean-spirited.

http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html

]]> By: Gizler http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30723 Gizler Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:17:14 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30723 I am generally a Kunstler fan, I should add. Geography of Nowhere was brilliant. The next two were pretty good too. But Long Emergency has a crackpot quality to it, despite the legitimate issues raised. He indulges some of his worst tendencies - his near-racist musings about urban blacks, wild generalizations about southerners and other population groups, his predicted global die-off of billions and return to feudalism. And this is his singular focus these days, unfortunately. I am generally a Kunstler fan, I should add. Geography of Nowhere was brilliant. The next two were pretty good too. But Long Emergency has a crackpot quality to it, despite the legitimate issues raised. He indulges some of his worst tendencies - his near-racist musings about urban blacks, wild generalizations about southerners and other population groups, his predicted global die-off of billions and return to feudalism. And this is his singular focus these days, unfortunately.

]]> By: Angus Grieve-Smith http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30714 Angus Grieve-Smith Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:17:10 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30714 Good point, Gizler. Cars are bad for such a large number of reasons (<i>Asphalt Nation</i> is a good compilation of these reasons) that anyone who puts their eggs in one basket is asking for trouble. They use up scarce oil (and now drive up the price of corn); they cause wars; they pollute; they are used to discriminate against the young, the elderly, the poor and the disabled; they destroy downtowns; they cause obesity; they contribute to a general disconnect between people, their neighbors and their environments; and they kill people. Any one of these is reason enough to stop feeding the cycle of car dependence, even if someone disproves one or two of the others. Good point, Gizler. Cars are bad for such a large number of reasons (Asphalt Nation is a good compilation of these reasons) that anyone who puts their eggs in one basket is asking for trouble. They use up scarce oil (and now drive up the price of corn); they cause wars; they pollute; they are used to discriminate against the young, the elderly, the poor and the disabled; they destroy downtowns; they cause obesity; they contribute to a general disconnect between people, their neighbors and their environments; and they kill people. Any one of these is reason enough to stop feeding the cycle of car dependence, even if someone disproves one or two of the others.

]]> By: Gizler http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30713 Gizler Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:14:32 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30713 I'm afraid Kunstler has damaged his credibility with his constantly revised predictions of when oil will peak), his mischaracterization of process of gasifying coal, his dismissal of the progress being made with battery technology, and a number of other things. Its not that I don't want to see a much less automobile dependent America in the future, because i do. But there seems to be a lot of wishful thinking involved in his jeremiads. If the sprawl-based order does prove more economically sustainable than he believes it will, we have to be prepared to continue to make the case on other grounds. I'm afraid Kunstler has damaged his credibility with his constantly revised predictions of when oil will peak), his mischaracterization of process of gasifying coal, his dismissal of the progress being made with battery technology, and a number of other things. Its not that I don't want to see a much less automobile dependent America in the future, because i do. But there seems to be a lot of wishful thinking involved in his jeremiads. If the sprawl-based order does prove more economically sustainable than he believes it will, we have to be prepared to continue to make the case on other grounds.

]]> By: Angus Grieve-Smith http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30707 Angus Grieve-Smith Thu, 12 Apr 2007 01:49:04 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30707 It is a good article in general; thanks for posting it, Aaron. I've been meaning to read <i>The Long Emergency</i> for a while. I do have a couple of quibbles with Kunstler, though. I wouldn't say that motoring has ever been "absolutely democratic." Is the figure really only six percent for the number of adults who are unable to drive? And why only include adults, and not twelve-year-olds who can safely walk to the corner store in my neighborhood, but not in Scottsdale? People have said to me, "you're not going to get Americans to give up their cars." No, I'm not; the banks are when they can't pay the mortgage on their McMansion in the exurbs, or else the <i>Road Warrior</i>-style gangs with sawed-off shotguns are, if they don't give them up on their own. I just want to live my car-free life in peace without subsidizing anyone's highway, parking lot or gasoline. If I think about the future, the thing I'm worried about is this: what if I build a nice car-free life for myself and my family, and then twenty years from now everyone in the Atlanta suburbs stops gloating at us and realizes that the cost of gas makes Western Queens a much nicer place to live? Could they have enough power to come kick me out of my co-op on some flimsy pretext and send me to homestead in the wilds of Levittown? It is a good article in general; thanks for posting it, Aaron. I've been meaning to read The Long Emergency for a while.

I do have a couple of quibbles with Kunstler, though. I wouldn't say that motoring has ever been "absolutely democratic." Is the figure really only six percent for the number of adults who are unable to drive? And why only include adults, and not twelve-year-olds who can safely walk to the corner store in my neighborhood, but not in Scottsdale?

People have said to me, "you're not going to get Americans to give up their cars." No, I'm not; the banks are when they can't pay the mortgage on their McMansion in the exurbs, or else the Road Warrior-style gangs with sawed-off shotguns are, if they don't give them up on their own. I just want to live my car-free life in peace without subsidizing anyone's highway, parking lot or gasoline.

If I think about the future, the thing I'm worried about is this: what if I build a nice car-free life for myself and my family, and then twenty years from now everyone in the Atlanta suburbs stops gloating at us and realizes that the cost of gas makes Western Queens a much nicer place to live? Could they have enough power to come kick me out of my co-op on some flimsy pretext and send me to homestead in the wilds of Levittown?

]]> By: P http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30701 P Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:19:47 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30701 Jeeze- why would Midas want to be associated with that kind of misery?!? Can we expect to see the <I>California Grapes Award</i> for the most consecutive days spent working in the fields as a migrant farmer? Jeeze- why would Midas want to be associated with that kind of misery?!?

Can we expect to see the California Grapes Award for the most consecutive days spent working in the fields as a migrant farmer?

]]> By: Gizler http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/comment-page-1/#comment-30699 Gizler Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:37:29 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/04/11/we-must-imagine-a-future-without-cars/#comment-30699 Good article on commuting this week in the New Yorker. It reports that the Midas Muffler Award for longest daily commute went to a guy in California who spends 7 hours in his car every weekday. Good article on commuting this week in the New Yorker. It reports that the Midas Muffler Award for longest daily commute went to a guy in California who spends 7 hours in his car every weekday.

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