4.9.22
A TRENCHANT PARKINSONISM.
That's the same C. Northcote Parkinson best known for "Work expands to fill the available time." He also once wrote, "The car would be a splendid vehicle if nobody else possessed one. Once made common to all it changes our way of life dramatically and for the worse." It appears as though Streetsblog's version of Friday short Takes has come to the same conclusion: "Friday’s Headlines Are Quitting Cars." In particular, the speed and cheap mobility was only there when few people possessed one. "The worldwide love affair with the car, which promised consumers convenience, status and freedom, is over. The reality from Hotan to Hull and Lagos to Lahore is that the car is now a social and environmental curse, disconnecting people, eroding public space, fracturing local economies, and generating sprawl and urban decay." Replacing the internal combustion engines with fuel cells or batteries ultimately does nothing about the congestion. Where is this era's traction promoters?
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2 comments:
Many of us are not urban. Personal vehicles are still wonderful for us. Do we count?
Streetsblog tend to focus on urban transportation, where no amount of road socialism will ever avoid traffic congestion, and thus they push the rail transit and the scooters, bikes, and skateboards.
Commuting conditions in exurbia are more costly, and less pleasant, than they have to be, in part because of the road socialism (and no amount of "infrastructure" spending will stay ahead of the wear and tear on the allegedly free streets, stroads, and roads) and in part because of zoning restrictions and parking requirements that make your exurban trips longer than they otherwise could be. In addition, a lot of the zoning and parking planning came to be about the same time as small and medium size cities lost their streetcars.
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