noteworthy wrote:
Nate Silver:

This is surely one of the signs of the apocalypse: Americans aren't driving as much as they used to. The downward trend last year was stark.

Perhaps the only good thing about losing your job is that you no longer have to endure the drive to work.

The exceptionally sluggish pace of new-vehicle sales in the face of extremely attractive incentives being offered by the automakers might imply that Americans are considering making more-permanent adjustments to their lifestyles.

Verlyn Klinkenborg:

Every now and then I meet someone in Manhattan who has never driven a car. I used to wonder at such people, but more and more I wonder at myself.

Driving is the cultural anomaly of our moment.

Louis Menand:

The interstates changed the phenomenology of driving.

Believe me, this has been bittersweet for me. Being a product of Detroit, and a die-hard gear head, I've been wondering how this is going to look in 10, 20, or 50 years. I'm a big greenie, and I've reveled at the awakening of people to sustainability in their lives. But I enjoy car culture. I ride. I race. I break and fix things. It's fun. And there are times when I feel like I might really miss the smell of gasoline. Or the noise of exhaust. You can feel the era passing. Sometimes, it hurts.

flynn23 wrote:
Believe me, this has been bittersweet for me. Being a product of Detroit, and a die-hard gear head, I've been wondering how this is going to look in 10, 20, or 50 years. I'm a big greenie, and I've reveled at the awakening of people to sustainability in their lives. But I enjoy car culture. I ride. I race. I break and fix things. It's fun. And there are times when I feel like I might really miss the smell of gasoline. Or the noise of exhaust. You can feel the era passing. Sometimes, it hurts.

Unlike you and several of my friends, I'm not as much into the car culture per se (nor am I much of a greenie), but I understand the pro-car part of your bittersweet situation. I'm a driver. All my life, I've been 25-75 miles from most places I need to go on a daily basis. My home, job, family, friends, and hangouts are spread out all over Middle TN. Even my local trips to grocery stores, restaurants, and theaters are well beyond walking distance.

The concept of going somewhere without my vehicle is foreign to me, because that's all I've ever known. The thing is, though, I like it that way, despite certain inconveniences. While the thought of being able to walk to work and save about three hours each day has its appeal, the place in which I prefer to live happens to be 35 miles away from my job, so I choose to commute. I also prefer driving alone and having that time to myself, as opposed to sharing a ride, be it in a train, trolley, bus, or my own vehicle. I can drive at my own speed, play my own music, listen to subversive talk radio, or make an unplanned stop for some impulsive shopping.

I love being able to drive anywhere, anytime. There's a lot to be said for the practical freedom that we achieved in the 1950s with affordable automobiles and the Interstate Highway System. Not everyone likes the idea of living downtown in a large city, and we should be celebrating, not resenting, the fact that we have the ability to choose the lifestyles that appeal to us.

Nate Silver:
For people like me who live in big cities where one does not need a vehicle to get by, there is a certain romantic attraction to this story. Why, if only all those Bubbas could ditch their SUVs, take the monorail to work, and buy their families a bunch of Schwinns, life would be just grand!

That's a very negative, but sadly typical, perspective from the left. Anyone who doesn't aspire to Mr. Silver's chosen lifestyle is automatically a "Bubba," in his eyes. He also suggests that we might be seeing "some sort of paradigm shift in Americans' attitudes toward their cars," but I think he's dreaming. High gasoline pr... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Stefanie wrote:

flynn23 wrote:
Believe me, this has been bittersweet for me. Being a product of Detroit, and a die-hard gear head, I've been wondering how this is going to look in 10, 20, or 50 years. I'm a big greenie, and I've reveled at the awakening of people to sustainability in their lives. But I enjoy car culture. I ride. I race. I break and fix things. It's fun. And there are times when I feel like I might really miss the smell of gasoline. Or the noise of exhaust. You can feel the era passing. Sometimes, it hurts.

Unlike you and several of my friends, I'm not as much into the car culture per se (nor am I much of a greenie), but I understand the pro-car part of your bittersweet situation. I'm a driver. All my life, I've been 25-75 miles from most places I need to go on a daily basis. My home, job, family, friends, and hangouts are spread out all over Middle TN. Even my local trips to grocery stores, restaurants, and theaters are well beyond walking distance.

The concept of going somewhere without my vehicle is foreign to me, because that's all I've ever known. The thing is, though, I like it that way, despite certain inconveniences. While the thought of being able to walk to work and save about three hours each day has its appeal, the place in which I prefer to live happens to be 35 miles away from my job, so I choose to commute. I also prefer driving alone and having that time to myself, as opposed to sharing a ride, be it in a train, trolley, bus, or my own vehicle. I can drive at my own speed, play my own music, listen to subversive talk radio, or make an unplanned stop for some impulsive shopping.

I love being able to drive anywhere, anytime. There's a lot to be said for the practical freedom that we achieved in the 1950s with affordable automobiles and the Interstate Highway System. Not everyone likes the idea of living downtown in a large city, and we should be celebrating, not resenting, the fact that we have the ability to choose the lifestyles that appeal to us.

Nate Silver:
For people like me who live in big cities where one does not need a vehicle to get by, there is a certain romantic attraction to this story. Why, if only all those Bubbas could ditch their SUVs, take the monorail to work, and buy their families a bunch of Schwinns, life would be just grand!

That's a very negative, but sadly typical, perspective from the left. Anyone who doesn't aspire to Mr. Silver's chosen lifestyle is automatically a "Bubba," in his eyes. He also suggests that we might be seeing "some sort of paradigm shift in Americans' attitudes toward their cars," but I thi... [ Read More (0.4k in body) ]

flynn23 wrote:
...missing the fact that neither are "real cities" and that there's plenty to like about Nashville that Portland will never have (like, um, weather).

lol

flynn23 wrote:
This is our seemingly instinctual response to think that there's a silver bullet solution for everything.

Very true. Rarely are problems caused by a single factor, and rarely will problems be solved by a single factor. Comprehensive, well-thought-out measures don't make for sexy politics, though. Also, people will always disagree about which factors should be part of the solutions.

flynn23 wrote:
I'm a little sad that there is real change being affected in car culture. But where is that not the case? As a society - globally - we have to adjust and get used to the fact that we've lived off the fat of the land and created too much abundance for the last 100 years or so. That is neither in harmony or respect of the delicate balance we must achieve with the rest of the universe. That sounds really hippy spliffy, but there's tons of science to support it.

Well, it doesn't sound all that hippyish to me (with the possible exception of that "too much abundance" part). It's just common sense. Change (actually, entropy) is the reality of the known universe, and our culture is no exception. Granted, the twentieth century arguably brought about more significant change (especially in the West, particularly the U.S.A.) in a short time span than any other period in human history, but we're still undergoing significant changes. While I wouldn't necessarily criticize our culture for its own success (progress is a good thing), I do think that recent generations have been a bit spoiled; not just by advances in commerce and technology that have made our lives easier, but also by a growing sense of entitlement.

It stands to reason that the ways in which we do things in 2009 won't necessarily be the ways in which we do those same things in the year 2109. Ultimately, we do have to realize that the planet's size and resources are finite, and as our population continues to grow (domestically and globally), the proverbial shit and fan are on a potential collision course, in which case, something has to give, sooner or later. However, that doesn't mean that I'm going to change my lifestyle by pretending that it's the year 1700. I'm still going to drive, as are many other Americans. True, your beloved car culture will change, but it doesn't have to go away. It was change that brought about car culture in the first place. Hopefully, we'll come up with a cleaner, cheaper, more abundant energy source for our vehicles in the relatively near future, but there's no reason we should have to give up size, comfort, performance, or the entire car culture in the process.