For some time now, I've been living vicariously through Sean-Paul Kelley. Both of us have been through some similar ups and downs, but now I'm REALLY jealous. He's in Singapore now, and I can only begin to wonder just how much fun one man can have without it being illegal and/or immoral and unethical.
Though he's half a world away, S-P's still thinking and pondering about life back here in the good ol' US of A. I do have to wonder about his latest question, though: Is Our Long National Obsession With Cars Finally Ebbing? As a native Texan, S-P understands that great distances require transportation, and in Texas one just doesn't hop on the #4 bus and get off wherever it is you're headed. In most of the rest of this great nation, one just doesn't do that, either. Throughout our history, we've been a nation dependent upon transportation. Mobility has always equaled power, and that has always translated to wealth- and if there's anything that Americans understand and lust after, it's wealth and power.
When I was filling my F-150 in Texas a few years back at $.88/gallon, the last thing on my mind was the price of gasoline. I could fill my primary AND auxiliary tank and still get change back when I hand the cashier $40. Now that gas is over $4/gallon (and in some places, $5/gallon), things seem just a wee bit different- and thankfully, I've long since traded in that F-150 for something more fuel-efficient.
There are cities (Portland is at the top of this list) that encourages and fosters thinking outside the box when it comes to transportation. Public transit is available, convenient, and well-enough designed to make it a reasonable and utilitarian option (It's actually easier for me to take the train to a Trailblazers game, f'rinstance). People here in Portland and other like-minded cities have embraced options besides burning fossil fuel. This may seem like the wave of the future here in Portland and other places, but for every city looking to the future, there are many others (et tu, Houston?) stuck in the past and lacking any real desire to change or clue as to how to pursue and achieve it.
I don't disagree with S-P on his main points. Cars are an expenseive, messy, and onerous mode of transportation. Just try living without one in this country, though. Think about it; how difficult would simple, every day tasks like grocery shopping become without an automobile? The reason for this is that American culture has for years worshipped at the altar of the combustion engine, making it easier for Americans to live in ever farther-flung exurbs while they commute to their jobs in cities. In too many places, a person's ability to live somewhere is limited only by the distance of (and time committed to) their daily commute to work.
Until, and unless, Americans find it within themselves to change their lifestyle and attitudes, I fear that we're condemned to perpetuate the car culture that has been part and parcel of the American experience for 80 years. The price of gas may well force people to think differently; we may tinker around the margins by driving hybrid vehicles instead of Biggie-size SUVs, but the idea will remain large unaltered. The problem is that there are too many industries whose raison d'etre, stock price, and future survival depend on keeping us behind the wheel as we live and die with the ever-rising price of a gallon of gas.
Those of us who live in cities stand a better chance of being able to find ways to become, if not independent, then at least less dependent upon automobiles. Even that will involve significant investments in infrastructure- upgrading a public transit system that's disturbingly inadequate at best and horribly embarrassing at worst. For most of rural America, it's unlikely that things will change for the better in our lifetimes, even IF there was a willingness to explore alternatives to automobiles, which, even with gas over $4/gallon, there really isn't.
I'm proud that I'm driving significantly less than I did while I was living in Houston. Perhaps this is my contribution to reducing my carbon footprint...or perhaps even a blind squirrel will trip over an acorn now and again, eh? Whatever the reason, I'd like to be able to do more, but even in suburban Portland, life without an automobile is really not an appealing option.
Perhaps someday we'll take a clue from Europe and Asia and figure out how to build cities and living spaces that manage to foster lifestyles independent of our historical reliance on combustion engines. Then again, this is America, damnit...and most of us will give up our cars when you pry the keys from our cold, dead fingers. I'm not proud of that, but there you have it.
So, yeah, S-P's on the right track, but America is a society built around the worship of automobiles. Singapore, to use his latest example, is a city designed for pedestrians and public transit. It's a fundamentally different philosophy where cities are built around people, high-density housing, and the services need to sustain those who live there. Life is accessible on foot or by public transit without undue hardship. Sadly, American design philosophy- when it comes to living spaces, at least- is predicated on the philosophy of spreading people out instead of bring them together. Gee, it's almost like Detroit and Big Oil got together and planned it that way....
