"Americans' love affair with the automobile."

[raccoon]

A phrase I'm sick and tired of. And I don't believe Americans have/had any more of a love affair with the automobile than Brits, the French, the Germans, or any other citizenry who had the disposable income and the infrastructure to buy cars.

I believe many Americans would use public transportation if it were available.

Everyone driving their own vehicle has to be the most cost-INeffective way to get around that you could imagine. And the most environmentally-unfriendly.

[madokie]

1. I would use public transportation if we had any here

[MadHound]

2. Hate to inform you of this, but yes, Americans are more in love with their cars

Than probably any other population on the face of this earth. I've yet to seen the levels of auto modification, paint jobs, accessorization, etc. etc. over there that I've seen during my lifetime over here. We have been indoctrinated into a car culture, where one's politics and personality are worn on the hood of your vehicle. For instance, how many people automatically assume that somebody driving a 1 ton duelly Ford pickup is conservative, whereas a Prius driver is liberal? Yes, there is some of this, to some extent in Europe and elsewhere, but not nearly to the extent that we see it in the US.

As far as public transportation goes, well we simply don't have the infrastructure to have a system like Europe's, and it would be mightly damn costly for us to build it. European nations are much more compact than America, and building and maintaining 300 mile rail lines is a hell of a lot easier than 3000 mile lines.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see an improvement in mass transit, but it is going to take a long while to develop that sort of infrastructure. We should first start on insuring that more and more of our goods and products are shipped on rail rather than by truck, that would cut out a lot of problems there. Then we can start working on transporting people.

[raccoon]

6. It is true that "European nations are much more compact".

However, having mass transit within a city or metropolitan area is what I'm referring to.

"We should first start on insuring that more and more of our goods and products are shipped on rail rather than by truck"

Another thing, we should stop building further and further and further out. As Taxloss said in # 4. That is happening everywhere in the US, and has been for decades.

Have you lived in Europe?

[MadHound]

10. Having mass transit within a city is great, something we also need to work on

However I would love to see a revitalized rail system to transport all of these goods currently shipped by truck. Not only does it waste fuel and pollute the air, but at least in my neck of the woods(I-70 corridor in Mid Missouri), the increase in trucking is causing traffic nightmares.

I've not lived in Europe, though I've traveled there, and I never found that as many people making the same investment of themselves and their psyche into their car as Americans do:shrug:

I agree with you to a certain extent about not building further and further out, suburbs and exurbs are eating our countryside. However I myself moved out to the country, yes in part to get away from the noise, pollution and hassles of a city, but also in part because I felt it was the best move for me. I've got twenty acres that I live on, raising organic heirloom fruit trees, vegetables and berries for sale(part of the retirement plan). In addition, I can install a woodstove and wind turbine for power. I truly believe that this country is in for a major economic and civil downturn, and it is always easier to ride out such cycles when you are rural than when you are urban. Besides, it would be very difficult, if not impossible for me to to install such energy saving devices in an urban setting:shrug:

And though I have a thirty four mile round trip commute, I do consvere with this <>
A 2005 Bajaj scooter, cruises at 555-60mph, gets 100mpg. I'm using less gas than most people are during their urban commute:shrug:

There are ways, and reasons for moving out to the country that make energy sense. But I do agree, this suburban and exurban sprawl is insane.

[raccoon]

Which would be much more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly.

"a revitalized rail system to transport all of these goods currently shipped by truck."

[spinbaby]

19. We had the infrastructure

I live in rural Western Pennsylvania. There is a railroad right-of-way behind my house. There was once a COMMUTER TRAIN that ran through there with a stop not 100 yards from my house--we have a picture of that stop. You could take the train into town, take another train into Pittsburgh, and, from there, take a train anywhere in the country. The rail line thrived from the 1870s through the 1920s. Word is that an automobile company bought the line and neglected it to death until it was finally shut down around 1940.

Nowadays they're busy shutting down bus routes in Pittsburgh.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/10812022/detail.html

Somehow they can find the funds to build TWO stadiums for well-heeled sports teams, but can't fund transportation for the poor.
:mad:

[MadHound]

20. Oh I hear you. I live in Missouri, and they have been pulling up track for decades now

And what track is left is getting neglected and becoming unsafe. It really is a stupid move, rail is a much more efficient way of transporting both goods and people. But not anymore, now we have to have trucks clogging up the interstates, more and more every year. It's utterly insane.

[okieinpain]

3. I do love my vehicle, but I would ride mass trans, if it was setup

better here in oklahoma.

[Taxloss]

4. More like a codependent relationship than a love affair.

One of the big problems America faces is the sprawling, low-density cities that mass car ownership has encouraged. These suburban and exurban sprawls, unlike more compact European cities, mean that mass public transportation is uneconomic. So you might not love the cars - but your cities force you to need them.

[sshan2525]

5. I love cars, but....

If I had access to public transportation that was convenient and economical, I'd use it. I live in Rhode Island, the smallest state in the US - essentially a city-state. Most people work less than 30 miles from home. The public transportation system is a joke. All there is is an under-funded bus system that continues to lose riders because they continue to cut routes. Because they have less routes and busses, they lose even more riders (see the catch-22?). This is a textbook example of a self-fulfilling prophesy. If it doesn't work here, I honestly don't see how it will work anywhere else. On the other hand, my wife works in Boston and takes the T (commuter train) to work every day. That line has grown yearly and continues to add runs and I believe it even turns a profit. The cost to drive a car from RI to Boston and the parking bill, not to mention the traffic have all made the T an easy choice for many commuters. Currently, it's just easier (if not necessary) to drive a car to work in Rhode Island. Until states like mine are willing to temporarally operate public transportation at a loss, but keep equipment state of the art and routes convenient, on time and economicaly viable for riders they will never get the majority of people to leave the comfort of their cars. If the day ever comes that I can park my Honda during the week and still get to work, I'm selling it to buy a new Corvette to drive on the weekends just for fun.

[kenny blankenship]

7. It was a love affair, now it's a family tragedy

with rampant substance abuse, depression, paralytic dysfunction--and multiple homicide waiting in the wings for its cue.

[WinkyDink]

8. ITA. We carry so much in our cars, who would lug all of it onto a bus if

they didn't have to? Groceries (4 12-pack cokes for $10!). Other purchases. Recreation equipment. Kids. Pets.

We don't live in Europe, replete with compact towns and even cities, where an hour's drive takes you into another country, as opposed to barely reaching your place of employment.
Where buses stop on every corner. We don't even HAVE corners in Suburbia.

And I'm one who loves riding on buses and trains. I take the bus into Manhattan (90 minutes) when I go, even though it's a straight easy-peasy drive.

[treestar]

13. That's because it's all gone together

We have supermarkets so that we'll need cars.

City living in the most efficient, with the stores on the lowest level. It's easier to go out, so you just don't care how many times you go out.

We just, as a society, allowed ourselves to be convinced that the suburban existence was the best - no store can be close enough to walk to, or some wouldn't need cars, and the auto industry couldn't have that, could they?

[SoCalDem]

17. Yep.. "Old Europe" shops differently.

Americans , who have rarely endured "want", are compulsive hoarders. Europeans still shop daily in many places, but here, people are in perpetual "stock-up" mode :shrug:

[Karenina]

22. Fresh food.

A refridgerator here in Germany is 1/2 to 1/3 the size of what passes for "normal" in the U.S. If I want bread, I can get it STILL WARM from the Bakerei. Veggies are shipped from hither, thither and yon in the supermarkets but every neighborhood has a Farmer' Market where you can get locally grown, in season produce. It's been a DRASTIC change from my Ami upbringing.

Why I love where I live: I DON'T NEED A CAR. I no longer possess a current driver's license. (My activities in La-la-land were confined as much as possible to west of the 405, south of the 101 and north of the airport. I STILL logged 15-20,000 miles a year). The sidewalks here have designated red brick bike paths. In summer I walk or skate. The trains run every 10-15 minutes to pointts outside my "biking zone." Paris is 4 hours away on the Thalys. My door to the airport is 20 minutes. My door to the deep forest is 30 minutes. City planning in "Old Europe."

[HughBeaumont]

9. Unless you live in a major city, public transportation is REALLY inadequate in America.

Example: Cleveland. The train system only works if you're an East-sider. West siders still have to drive or take a bus to the train station to get downtown, as it goes to W 117th and tapers SW to the Airport. Then, the train only drops you off at one point downtown; so unless you work in Tower City, you're slushing your way through freezing sub-Arctic wind to your job for at least 6 months out of the year.

Unlike, say, D.C., most downtown-to-suburb busses have limited times. Where I live, the bus only arrives three times in the morning and at night. The fare is $1.25 each way extra because I live 4 miles outside Cuyahoga County. The commute, normally a 23-minute drive, takes over an hour. If you have to stay later, you're pretty much stranded. And the park-and-ride busses, since there are so few of them, are packed to the windows with people that have no concept of personal space (but that's another thread).

[theboss]

11. In general, I hate public transportation

And I love my car. Granted, I grew up in a rural area and used to love just taking meaningless drives on back-roads.

I only use public transportation when I know that parking is going to be impossible. Even then, it's a "hold my breath and do it" type of thing.

You know who is to blame for our love affair with the car? Chuck Berry.

As I was motivatin' over the hill
I saw Maybellene in a coup de ville.
A Cadillac a-rollin' on the open road,
nothin' will outrun my V8 Ford.
The cadillac doin' 'bout ninety-five,
she's bumper to bumber rollin' side by side.

[treestar]

12. It's the automakers and the oil companies "love affair"

that they legislated into being. Whenever Republicans claim they want the government out of stuff, they lie. It's just who they want it to help. In Southern California itself there was a great trolley system, all bought up by the oil companies and dismantled.

The road construction industry, you name it. They saw they was enough space and $$ to be made, and that the sheeple could be convinced that the suburban existence was the greatest.

Now that it's not the 50s any more, we may get a grip and realize when we are being manipulated, and decide things for ourselves.

[Bigmack]

14. I don't love my Prius....

... but we do have a warm relationship. Lots of respect for its gas mileage, quiet moments at stop lights, and bonding in the HOV lane.

[JacksonWest]

15. I hate public transportation(unless it's in DC).

I drive everywhere. The bus system is a joke. I used to live in Chicago, and the L made me want to shoot myself. Sure, some people love the smell of hot urine and being crammed in a small space with 100 people....just not me. I live in Ann Arbor now, and as I said, the bus system is a joke. So I drive. Or walk.

[theboss]

16. What's wrong with the smell of urine?

It's a great pick me up on a hot summer day.

I once took (I think) the Q to Brighton Beach on the 4th of July. It was 110 degrees and jammed pack with people dressed for the beach and their screaming toddlers. By the end of the 45-minute ride, all I wanted was shower.

[Imagevision]

18. Brazil is 100% oil free independant - The US. continues to fight wars for oil

because first and foremost Bush & Cheney are oilmen, This president has acess to military power to blast anyone who gets in their way, In Iraq, they regime changed, hung its leaders and simply continue to secure the oil flow, the rest is all fluff.

[SheilaT]

21. I'm one of those who would

take public transportation if at all possible. I lived in DC in the years the metro was first being built, to much intense criticism from those who said no one would ever ride it.

I love my current car, a 2004 Honda Civic, but I haven't customized it or done anything special to it (other than have a tape player put in so I can listen to books on tape) and since I live about four miles from my job, I only need to put gas in it about every three weeks.

Those old commuter trains were wonderful, from everything I've heard, and it was the automobile manufacturers who deliberately bought up the inter-urban lines and the trams, replaced them with much less efficient buses, and then made buses harder to take by altering routes, cutting back on service, and so on. And yeah, it is true that Europe is much more compact, but there's no reason at all why more of our cities couldn't have good bus/subway/tram service.

[Toucano]

23. You might say Americans got "Taken for a Ride".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0236785/

Mandatory viewing, but it's not available on video.

Airs on PBS once in awhile.

[Toucano]

24. Found some exerpts

http://www.culturechange.org/issue10/taken-for-a-ride.htm