Driving to America ( Archived) (2)

In the 1960s the US more or less completed it's highway system. Although it was initially built for military use only, early on a decision was made to allow civilian traffic to use it. Several things could thus be accomplished. If the civilian traffic on the highway and where folk went to work was made different from where they lived, then the population would be dispersed from the industrial centers and the immediate death rate from the (believed to be) coming nuclear war would be lessened. In this fashion both urban sprawl and Federal support of zoning laws began.

Construction companies and real estate developers received Federal supplements to build housing in areas where none had previously existed. Counties and States offered tax proffers to the builders as an incentive to build roads to the new places. The new zoning laws ensured that very few Americans outside of the cities would live within 10 miles or so of where they worked, while at the same stores where they would shop would also no longer be in residential neighborhoods. Thus was born the shopping mall.

Oh sure there were exceptions, but for the most part today most Americans (outside of the cities) live 40 or 50 miles from where they work. The stores they shop in for groceries are often 5 or more miles from their home. This was foreseen. In the 1950s and 1960s a popular saying with endorsement from Capital Hill was, if it is good for General Motors (or Ford), then it is good for America. The theory being the more distance between employment and residence and stores, the more cars America would need. The more cars America needed, the more the factories making them would stay busy and the more workers that would be needed.

That this would require an ever increasing amount of oil was considered and considered unimportant as oil was cheap.

Sure in some American cities public transportation is always available and goes just about anywhere inside that city. This is true for at least 3 or 4 American cities. About 100 cities have public transportation that runs once or twice a day and only in certain areas. The other 5,000 or so cities have no public transportation at all and if you don't own a vehicle, well, you have a long walk ahead of you.

Personally I guess I am lucky. I am only about a mile from a convenience store. The nearest supermarket is only about 9 miles from me and there are places to work (factories and offices, vs store clerk (a job usually held by teenagers or college students) only 12 miles away. I know many people who drive 60 or 80 miles each day to go to work (only 3 years ago my own commute was 84 miles each way).

Sure the Soviet Union no longer exists. The days of planning for 4,000+ nuclear warheads striking America are more or less over. Current planning rarely envisions more than 20. Nevertheless, our population is still dispersed. Although the price of gasoline may no longer be $0.18 a gallon we still mostly live in our automobiles.

What does that mean to CS? Just one thing. If you come here, having a driver's license and already knowing how to drive is a very good idea. Usable cars can often be bought second hand for about $1,500 and of course new ones, there is no upper price limit for some types. So when you arrive, in addition to your driver's license (which can usually be exchanged for a local license with a quick written test), plan on buying a decent used car (and liability insurance required everywhere). If you do not know how to drive, or have a car of your own, you will be a virtual captive, entirely dependent on someone else deciding when you should go out for food, or if you should work.