Pro-Car Inconveniences: the Absolute Needs of a More Walker-Friendly Lifestyle in the US
"You know, I am just so used to living in a big city that I feel uneasy when I do not see a convenience store and a subway station within ten minutes walk of where I live." Those were the exact words coming out of my mouth two minutes after getting picked up by my parents at the San Diego Airport. Harking back to the last conversations before departing Japan for one last time, I constantly remarked that I will miss the lifestyle of convenient shopping and transportation that I will not get in the U.S. I was totally right, as I realized even immediately after landing on her soil for the first.
Indeed, to the accusation of inconvenience, San Diego certainly can make no justifiable comebacks. Aside from a few un-cared for and unconfirmed rumors of her non-extensive trolley system extended a little bit beyond its current northern terminus "very soon in the future" (without any concrete plans besides a "proposed" 2015 completion date), public transportation and with it, more compact and pedestrian-friendly city-building, still, after all these years of high gas prices, clogged roads, and political leaders speaking of beating Asia in infrastructure, do not at all excite the locals.
Yes, it is undoubtedly true that cities out here in the West Coast are designed to be car-friendly (thanks to their growth during the time in which American car culture rapidly seeped into the daily lives of not only the wealthy, but the common middle and working class population). And yes, because the car culture is so deeply rooted in the psyche of the local populace, public transportation will not be used by the locals even if the entire infrastructure system is redesigned to be based on subways, trains, buses, and indeed, walking. But if people are simply satisfied with the status quo without experiencing or even simply considering the benefits of the alternative, then such pro-private vehicle argument cannot be particularly persuasive.
With a car-based culture, the city cannot possibly be compact and the sights of having small convenience stores extensively dotting neighborhood dominated by high-rise apartments cannot possibly be created. While I indeed do not doubt the fact that the enormous size of American single houses is a major factor for the high living standard of the US, the stats for average residential area per person should also be counterbalanced by whatever social deformities associated with extensive sub-urbanization.
Here I am not just talking about the weak socio-cultural issues raised by various social critics of America (e.g. the "spreading out" of cities through faceless suburbs destroy emotional connections among the people). I am more inclined to think about the need to use private vehicle in the process of purchasing the most basic of daily necessities (a bottle of Coca Cola, for instance) a matter of extremely high economic cost that will prove to be significant for each individual living in places like suburban San Diego.
Compare walking 5 minutes to the local convenience store to buy a bottle of Coke versus driving 5 minutes to a supermarket in the nearby strip mall for the same thing. For the former consumer, since he or she is so close to the store and because the store is open 24 hours, can go there at any time, he or she will only what she needs at one point in time. The latter consumer, because of high gas prices and hassle of driving combined with a large empty trunk, will be inclined to hastily predict what he or she needs for the next days or even weeks and over-purchase to save extra trips.
Besides wasting money on things that are not actually needed, driving to the supermarket can also prove to be unhealthy both physically and mentally. A visit to the convenience store, at least in my personal experience, often double as a refreshing walk away from troubles at home and a chance to get acquainted with the bustling compact neighborhood surrounding my apartment. A drive to the mall is simply for the sake of necessity, a chore that must be completed against the consumer's will.
Ultimately, seeing the global trend toward sustainability and more eco-friendly lifestyle, it would perhaps be apt to say that in the near future, the compact neighborhoods of Asia and older parts of America and Europe will again be the exemplary (and surely, logical and practical) models of town-building. And as human society head toward such a direction, perhaps cities such as San Diego can finally seriously consider the conveniences brought by the combination of convenience store-centered shopping and subway-centered transportation.
Indeed, to the accusation of inconvenience, San Diego certainly can make no justifiable comebacks. Aside from a few un-cared for and unconfirmed rumors of her non-extensive trolley system extended a little bit beyond its current northern terminus "very soon in the future" (without any concrete plans besides a "proposed" 2015 completion date), public transportation and with it, more compact and pedestrian-friendly city-building, still, after all these years of high gas prices, clogged roads, and political leaders speaking of beating Asia in infrastructure, do not at all excite the locals.
Yes, it is undoubtedly true that cities out here in the West Coast are designed to be car-friendly (thanks to their growth during the time in which American car culture rapidly seeped into the daily lives of not only the wealthy, but the common middle and working class population). And yes, because the car culture is so deeply rooted in the psyche of the local populace, public transportation will not be used by the locals even if the entire infrastructure system is redesigned to be based on subways, trains, buses, and indeed, walking. But if people are simply satisfied with the status quo without experiencing or even simply considering the benefits of the alternative, then such pro-private vehicle argument cannot be particularly persuasive.
With a car-based culture, the city cannot possibly be compact and the sights of having small convenience stores extensively dotting neighborhood dominated by high-rise apartments cannot possibly be created. While I indeed do not doubt the fact that the enormous size of American single houses is a major factor for the high living standard of the US, the stats for average residential area per person should also be counterbalanced by whatever social deformities associated with extensive sub-urbanization.
Here I am not just talking about the weak socio-cultural issues raised by various social critics of America (e.g. the "spreading out" of cities through faceless suburbs destroy emotional connections among the people). I am more inclined to think about the need to use private vehicle in the process of purchasing the most basic of daily necessities (a bottle of Coca Cola, for instance) a matter of extremely high economic cost that will prove to be significant for each individual living in places like suburban San Diego.
Compare walking 5 minutes to the local convenience store to buy a bottle of Coke versus driving 5 minutes to a supermarket in the nearby strip mall for the same thing. For the former consumer, since he or she is so close to the store and because the store is open 24 hours, can go there at any time, he or she will only what she needs at one point in time. The latter consumer, because of high gas prices and hassle of driving combined with a large empty trunk, will be inclined to hastily predict what he or she needs for the next days or even weeks and over-purchase to save extra trips.
Besides wasting money on things that are not actually needed, driving to the supermarket can also prove to be unhealthy both physically and mentally. A visit to the convenience store, at least in my personal experience, often double as a refreshing walk away from troubles at home and a chance to get acquainted with the bustling compact neighborhood surrounding my apartment. A drive to the mall is simply for the sake of necessity, a chore that must be completed against the consumer's will.
Ultimately, seeing the global trend toward sustainability and more eco-friendly lifestyle, it would perhaps be apt to say that in the near future, the compact neighborhoods of Asia and older parts of America and Europe will again be the exemplary (and surely, logical and practical) models of town-building. And as human society head toward such a direction, perhaps cities such as San Diego can finally seriously consider the conveniences brought by the combination of convenience store-centered shopping and subway-centered transportation.
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