Cities 07

I believe that Webber has some very good points in regards to the way that mass transportation has changed the landscape of cities. Webber shows that telephones and airplanes have turned the city into a place were cosmopolities go to work yet have little connection to. Without the car people would not be able to get anywhere and the change in spatial relations that form the cities and the surrounding communities never would have taken place.

Webster's dictionary defines a cosmopolitan as "a person who is free from local, provincial, or national bias or attachment; citizen of the world; cosmopolite: "sophisticated Urbane, worldly. In Melvin M. Webber's "Deadalus" he argues that there has been a decline in urbanization in "The Post-City Age." Webber attributes this decline to the prevalence and increased availability of telephones and airplane's. In this blog I will share personal experiences that prove Webbers theories correct while also arguing that the term Urban has changed in the minds of the American people.

In Webber's "Deadalus" he states that "Air transportation and the telephone... were eliminating the traditional space- time constraints on human interaction and bringing about stunning cultural changes in the nature of an increasingly global human civilization." This quote encapsulates Webber's primary argument. I agree with this statement and would argue that this manifestation has become even more apparent in 2007 with the advent of cell-phones. The cell phone has made it even easier for people to reach each other in different places and has made communication with people in different areas extremely simple. I like Webber would argue that this invention has brought about increased cultural change as many phone companies make it even easier than the phone companies to make calls to places not just all over the country but all over the world as well. Whether you are a Businessman trying to call a client in Beijing or a college student calling home to check on a care package, communication has become extremely effortless and less personal.

Another argument made by Webber is that "Americans are forming social communities comprised of spatially dispersed members. A new kind of large scale urban society is emerging that is increasingly independency of the city. While I agree with what Webber is arguing I contend that in today's society the term Urban by definition is attributed to those that live in city and while people can be Urbane and separate from the city it is impossible to be Urban. Webber's foreshadowing on the state of the city is amazing. Because of the export of manual labor jobs, and "White flight" have taken place at such amazing rates from 1968 to 2007 property rates, and living conditions in cities have gone down drastically. Because of this the word Urban has taken on a negative connotation that is assumed to be a label for minorities, and lower class white city dwellers. This definition of Urban is a far cry from the urbane socialite that Webber describes.

Webber touches on the changing definition of Urbanites and says that they "no longer reside exclusively in metropolitan settlements, or do ruralites live exclusively in the hinterlands." Webber argues that in today's society all you need is a college education and or money in order to be considered an Urbanite and that urban dwellers (immigrants, minorities) have become the new hicks who are uninformed about the world surrounding their neighborhood. I agree with Webber that money, race (although he skirts around this underlying issue), and class are all things that have kept the cities masses from becoming cosmopolitans.
While airplanes and telephones have a lot to do with the simplicity of cosmopolitans interacting with other cosmopolitans, I strongly disagree that this has anything to do with the state of the city. The reason why cosmopolites are being raised largely in suburbs is because when minorities were finally able to obtain a level of economic success and Jim Crow laws were abolished (coincidently right around the time this was written) the people who used to live in these Urban areas began to leave at an alarming rate. Real estate agents were then able to convince other cosmopolites and inspiring cosmopolites to move out of their homes for far less money than there homes were worth. THis trend continued and soon the entire landscape of cities around the country had changed. This is why property rates in these towns plummeted and why many bigoted people don’t want any urban duelers to move into their cosmopolitan safe havens. Telephones had nothing to do with this. In addition the outsourcing of jobs from America’s cities (i.e. the ford motor plants in Detroit) due to the capitalistic need to save money by underpaying workers contributed to current state of spatial relations. Airplanes no doubt had a large part in this. Businessmen (excuse me cosmopolitans) have to have their first class flights to get around the country and around the world in order to close deal’s that drive their costs down and put more money in other more rich cosmopolitans hands. And hoe else would we be able to export the products made overseas in sweatshops? Boats? That would take like years!

People concerned about the city needs have no fear gentrification is here. Soon all urbanities will no longer have to pretend like they grew up and were cultured in the city as opposed to “TV and computer-aided educational systems, no-toll long distance telephone service, and real-time access to national computer-based information systems” (Webber pg. 473). Gentrification will soon disenfranchise city dwellers as corporate giants cut checks and reclaim the neighborhoods that good suits (WOOPS the urbane, urbanites or is it cosmopolitans) rightfully deserve.

Kenneth T. Jackson’s “The Drive-in Culture of Contemporary America” discusses how the automobile “transformed both the structure and social life of modern cities” (Legates pg. 67). And provides a fairly negative view of what suburbs have become. In this blog I will discuss Jackson’s ideas on the garage, the motel, the drive-in theater the gasoline service station, the shopping center, the house trailer and mobile home, a drive-in society and the centerless city as they pertain to today’s suburbs.
Jackson starts his argument by first providing the reader with background information about how suburbs came in to existence. The conception of the interstate highway led to the expansion of cities from coast to coast and consequentially made it easier for people to develop land surrounding the cities creating the suburb. This is significant to Jackson’s argument because it could be debated which was truly more important to the formation of suburbs, the highways or the cars? I believe like Jackson that it was the car however if horse drawn carriages were still used to this day I have no doubt that we would have created a more efficient system of roads that would make travel much easier than the dirt covered roads that are still common in rural areas.
The car became not only a status symbol, but almost a member of the family, to be cared for and sheltered. The introduction of a canopied and unenclosed structure called a “car port” represented an inexpensive solution to the problem.” This quote exemplifies the way Americans think about their cars. Like Jackson says we almost view them as our horses we provide them with shelter that has since become enclosed, wash and water them at the feeding hole (Car Wash/ gas station), and even take them to the vet (the mechanic) when they get sick (car trouble). Jackson reiterates the strength of our love of car’s when he says “In California garages and driveways were often so preeminent that the house could almost be described as accessory to the garage. Few people, however, went to the extremes common in England, where the automobile was often so precious that living rooms were often converted to garages” (Jackson, pg. 70). This quote epitomizes the love the whole world has for cars and just how far people will go to protect them. I actually found that many homes in California and down south, especially in lower income and rural neighborhoods, don’t have enclosed garages. In Minnesota you would be hard pressed to find a car in any city rural or otherwise that didn’t have an enclosed garage I presume this difference is due to weather and climate rather than anything else but I thought it was interesting.
The motel is another post World War II phenomenon discussed by Jackson. “By 1972…an old hotel was closing somewhere in downtown America every thirty hours. And somewhere in suburban America, a plastic and glass Shangri-La was rising to take its place” (Jackson, pg. 71) this quote is exemplary of the major changes and outsourcing of resources from the cities to the suburbs. When I was a senior in high school I was involved in something called the rights of passage which is basically a mentorship program for young black males and at its completion we are put through a ceremony attended by friends and family. This year I went back to see the ceremony, it has been three years since I completed the program, and was surprised to find that the ceremony was being held at the Marriot Hotel in the suburb of Minnetonka rather than at the downtown Minneapolis suburb that it had been held in for many years. While it may seem like a small point of emphasis I believe its implications are very real and support the arguments that Jackson has made in regards to motels.
The Drive-in Theater, the gasoline service station, the shopping center, the house trailer and mobile home, and the creation of the drive in society are all things that have been evolved due to the car. The drive-theater is not as popular as it once was but I’ve been to a few in my life out in the outer lying suburbs and they are a lot more fun that a regular movie. First you are allowed to view three movies in one showing as opposed to 1 at a regular theatre two the tickets are cheaper and three it more intimate for you and your family or you and your significant others because you can talk, or make out without people looking at you funny or telling you to be quite. Jackson notes the decline in drive in popularity that began in the 60’s and 70’s and attributes it to the creation of malls.
Mall's are some the most noticeable traits of suburbs and in many instances what separate another small town from a suburb. Jackson notes that the first mall was created “introduced at the South dale Shopping Center near Minneapolis in 1956.” I used to work right across the street from Southdale and would go there all the time. I remember seeing Santa Claus their one year and taking dates their as well. For a long time the mall didn’t have a movie theater but competition with the mall of America and other surrounding malls has led Southdale to create on of the nicest movie theaters I have been to. They have spacious reclining seats and big cup holders (AHhhh the luxury). Southdale is located in one of the wealthiest suburbs in the country, Edina, MN. I think it no coincidence that the first mall in America is also in one of the wealthiest. Id bet that property values in Bloomington, MN, where the Mall of America is located, skyrocketed after “The Mega Mall” was created in the early 1990’s.

I like you introduction...the definition is an interesting way to look at this

I really enjoyed our class discussion over Jackson on Thursday. It is truly amazing the difference cars have made. The sad thing is that their influence has been so severe that it is hard to even take a couple steps back and imagine a world where life did not revolve around cars...especially in America.

Jackson broke down and analyzed many different aspects of life that the automobile has affected in life. For the purposes of my OBE I will focus on the gasoline service station, and the house trailer and mobile home. I will address how I feel these two services are a blessing in life.

Jackson explained the history of the motor home, and how it was started as a means of travel, but later turned into a form of shelter for people in need of a place to live during the Great Depression. In my opinion, this form of transportation turned housing is a blessing. My mother was a single mother in need of a place to live with her children after a divorce. If it weren’t for the mobile home we would have had to find an apartment to live in. The benefits of not having to find an apartment were space and owning something. Because we were able to purchase a moderately cheap mobile home there was enough room to accommodate my siblings and myself. In addition because my mother owned it, and therefore had equity, she had an easier time borrowing money for the things she needed to accommodate her family. Without her ability to purchase an affordable home for my family and me, we would not have had as high of quality of living.

The next blessing that stems from the automotive industry are gasoline service stations. Jackson addresses more of the issues of self service pumping, and automotive tune-up stations. However, I want to focus on how the gasoline service station has evolved again from gas station to convenience store. The merchandise available in most gas stations is outrageously priced. I will agree with that, however there is a reason for the ridiculous prices. Gas stations are providing a service in which they are usually in a convenient location close to residential areas so they can be reached by pedestrians or bikers in addition to cars. Therefore, since people can walk into a gas station these days and pick up their snacks, medicine, or even groceries if they so choose the prices are a little bit higher. Speaking from personal experience, gas prices are expensive so the only time my car moves is if I go to work or am in dire need of something that cannot be reached by foot or bicycle. So when I run out of toothpaste the day after I made the trip to the supermarket I feel blessed that I can walk a block or two to the supermarket and for a slightly higher price pick up the items that I need.