Cities 07

In regards to the bit about "less automobile use, better access," I am not sure that I agree with all of the arguments that Wheeler presents. I find the idea of "access by proximity" to be unrealistic. It is an unattainable and idealistic city structure that was conquered long ago. Since the immersion into globalization, people have the ability to travel across the globe. Even by creating a city that has everything that they need, i.e. "urban villages," people will still find excuses to travel across town for their favorite restaurant with their favorite server. The ideas that Wheeler presents would also make for one boring life. If I worked, lived, shopped, and played all in one small geographic area, I would go stir-crazy. This idea would change the lively and bustling city into a lack-luster and monotonous structure. I understand that there are environmental, societal and political implications in automobile use, but this city structure seems to be a bit over the top. I am very supportive of mass transportation, biking, and walking especially, but there needs to be a happy medium between automobile use and the other three.

Americans are highly dependent on their automobiles. The issue with automobile use is that people with their use their eight-passenger gas-guzzlers to drive themselves, and no one else, to work. In order to slowly change the mindset of people, there needs to be more incentives in place - carpool lanes are not doing the job.

In the case of the college campus, the idea of reduced automobile use is more ideal. During orientation here at the U, they emphasized primarily walking to class, followed by bicycle use, bus use, and lastly use of the automobile. This is a highly-stressed concept during orientation. This is the exact idea that Wheeler presents when writing about "inverting the transportation hierarchy." By providing multiple bike racks around campus, the U is promoting their use. The U also charges a nominal fee in cooperation with Metro Transit for a semester-long pass on Metro Transit. This reduced rate encourages the use of mass transit. Finally, the U charges an arm and a leg to visitors, students, and staff that use automobiles as their primary form of transportation; this is to discourage the use of automobiles, unless absolutely necessary. This is an ideal example of Wheeler's idea in motion, but it is completely unrealistic in areas beyond college campuses.

Wheeler’s idea of sustainable living is possible, but it would be extremely difficult to implement. In order to improve the quality if living, first automobile dependency and the world’s dependency on fossil fuels needs to be obliterated. In today’s world, this would take decades to stop. Then, any prior damage would have to be reversed, which would take several more decades. The process would be a daunting task, but if the use of non-renewable resources can be stopped, we will be well on our way to creating a more sustainable environment.

Allison