The Grass Doctor

Why is the entire US built in such a way that it's population almost can't survive without cars?

With the exception of NYC, and small parts of some other cities, this entire country seems to be built in such a way that people must own cars in order to function (sometime literally the only way to get somewhere from one's home). Makes me wonder if this was done on purpose to sustain the entire industry on which the country is based. Ex. too large homes, too wide roads, too big lawns, homes too far from each other...obviously no public transit can cover this kind of a landscape well.

Public Comments

1. For the benefit of auto makers.
2. We made a conscious decision after WWII to all move out to suburbs, to have big lots and lots of twisty, windy streets because everyone was going to have a car. Very practical electrical trolley and light rail systems in major cities were all bought up by a joint venture of GM, Firestone and an oil company (I forget which) and they tore up all the tracks and substituted busses. The gas companies lobbied for an interstate highway system, which we built in the 1950s. So now we all live 30 miles from where we work. You have to drive several miles to go to the grocery store or the drug store. And streets where you can walk down the sidewalk and look in shop windows, the common shopping districts before WWII, are becoming a rarity. Our economy is built on the whole idea of overconsumption. If people din't constantly borrow money to buy things they don't need, our economy would go down the drain--as it's doing now. Our selfish energy-wasting suburban lifestyle is just a part of this larger picture.
3. The USA has always been based on suburban living. Perhaps it is because of the "anti european" ideals of the founding fathers and early development ideas. In Los Angeles, there was a public transportation system in the 30's that was all bought up by the major oil companies at the time and then dismantled in favor of individual cars. When you think about it, only big cities that are "geographically" isolated in some way have OK public transportation. (New York is an island, San Francisco a peninsula, Chicago bordered by the Great Lakes, etc). Such a shame.
4. Well, there are a lot of places that are far enough away that cars are the most time efficient way of getting there. Or perhaps we've gotten too cocky, we've grown to large and have figured that its almost as necessary as clothing and food at sustaining our modern civilization.
5. Our country is bloody huge. That's why, I'd say. Maybe people want to have their own space? I live in Dallas, Texas and while it is a big city population-wise, it's positively massive land-wise. No one would ever get anywhere on time without cars. Homes usually are built with more rooms than people but I see no problem with this if they can pay the bills. The wide roads are there to accommodate the massive amounts driving (obviously they've expanded over the years) and the large cars. The lawns (and really the houses as well in a lot of ways) being too big? I don't believe that is a valid argument. When I visited New York, I enjoyed the food and the culture and almost all of it...except, it was almost entirely city with a patch of total green here and there (the parks) but still rather scarce. I found this most disappointing. That said, there are plenty of tiny yards to go around. Newer houses are quite close to one another I'd say. Some here are only separated by about 5 feet and a fence. Finally, if you ignored the rest of the comment, I suppose it started with the war and people just molded their work and lives around the roads.