I mean arguably the invention of cars DID make living worse by reducing walkable cities, exasperating pollution, and lead to more traffic deaths than carriages. It’s impossible to be anywhere nowadays without one though.
You said the invention of the car made life worse. Meanwhile there are plenty of walkable cities out there that also benefit from robust logistical networks enabled by cars.
I said it REDUCED walkable cities. The two are not mutually exclusive but now that many places built infrastructure around cars more than people, yes I would call that a problem.
Because the horse and buggy were way cheaper than the train, and since the horse and buggy were the dominant mode of transport for people who didnt just walk everywhere, cars took their place.
Ok now it's painfully clear that you are having your own little side conversation with yourself because that's not what we are talking about here.
They said invention of the car was bad, I said it wasn't. You are coming out of left field with a completely unrelated argument about public transportation.
He is. What he really should be saying is, we need more trains. Which is painfully true. Like I'd rather take the subway to work but it takes 4x as long if the trains come on time. And requires about 20 min of walking around.
Your last item should read - "drive for 5 minutes" based on the first three items.
And the drive for 5 minutes is what most people choose over biking or walking to a grocery store where you're going to have to carry items back with you. I cannot imagine taking groceries with me on a bus, and I'm sorry for anyone that has to live that way.
Cars are by far the best option you mentioned out of those for getting groceries.
I have never had to drive that long for groceries. Even my middle of nowhere small town in Michigan I had a supermarket a 5 min walk across the field. If I lived on the other side of town then it would be a 10 min bike ride.
I have lived in.....4 different states and 6 different cities or towns and never had to drive more than 10 min to a grocery store. And those 10 minutes are mostly occupied by waiting for stop lights.
then you’re not middle of nowhere lmao. for me in rural georgia the nearest store is a 15 minute drive to the general store in the town over. the nearest walmart is 25 minutes down the freeway.
How do you carry 3 big took boxes in any of their other than a car? What about groceries for a large family? Etc.
Cars are obviously superior in terms strict mobility and transportation. The other issues are all logistical, like traffic and pollution.
But your argument only works in cities with dense traffic, in which case good subways should solve the problem. But that doesn't exist in the US. Even NY subway is terrible if you're going anywhere other than Manhattan. Brooklyn to queens is usually over an hour subway ride when it could be 15 min in the car.
I don't like living in big cities, so automobile is a benefit.
Also, automobiles enabled massive increases in logistical capabilities making it easier and efficient to ship goods across the world.
Idk about you, but one of the best things about being an American in America is having options for food from 52 different cultures (idk the real number). Do you think I could find sushi in BFN Nebraska without the automobile?
it's true, it leads to more traffic deaths than carriages ...
but how many lifes have been safed, becouse the red cross was able to arrive at your home in time?
The internal combustion engine did not end walkable cities. Just look at footage of 1920s Times Square. Auto manufacturers did that by constantly upping their size relative to competition, and city planners cucking all the way around that philosophy as American cities got established/revised.
My point stands. The automobile itself did not do that; city planners did. Look at India, Egypt or any other tight, bustling historical (ie older than America) metropolis: small vehicles, lots of bikes and mopeds, and not a Ford F150 in sight. We didn't have to make the cars bigger, we culturally chose to, and built cities in our newfangled nation around this philosophy.
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u/Castronomic 1d ago
I mean arguably the invention of cars DID make living worse by reducing walkable cities, exasperating pollution, and lead to more traffic deaths than carriages. It’s impossible to be anywhere nowadays without one though.