My first visit to New York introduced me to a variety of metropolis characteristics I rarely encountered as someone who resides in a southern city. The towering skyscrapers, endless crowds of people and overflowing trash bags lining the street all stood out in comparison to Atlanta. However, the subway system stuck with me the most beyond my week-long visit. My mind became consumed with urban infrastructure, a concept I never dedicated much thought to beyond a few human geography courses in college. I now felt trapped in a car-centric city without a sufficient public transportation system and began finding communities filled with other frustrated residents voicing similar complaints. However, for every activist online striving to inform the public about the benefits of walkable cities, I encountered those against the expansion of public transportation services and people-centered urban planning. For this project, I plan on detailing the viewpoints and reasoning of both sides of this issue.
Majority of Americans know how to operate a car or keep a driver’s license in their wallet. Even if they do not own one themselves, automobiles play an integral role in most daily lives. In their New York Times article, Andrew Ross and Julie Livingston delve into our ingrained reliance on cars by describing their original appeal. Americans boast a sense of individualism not often seen outside the west, an inherent need for freedom in all aspects of life, including on the road. The invention of the car ushered in an even more enhanced version of this concept. It played into our desire to go wherever we pleased, whenever we wanted (Ross & Livingston, 2022). Since the 1920’s, automobiles slowly consumed the road until cities began being built around the vehicle, instead of considering the person behind the wheel. Because so many people in this country live in car-centric cities, it’s easy to wonder why this issue matters. If we “successfully” operate this way every day, why would it make a difference if cars existed or not? If we stepped back and took several factors that may not be in the forefront of our minds into consideration, I believe many would change their tune. The effect of living in cities catering to cars instead of people affects us not only on an individual level, but also perpetuates inequality on a wider scale.
While America contains some walkable cities like Chicago, Portland, New York City and Boston, one visit to any state in the sun belt would convince you otherwise. Compared to most European countries, most of the cities and suburbs here are filled with four to six lane highways, businesses and restaurants spread miles apart and a significant lack of sidewalks and bike lanes. When asking how we got to this point, Walter Jaegerhaus writes, “Cities configure themselves around their most prevalent transportation and choose layout, neighborhood, and building typologies accordingly. The two dominant options are either automobiles or some combination of walking/biking/public transportation. And in the U.S., the two do not mix (2022).” Larger cities built before the automobile boom followed a planning model closer to those in Europe as opposed to those in the middle and southern half of the country where newer cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Cleveland, Miami and many more feel entirely different. “The progressive design movement that arose after World War I maligned traditional cities, often associated them with worker exploitations, and regarded them as instruments of oppression and sources of widespread misery (Jagerhaus, 2022).” It’s now nearly impossible to find a suburb or large outside of a few exceptions in the northeast and on the west coast reminiscent of the traditional, pre-vehicle style still thriving in Europe today. Historically, poor American urban planning and automobile companies with too much power take the blame for why college is often the first time many people experience walkable environments. Muizz Akhtar, a Houston native, states “I attended Texas A&M University, and spent most of my time in a denser, walkable campus environment that made it easy to meet and get to know people. I could start my day going to classes, then move to a dining hall, then the green space in front of my department building, and finally, the library — all without a car (2022).”
Meeting new people serves as just one of many benefits highlighted by those who support high-density city designs. In their 2015 study, Gilderbloom, Riggs and Meares investigated the quality and sustainability of various neighborhoods, concluding that walkability increased housing values, and reduced crime and neighborhood abandonment. The researchers also found walkability increases life expectancy. Many argue based on studies that walkability also provides economic benefits like reducing commuting costs, increasing tourism, and creating space for emerging “lifestyle” retailers (Ryan, 2003). However, those on the other side of this debate pose a few viewpoints worthy of examination. Arguably the most prominent argument is the idea that expansion of public transportation, a key feature of walkable cities, will inevitably bring with it increased crime and unhoused individuals out to the suburbs. Others detest high density environments with crowds of people or cling to the weaker argument that urban areas present obvious danger for pedestrians, a claim that almost presents as a reason for support rather than against. Of all the opposing points, the one holding the most validity is affordability and gentrification. Walkable cities with sufficient public transit have recently become unaffordable products of gentrification only accessible by those extremely well off. Cities in the US possessing most of the best qualities of conscious urban planning like New York City, San Francisco or Boston, will also cost residents almost four times as much as it would to live elsewhere. “Not only do livable cities struggle to provide low-income housing, they also risk losing the broad middle of the income spectrum. They risk becoming playgrounds for wealthy professionals, which can lead to resentment and social unrest of the sort (Roberts, 2018).”
Whether you live in the heart of Seattle or on the outskirts of Dallas, this issue ultimately affects us all. Those of us in cities and suburbs, likely live in an area that could use significant infrastructure improvements and changes. Despite the few arguments against creating more resident-centered cities, or fixing the ones that already exist, I find that majority people I encounter agree with the idea of reducing the role of cars in our daily lives. While most wouldn’t call themselves passionate, they likely wouldn’t oppose trading in traffic twice a day and shelling out hundreds a year in gas, car repairs, and parking fees in favor of a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. However, the lack of affordability, gentrification and often lack of diversity in the most successfully planned US cities poses a thought-provoking opposition to consider.
Works Cited
Akhtar, M. (2022, August 25). Urban planning, car-centric culture, and the great undoing of American friendship. Vox. https://www.vox.com/features/23191527/urban-planning-friendship-houston-cars-loneliness
Gilderbloom, J. I., Riggs, W. W., & Meares, W. L. (2015). Does walkability matter? An examination of walkability’s impact on housing values, foreclosures and crime. Cities, 42, 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.08.001
Jaegerhaus, W. (2023). What’s the Matter with American Cities? ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/976607/whats-the-matter-with-american-cities
Roberts, D. (2018, August 28). Walkable urban areas can become playgrounds for the rich. Is there any way to prevent that? Vox. https://www.vox.com/2017/6/27/15716412/affordable-cities-playgrounds-rich-toderian
Ross, A., & Livingston, J. (2022, December 17). Opinion | Once You See the Truth About Cars, You Can’t Unsee It. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/opinion/car-ownership-inequality.html
Ryan, B. (n.d.). Economic Benefits of a Walkable Community [Review of Economic Benefits of a Walkable Community ]. Let’s Talk Business. Retrieved June 15, 2023, from https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/downtowneconomics/files/2012/07/economic-benefits-of-a-walkable-community.pdf
