> This seems to be somewhat different than
>what Jim describes in England.
Bingo! Given the different politics of space in the UK and USA I wonder whether James' arguments hold water over the other side of the big pond. Some assorted tit-bits from the UK. Here, the main anti-car arguments originate from the larger cities where shared forms of transportation make more sense than in rural areas. Indeed, the voices of rural Britain are those that cry loudest when petrol prices are hiked and argue that they are being discriminated against. Thanks to taxes, Britain's petrol is now the highest in the world- (even the tax is taxed, the duty on petrol is taxed with Value Added Tax- VAT). These rural areas are of interest. From the enclosures onwards there was a large shift of population from rural to urban areas. This has been reversed of late with more professional people moving to rural areas. With rural public transport often non-existent they 'naturally' commute to work. To be poor in these areas and without at least an old banger tro drive around in is to be socially and physically isolated. Back to the cities, the question of 'race' is of pertinent. The key symbol of status for many young blacks here is the auto, with prestige marques commanding the most attention. BMW thus becomes the 'Black Man's Wagon', and with a soft top roof and a souped up sound system it becomes a personal marker of individual victory over a racist society. Here the anti car arguments cuts no ice _at all_. Gender is central to the issues too. As more women entered the jobs market they bought cars. As they age and retire they keep their cars and increasingly use them for recreational use. This factor is apparently significant in the overall number of cars on British roads as the total number of women living longer and continuing to drive increases throughout the population as a whole. And this is not to mention the personal motivations for a woman owning a car. Once a male preserve even a casual glance at the advertising strategies here would reveal that the female market is as, if not more, important than the male. And are there any feminists pointing out that the anti-car lobby arrives at that very moment when female drivers start to equal/out-number that of males?
As to sports utility vehicles, they remain marginal here. 4WD's are popular but they aren't the same mega-tractor type vehicles as seen in the states. So the argument goes, the roads are different here and they don't corner so well on the tight country bends as smaller 4WD cars.
And as to a 'a rich, soft wanting' I can dig that. A Mazda MX5 or an MGF for satisfy mine. But who pray are the Realtors?, they sound like the Resident's cousins to me.
Russ rural england