>I also think a
>bit too much blame is given to cars for destroying neighborhoods. We
>shouldn't underestimate the purposeful construction of bedroom
>communities without sidewalks, street-lamps, nearby shops, parks, and
>public meeting places, which (as Michael says) obviously helps to keep
>people isolated and away from meaningful interaction that might lead
>to the always dreaded popular political action.
Well, susburbia in general is all about alienation and individualisation - just take a peek at Canberra (something Jay Hecht will testify to being warned against when he lived in Melbourne as a youth). Canberra was put on the landscape in 1927 by Walter Burley Griffin and a few thousand public sector workers.
Capitalism, futurism and the conflicting semiotics of idealised democracy and rugged individualism all come together here. And bloody disgraceful it is too. Your friends and your drinking hole are invariably miles away and intra-suburban roads bend and wind confusingly to ensure that (a) no incidental traffic comes near you, (b) you have to live here a while to find your way to your own box, and (c) you need a car for every adult in the clan.
All the public buildings are of the grand variety du juour - loads of size, whitewash, and ersatz doric columns (except for our new parliament house, which was designed by an Italian who grew up in Mussolini's Italy - so loads of big thick walls, space on an Albert Speer scale, and a practical nuclear bunker look). Public transport models were included in the original plan, but a depression, a war, and illusory distribution policies after that, first obviated public expense and then made of us rabid drivers - a big gas guzzler per dad, and a neat little parker per mum.
And as we're not allowed to smoke at our 'venues', we need our cars all the more. You gotta have a smoke while you're contemplating your social isolation, and an old 4.1 litre Ford Falcon automatic, replete with empty space and an industrial strength ashtray where the old gear stick used to be, is ideal for both.
I feel better now.
Cheers, Rob.