[lbo-talk] the petro-thusians have their moment

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Jon:
> The trouble is that, unlike Europeans, apparently, Americans have a
> very deep-seated urge to flee from areas of large population
> concentration to low-concentration ones. Perhaps this is a hold-over of
> the old pioneer longing to "light out for the territory." But it makes
> it much harder to provide public transit for most of the population.
> Somehow, one would have to persuade the people who fled the cities to
> move back; a few are doing so, but the overall trend is still massively
> in the other direction. Makes no sense to me, but I'm a very untypical
> American.

Many (if not most) Americans flee cities precisely because they feel
threatened by the complexity, the lack of cocoons - they have to deal with
people different then themselves in public places - and yes, public
transportation.  I heard that opinion times and again, especially in PA -
people are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid taking public
transit.  For example, my wife co-worker gave up a day off to avoid going
from H'burg to Philly on a train (2 hour direct connection!) - she left one
day earlier just to be able to ride in a company car with my wife.  This is
not an isolated case - most middle Americans hate cities, public places and
public transit - hence their cocoon seeking behavior.

Wojtek