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

[alex lantsberg]

the urge to suburbanize is a staple of the american psyche. at the dawn of
massive industrialization it was province of the rich to get away from the
urban hordes and the pollution caused by their factories.  once the railways
and streetcars extended the city's accessibility the luxury was extended to
the bourgeoise.  better homes and gardens published home plans and sears
sold build it yourself kits long before the car came on the scene.  my urban
planning history betrays me right now but suffice it to say the auto did not
spur suburbanization, although it along with racist housing finance
policies, and cheap land certainly did not help matters.

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org
[mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]On Behalf Of Michael Dawson
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 11:05 AM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] the petro-thusians have their moment

Hasn't the engine of suburbanization, on the demand side, been mostly simple
economics?  For the price of an urban rent, a huge swath of the population
has been able to buy a detached house with a yard that is at low risk of
losing its resale value.  Suburban houses are cheap per square foot,
relative to equal-quality urban space.  Right?  Of course, being suburban
makes owning a car mandatory, but, again, doesn't that still make it cheaper
to go to the burbs than to try to buy expensive urban housing?

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
On Behalf Of Wojtek Sokolowski
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 9:57 AM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] the petro-thusians have their moment

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

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