The Absurd Primacy of the Automobile in American Life

[whatthehey]

5. But these evangelical kill car pipedreams never suggest we have both

They always envision tightly clustered inner city dwelling with mass transit that cripples, of my kind at least, cannot use, and assume everybody can leap on and off buses and up and down stairs like gazelles and stroll hundreds of yards to the nearest transit stop in a twinkle. These silly articles celebrate and demand huge pedestrianized areas that mean all amenities in them are shut off to those who cannot walk or stand or even maneuver in crowds. Oh I'm sure they'll kindly put in ramps, but not all disabled folks are in wheelchairs and there has to be a way to get the wheelchair to the ramp even for those who are. Such holier than thou urbanite musings never leave room for those who need cars and do not work downtown (who puts a million square ft factory in the urban core?), or want to live in crowded exorbitantly priced glorified hotel rooms in "luxury apartmentettes". When they invent powered chairs with 50 mile ranges that can get into buses/trains and up and down stairs then this kind of fantasy may be inclusive for those who aren't fit young hipsters, but not until.