But Where are We?

"An industry survey estimated that only one third of the nation's auto dealers were making a profit. No sales gimmick could overcome the fact that the industry was now turning out far more vehicles than it could sell" (The Geography of Nowhere)

What is interesting about this quote is that is is not a survey from 2006, or from 1986, but from 1926! I came across it in a book I am currently reading about how the automobile, along with some odd twists of fate, has taken a nation of definition and reduced it to almost nothing more than strip malls and asphalt.

One of the questions that James Howard Kunstler asks is "Why did America build a reality of terrible places from which people longed to escape?"

This is not a trivial question, especially here in the shadow of the Nation's Capital, where Stafford county is advertising that is is "close to DC, only 25 miles away." Of course, if you live here, you know that while it may be 25 miles away (an amazingly short distance) on paper, at rush hour it will take at least 90 minutes to reach the county line, if things are going your way and it is at the beginning or end of the rush (say 3:00 PM or 8:00 PM - and no, I am not kidding). The reality is that the roads are choked.

Further, Kunstler points out about the Interstate Highway Act "...if the build-out stopped, the whole economy would nose-dive again, since it now was the economy." This is even more true today. As housing starts go, so, it seems, goes the economy. The biggest threats to the stock market this quarter have been from poor performing house builder stocks. But more importantly it seems, every square inch of undeveloped land has been converted into a housing development. And not cheap houses either. On a drive in the country the other day, I came upon a development of single family homes starting at $500,000. This is on a road that is already over crowded during the morning and evening rushes, leading to an interstate that is already crowded, and literally in the middle of geographic nowhere. You do not just run out for a jar of mustard from one of these houses. The nearest grocery store is 20 to 40 minutes away depending on which direction you go (and not including when you go). The nearest schools would take a map, but you can be assured that the children being bussed to them (walking is out of the question) would be spending as much time commuting as their parents are likely to.

It seems that the United States has become a nation of commuters. We do not know how to do things without our cars. And as the price of gas continues to rise, and the distances between communities, services and work increases, this is not a good state of affairs to be in.