The point is, there are real financial and opportunity costs associated with car ownership (personal costs, not counting the externalized costs), which are underestimated.
Stipulated.
There is also a very powerful mythology associated with car ownership
Likewise stipulated.
one which often does not hold up under scrutiny.
I cannot agree.
Most people would object to losing their cars because that would mean a real loss of flexibility going about their day-to-day business. That's perfectly legitimate, but it's a function of urban design
People do live outside of metro hives like SF. Even places where public transit is infeasible due to low population density are deemed marginally habitable.
But here I am describing the typical American commuter
I submit to you that your internal model of the typical commuting US citizen may not be accurate.
Most of those people, however, have that freedom only in the hypothetical.
Freedom is always hypothetical until it's exercised. You're telling me, in effect, that because a man spends 24 hours a day in a room with a bed, a toilet, and a computer, playing World of Warcraft every waking moment, that he won't object -- more importantly, that we won't curtail his freedom -- if we lock the door. It is with this point that I disagree vigorously.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: What you are about to hear may be shocking.
Date: 2007-05-01 12:20 am (UTC)Stipulated.
There is also a very powerful mythology associated with car ownership
Likewise stipulated.
one which often does not hold up under scrutiny.
I cannot agree.
Most people would object to losing their cars because that would mean a real loss of flexibility going about their day-to-day business. That's perfectly legitimate, but it's a function of urban design
People do live outside of metro hives like SF. Even places where public transit is infeasible due to low population density are deemed marginally habitable.
But here I am describing the typical American commuter
I submit to you that your internal model of the typical commuting US citizen may not be accurate.
Most of those people, however, have that freedom only in the hypothetical.
Freedom is always hypothetical until it's exercised. You're telling me, in effect, that because a man spends 24 hours a day in a room with a bed, a toilet, and a computer, playing World of Warcraft every waking moment, that he won't object -- more importantly, that we won't curtail his freedom -- if we lock the door. It is with this point that I disagree vigorously.