Explain America....Explain

 Retrofitting suburbia seems to be a very viable solution to many of todays architectural problems and in some cases it is. In terms of sustainable design and reducing climate change, retrofitting rather than creating not only preserves a cities underlying culture and history but also reduces materials and access carbon we would use to build new projects. But there is one thing that retrofitting claims to do that I dont think is possible.

Through retrofitting, it's obvious that one of the main goals is to reduce our dependency on cars. Ellen Dunham Jones speaks highly of retrofitting and its ability to cut out parking lots and invite walkable suburban grids. The problem though is Americas assumption that we can get to Europes level of public transport and walkability. Spoiler alert, we cant. 

The main problem is Americas size. There is no possible way we would be able to introduce the infrastructure needed for reliable public transport on the scale of Europe. We will never be able to have trains and buses that are as efficient at getting people across the country every day and because of this, almost every American household needs to own a car if they want to get out of the city, or even to the nearest train station for that matter. And once we all own cars, then whats the point of letting them sit there? Why would I, as an American, decide that walking to work or the grocery store is the better option over driving there? Even if the store was a 5 minute walk from my house, if I have the car, I wouldn't have to carry my groceries back with me. This is why American suburbia will never be the walkable atmosphere we are striving for. If only America had spent as much money on public transport as they did car infrastructure in the first place.