Mo' Money - Mo' Inequitable Consequences that Could Stunt Generations of Social Growth
After learning about "White Flight," it got me to questioning about other ramifications from having localized wealth disparity with cultural and racial biases. One aspect that came from this is our organization of cities and the car dependency we placed in them. Before cars became available there were carriages and people milling about the streets with the easy ability to maneuver out of the way, but after cars were introduced, people began getting hit. The primary user of a car early on was the rich, typically white, man running their car through the street that historically was used without strict, designated pathways. Because of the influence gathered behind the people buying cars, blame started to be shifted from the driver to the pedestrian as being branded a "jay-walker." Initially the term started as "jay-driver" meaning people driving carriages on the wrong side of the road with "jay" being a slur for someone who is inexperienced or unsophisticated. The result are car-centric cities which is also not particularly well suited in itself considering the traffic and density of people in urban areas. It also forces us to experience our cities from a completely different perspective where you're either looking at a building from the complete opposite side of the street or directly underneath. The people driving cars are not experiencing the city at all having been shut off from the sounds of the city and the tunnel vision caused by getting to the destination and not hitting anything in between. I view European cities as a more livable place because of how often I encountered spaces where the car wasn't the center of design. Instead focusing on the pedestrian, which most of us are during our lives, made me feel comfortable and the space more alive.
Tate, I never knew where the term "jay-walker" came from so I found that really interesting. I also got really riled up really quickly just reading about how the blame shifted from the drivers fault to the people walking (which is historically what every city has done for centuries). Leave it to the rich to place the blame on the common man (I'm rolling my eyes here).
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how much the city changes when the design shifts from one dominated by cars to one dominated by pedestrians. I do agree that the city is more enjoyable in Europe than America, simply because cars are less established and less encouraged. I particularly enjoyed being able to go from areas without cars to areas with, and right back to areas without again. I think creating these pockets where cars aren't allowed give the city spaces back to the people and encourage social connection.
Tate,
ReplyDeleteI find your post very interesting and it gives a different perspective on urban development. You are right to say that we always design for the highest technology and vehicular traffic, but this can often take away from the beauty they are missing while driving through this "tunnel". I think we forget to take a step back and really enjoy our surroundings. People are in such a hurry to get to one place or another, they forget to pause and experience what a city has to offer right in front if them.
You would think with the city being all about the walkability that the pedestrian would be prioritized. Obviously there are cars in the city, but you tend to take public transit or walk rather than deal with the traffic. That blows my mind that the pedestrian was the one who were in the wrong rather than the drivers. It is also interesting to compare that to places like the south were pedestrian activities are nonexistent. Everyone in the south jokes about "jay-walking" when you cross the street because we barely have any cross-walks.
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