06-10-2019, 07:10 AM
The economic reality of cities with high population densities implies that motor vehicles can be a luxury. Middle-class people in Manhattan might not own cars and might have to rely upon taxis and public transportation; poor people in New Mexico (which outside of Albuquerque and Santa Fe is thinly populated) have cars. High-density cities tend to have mass employers and close hubs to economic activity, even if the work is 'only' working in a store or a restaurant.
So imagine that you work in Manhattan and you have a middle-income occupation as an accountant. If you work in a gigantic glass tower you would find that parking will devour your pay. Space of any kind is at a premium in Manhattan. if you live in western Long Island and commute, you will find that the rent for a parking space for a car is more expensive than the car payments.
In 1993 I got a little economics lesson on the Tappan Zee Bridge, Interstate 87 leading from Upstate New York to the Big Apple. People returning from their weekend places in cars all seemed to be driving expensive ones -- Mercedes, Bentley, Lexus, Acura, late-model Lincoln or Cadillac vehicles... few Toyota, Nissan, or even Buick or Honda, let alone elderly domestic American makes. Such people, who could afford rent for a space for a car similar to the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Albuquerque, could treat the toll as a triviality.
Prices and costs matter, and customs give way to economic reality. Economic reality can shatter customs and cultural patterns. One might as well rely upon a cab. Shopping? The lower level will probably have a food store and a pharmacy. Clothes? You ride the subway. That is if you are middle class in Gotham.
The heavily-populated parts of California are becoming the sorts of places where housing costs are exorbitant. So is the space for owning a car. Contrast Detroit, where the big cost for driving a car is vehicle insurance.
So imagine that you work in Manhattan and you have a middle-income occupation as an accountant. If you work in a gigantic glass tower you would find that parking will devour your pay. Space of any kind is at a premium in Manhattan. if you live in western Long Island and commute, you will find that the rent for a parking space for a car is more expensive than the car payments.
In 1993 I got a little economics lesson on the Tappan Zee Bridge, Interstate 87 leading from Upstate New York to the Big Apple. People returning from their weekend places in cars all seemed to be driving expensive ones -- Mercedes, Bentley, Lexus, Acura, late-model Lincoln or Cadillac vehicles... few Toyota, Nissan, or even Buick or Honda, let alone elderly domestic American makes. Such people, who could afford rent for a space for a car similar to the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Albuquerque, could treat the toll as a triviality.
Prices and costs matter, and customs give way to economic reality. Economic reality can shatter customs and cultural patterns. One might as well rely upon a cab. Shopping? The lower level will probably have a food store and a pharmacy. Clothes? You ride the subway. That is if you are middle class in Gotham.
The heavily-populated parts of California are becoming the sorts of places where housing costs are exorbitant. So is the space for owning a car. Contrast Detroit, where the big cost for driving a car is vehicle insurance.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.