A series that runs every Tuesday, where I ask questions unrelated to the environment, fair trade, or local politics that I’ve been wondering about but haven’t been able to google the answers to. Any advice is appreciated.
One of the big issues of de-car-ing, for many people in SoCal: The car is such a big part of our culture.
By that, I don’t mean just the fact that it’s really fucking hard to live one’s day to day life without a car here, though that’s obviously a big issue.
On top of that, we have the eroticization of the car culture in itself. Driving a car — especially an expensive car, whether a Hummer or a Porsche — is still considered cool in most circles.
That’s not to say that Priuses aren’t developing their own cool cache. But I think it’s tough for a city to wean itself off of its car culture when it’s for so long DEFINED itself by it. It is, in some ways, a loss of identity for many –
What’re your ideas for making gas guzzlers — and driving in general — uncool? Or, perhaps more optimistically, how can we make not driving cool and sexy?
A lot of the stuff out there tends to be rather Debbie Downer stuff… I’m wondering if you have any ideas for making NOT driving appealing to the SoCal hipster crowd –
I don’t have any ideas, but I agree with you 100%. Public transportation is sort of taboo, especially in SoCal, and I’ve been thinking the exact same thing. When I ride the bus to and from work (by choice), I definately feel out of place, not that it’s a bad thing, but I feel like the majority of the people on there with me would take a car in a second if they had the choice. To be honest, I think it will take a lot to make driving NOT appealing, and probably it will only happen when driving becomes too inconvenient, or too expensive. And even then, it will probably only be in and around downtown areas. But on the positive side, I think there are plenty of people who only need a little nudging to be converted. I was apprehensive at first, but now that I’m used to it I prefer the bus (except at night when the schedules are rather inconvenient). Public transportation has its own sort of stress associated with it, but it beats having to fight with crazy drivers, and here in Cali, it beats having to fight for a parking spot. The biggest thing I think would be to show people that it’s ok to take the bus, and show that it’s not just a thing for low income people.
Comment by Russ — July 4, 2006 @ 11:15 pm
You’ll never make something not hip – you can only make the alternatives hipper. That means make either public transportation or walking the hip thing.
And public transportation in pretty much all of the States has to leave the stone age first. The main points:
* There is such a thing as a schedule. And no, “will be here around noon” is not a schedule. Most european countries have schedules that tell you to the minute when the bus will be at a particular stop. And the bus *will* be there, most of the time.
* Train the damn drivers. It’s not a race car, and gas AND brake have a variety of positions between on and off.
* Unify stops. If you have two stops within a 100 yards, and some buses stop at one, some at the other, you needlessly confuse people.
So that leaves walking. How can you make that hip? Make walking attractive. Westwood does a good job at it – once I’m in Westwood, I don’t need a car. Santa Monica is at least decent at it. In short, local boutique stores, not mega malls.
And if you look at it in a city-planning way: Increase population density. As long as most places are just single homes, everything will be far apart. (The only way around this are intentional communities, and I don’t see that happen any time soon)
Comment by Robert 'Groby' Blum — July 5, 2006 @ 6:17 am
You should read “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell if you haven’t already–it’s about how small ideas proliferate into a popular phenomena. Very interesting and eloquently put together.
Comment by Jasmin — July 5, 2006 @ 7:55 am
Forgive me if this is all rehashed crap. I’m new to your blog. Here’s a few ideas for starters:
Petition your city to expand bike routes to make bicycle commuting safer. That’s the most important thing. I think the biggest obstacle for people to start biking is the thought of ending up under the wheels of some hummer. A lot of people want to bike, but don’t feel safe. Once the streets are bike-friendly, the conscientious will run out of excuses.
Then it’s just a matter of supporting bike culture. Make “Critical Mass” rallies happen. Get yourself a chopper bike for the weekends and trick it out (http://bicyclechoppers.sa.utoronto.ca/bikes/index.html) When they first arrived on Vancouver’s streets, I thought it was a silly little phase. I only ever saw the same 3 or 4 dudes riding around on gaudy vanity-velos. It seems to have taken off though, and I’ve actually seen a few classic Schwinns that made me envious. If it’s customized with care and attention, a bike can be pretty damn sexy. And that’s the key to cool, isn’t it?
I’ll also second Groby’s sentiment about city planning. However, I disagree that intentional communities are a long way off. An existing neighborhood or co-op housing could be retrofitted and transformed in short order. It’s just a matter of shared vision. And sharing resources doesn’t have to mean living on top of each other. How about baby steps like community gardens and food co-ops for sustenance, block parties for entertainment, or car-pools for transport. It only takes a little creativity to make the space that you share with others more productive and sustainable. Sharing builds community.
Comment by parge — July 5, 2006 @ 7:59 am
agreed, that bike commuting needs to be made hipper. while i’m all for critical mass and love participating, the perceived “fringe” element of these don’t unfortunately appeal to your average car commuter, and often just pisses them off. granted we need a range of voices out there, just don’t see critical mass swaying the car lovers out there.
maybe we need a sexy ad campaign, making bike commuting look hot – no road rage, great exercise, no parking issues, and a sure way to get noticed by that cutie youve been eyeing….car companies pour mega bucks into making sexy commercials, how to do this for bicycles in a low budget way?
Comment by Anna — July 5, 2006 @ 8:45 am
Completely agree. One way I’ve been trying to help in changing the way people view alternative transportation methods is by being proud of my efforts and sharing that passion. I ride my bike whenever I can, take public transportation (because it’s fun) and I try to carpool on longer trips. I’m very proud of the steps I’m taking to live a greener lifestyle and I believe sharing something you’re passionate about is a great way to inform others.
On a recent trip to SoCal I visited a friend in Sierra Madre and on a drive I noticed the metro and got so excited because it looked like fun to ride. Well, my enthusiasm rubbed off and I got my friend who lives down there and is familiar with the LA stigma against public transportation to rethink that logic. We rode the metro into old-town Pasedena and had an awesome time.
This is a great topic…thank you for getting it started!
Comment by Kristen Atkinson — July 5, 2006 @ 11:21 am
Hey all!
Part of the problem can be understood, in how the induztry markets the coooooooool? car. I for one don’t find this kind of pyschological manipulation (brain washing…) a very friendly indictment of our capitalistic model. It is brutal actually. The public has to grow up and realize they are being preyed upon by a mostly vicious machinery… that does not care if we choke to death on our own toxic fumes… and annilhilate ourselves in automotive vehicle deaths…
Check out this guy who is the mastermind behind the advertising…and reptilian human ancestral brain pyschology…
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/interviews/rapaille.html
Yeah, a free world? I don’t think so, unless people start evolving and using their brains… hello global warming, and peak oil, oh yes, such sexy topics for a self obsessed, culture, that mostly does not care much about the whole world, just their ego-mobiles…
Sorry to get a bit pissed here, but this has been a critical issue for over thirty years. And it high time we woke up…
Comment by Chris Martell — July 5, 2006 @ 11:49 am
Buses need to move past “cattle cars” for the poor,and be set up and used more like hotel shuttles. Santa Barbara has gone WAY far in the right direction with its all-electric open-air downtown shuttles. Silent, attractive, run on very high frequency, so a schedule is unneeded. (I.e. step up, a bus will be by within 5 minutes kind of frequencies).
Walking is a chicken-egg problem: Which comes first, the walkable, human scale community or the walkers? In Pasadena we have been working on it for about 15 years, and are getting close to a tipping point. One aspect is the addition of 9 mini-shuttle lines for our 5-mile wide city. Another is zoning codes that have been changed, and then changed again, to bring in development that favors non-auto mobility.
As for bikes, bike lanes are not a good solution, as they often create unseen dangers for cyclists. Education, especially toward vehicular cycling, goes a long way.
(I used to be a BIG fan of bike lanes, but have seen lane-sharing and vehicular cycling be very effective. In fact, today I went to do the grocery shopping for a family of five. I put a $100 kid trailer on and loaded it with groceries. Instead of the usual zooming cars I got quite a few thoughtful looks from car riders — often in the rear views mirror as I sat in the lane behind them, and kept up through the heavy traffic for two or three lights. (grin).)
Another is the addition of legal requirements for bike parking, and some 170 + city installed bike racks.
So does that make it sexy? No. Did not-smoking become sexy? Fewer kids smoke now, even though some still will. A little education (school programs) a little prohibition (non-smoking cities) et viola — changes happen.
Unless you hit the actual beach cities, lots of west LA infrastructure was built at the height of the car culture. It will take a decade or two to see changes there, unless gas goes to $5 or $6 per gallon.
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — July 5, 2006 @ 8:05 pm
Hi All!
Cattle Cars for the Poor… Yes, this is a great insight, we need to feel that gushy “bling” when we are on public transit… heaven forbid we should have to sit next to a drug addict, or an immigrant, or a blind person, or someone with some other disability. Or a poor person. Or a homeless person. Yikes. Cars are generally our faux material cocoons from having to actually see, feel, smell, hear, taste and realize our American Nirvana. Our aversion to poverty… and our interesting desire to appear hip, and well to do… just where does that come from?
Our cars, are our Rhinestones. Maybe, our real question here is, how do we really define what is sexy? What, is really erotic, rather than what gives us, or others the appearance of being, of being E-R-O-T-I-C? Do we ever notice, that Hollywood, never glamorizes buses, or bus riders, or bus drivers……………………………………………..???!!!
Oooooooh, I feel so hot, sweaty and sexy, in my tricked out car when I am stuck in freeway traffic with 10,000 others cars, and I still have hours to reach my destination… ahhh, but I have a cell phone, or some really loud music to remove me from this reality….
Sorry, but we have to face it, we can not flash our need to show our bling, on the bus… well, at least not in America, so I guess the car industry wins the best of the show. Or was it the best of talent show in high school, oh, oh I forget, I soooo just love being a fifty year old teenager… you know the new thirty…
Where is my botox! Opps, sorry, gotta run…. I am in a hurry to find my bling…
Comment by Chris Martell — July 6, 2006 @ 10:38 am
Oh, and I forgot to mention…
I feel sooooooooooo extra sexy, when there is a slight chance, that being in my hot car, just might (sorry no 1,001% proof science yet…), mean that I may be a fractual contributor to events such as Katrina, Wilma and Rita? Naw, I can’t go there, because it could never be proven in a court of law, with all the finger pointing, and burden of proof implications. And besides, that was their problem… hurricanes are not in my jurisdiction of compassionate logic, or responsibility. I am an American, and it is a free country, to do as I please, regardless of the consequences to others.
We also can’t forget, Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, would be sooooo boring, if it were Riding the Bus Under the Influence.
Yes, drunk drivers, are sooooooooooooo sexy. We should ask the Highway Patrol, so they could tell us just how sexy our cars are?
Comment by Chris Martell — July 6, 2006 @ 11:06 am
What you need to do is get people to keep cars longer. A study in germany said that the emissions from the manufacture of a car was roughly equal to 4 years of driving 13,000 km a year So basically buying a prius every three years is more enviromentally damaging then keeping a standard family salon. (european terminology incase you are wondering what a salon is. Something like I am guessing a Ford Taurus)
Comment by simon — July 6, 2006 @ 5:12 pm
To Simon:
This is fascinating. Do you have a source, or link to this study, I would really like to learn more. Thanks!
Comment by Chris Martell — July 7, 2006 @ 10:13 am
can’t find the source I guess it is in german. However this article quotes it. http://money.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,1719762,00.html
the line in question.
Meanwhile, a study in 1994 by the Environment and Forecasting Institute in Heidelberg, Germany, looked at the full impact of a “medium-sized car” driven for 13,000km a year for 10 years. It concluded that the extraction of the raw materials for each car alone produced 25 tonnes of waste and 922m cubic metres of “polluted air”. This compared with 2,040m cubic metres of polluted air for the full life-cycle of the vehicle, meaning that the manufacturing stage was roughly responsible for 45%.
Comment by simon — July 7, 2006 @ 5:52 pm
Wow! Such awesome ideas here! If only we made up the MTA! :P
Okay — I think that to continue this convo, it’ll be important that we separate these ideas out — you know, between walking, biking, and public transportation, at the very least.
Will work on 3 new posts accordingly, incorporating the ideas named here, to open it up for further brainsroming. You guys rock!
Comment by Siel — July 7, 2006 @ 7:38 pm
I really like this “careless culture” series you are doing. It’s something we really need, and something I’ve been trying to promote with my blog, MetroRiderLA. The whole goal of my blog is similar to the question you post here which is how do we make public transit desirable? My idea is that we need to create a lifestyle around it, we all just need to ride and and then come together and talk about it. Not everything desirable is perfect and beautiful, and god knows the MTA system is often far from perfect and beatiful. But sometimes it does work, and when it works it’s really nice and you see what could be possible. I think it just takes making the jump and then talking about it. You have to realize that there will be sacrifices and that it wont be a flawless way to get around, but there is no flawless way to get around, everything is a give and take. But once you make the jump and make it work for you, soon your friends will be doing it too, and then their friends and so on and so forth. Suddenly you’ll be talking about buses and trains at parties, telling stories, the things you like the things you hate… a pulbic tranist lifestyle will form.
I urge everyone who is interested to get involved. Take a look at some of the links on MetroRiderLA, or even better, contribute to the blog, i really want it to be a resource for everyone.
Thanks again for this series.
Comment by Fred Camino — July 25, 2006 @ 5:07 pm
Thanks Frred! And I like what yr trying to do with MetroRiderLA :) Let’s keep in touch and collaborate –
Comment by Siel — July 26, 2006 @ 5:53 pm