The Anti-Car People

 Are ignorant of history. 

They tend to admire the walkability of European cities - as do I - where many of these cities are "livable." I wish all American cities had more density and focused more on efficient public transportation - be it the combination of train, bus, cycling and foot traffic. 

I wish that, somehow, the suburbs could become less car centric with the transition from urban public transportation to the suburbs either become more seamless and thorough, or be created if they don't exist already.

I wish that swaths of parking lots found in the suburbs would shrink because the strength of the public transportation. Of course, more rural areas not withstanding. 

I wish many things that I want America to implement - the dream that interstate train transportation would reach Japan-like standards. One day. If the US can prioritize taking man to the moon than it can prioritize transportation not using cars. 

This is not say that I am anti-car. Far from it. Though I empathize with those who want good, efficient pubic transportation to grow in the existing urban centers of America, I also don't go as far to stigmatize those that do rely on a car every single to "participate in society" (as one bleeding heart puts it). I don't go as far as to call for a ban of cars (yep, there are those out there who want to ban cars). I will suggest that there should and can be an equilibrium between car driving and public transportation, especially in regards to commuting from the suburbs to the city and vice versa.

I say revolutionize car driving. The US should be the leader in electric cars and automobile research. Taking a cross country trip in America with an electric car would be a pain; charging an electric car takes too long and there isn't enough electric charging stations as there are gas stations. So if you do plan your trip to make carefully planned stops to recharge that recharge could take up to 4 hours until you hit the road again.  

Unlike some anti-car people like the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes (who is a prick and he actually admits this - most of his most watched vids are trashing American citifies and suburbs), I won't go all 1st world problem like him in a passive aggressive way. NJB is a Canadian who moved to the Netherlands because he was so enamored by how walkable their cities are. Okay, fair enough. You don't  got to be a prick about it and trash talk other countries. But enough that prick who retreats to the Old World because "grass is greener."

If America ever does realize that its lack of density just isn't attractive - or even sustainable, I propose the following:

• green trains and buses; expand already existing train lines and bus routes (with 5-7 minute departures each hour depend on city population)
• make every major and secondary city pedestrian friendly depends on the terrain of city
• make every city, big or small, if terrain allows (i.e. not Appalachia region) bicycle friendly with thorough bike paths 
• connect urban and suburban train railways with schedule that permits people to go to and from said locations from early work hours to well past midnight (i.e. last departure to suburbs is 2am with 10 minute intervals of departures)
• each state should have an comprehensive train and/or bus system that connects every and all cities to one another; the train system should connect to neighboring state's train system - basically forming an interstate train system/highway
• bullet trains connecting West, Midwest, South and East Coast (see: Shinkansen bullet trains)

But what that have to with history as I said in the beginning? Everything. People bash the US because isn't setup like Western European countries or Asian countries. They don't look into the history as to why. Instead, they just blame capitalism and say that America is crap and that they'd would never live there. It's okay. We send men to the moon as I pointed out earlier. You didn't build any of the already existing train and or bus routes, or any of the sidewalks or bike lanes. You benefit from those that came before you as you project a sense of smugness and superiority. 

Anti-car people will say when met with the talking point that American cities are relatively young therefore it grew and developed differently (this is 100% true) that cities like Rotterdam, Netherlands is also a new city. This is only half the truth. Sure, Rotterdam is new, but it grew out of an already existing city before Hitler raided and bombed it to ashes. The city was given a blank slate in order to build a "second city" where pedestrian friendly cities were the norm already in Europe (before the advent and normalization of automobiles as way of transportation). 

Small things like that are left out because they're too enamored of being in walkable environment. They fall in the same camp of zealotry for universal healthcare and "free" higher education. You see a pattern? It's Europe, Europe, Europe, Europe and maybe Japan. But mostly Eurocentric. 

I'd would like to see a compromise being made in the States between cars and public transportation. If there's a country that can say "we did our way" it's America. I believe that there's a healthy equilibrium somewhere in the far future where the US can rival Japan's public transpiration scene as electric trucks, cars and motorcycles zip across Route 66 as well. America can have it all - it just needs to be willing to accept the challenge as it did with the moon.