Fuck Cars

Hi everybody.

I'm sorry if my question is really weirdly specific. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time.

You ever see those movies, where people live in this techno-future dystopia, skyscrapers and traffic clogged freeways, car - centric urban planning with no greenery, no trees, think of like Times Square NYC, hyper capitalist neolib dystopia kind of thing.

You see in those movies, the main character (a socially detached loner) depressed, part of the reason is not just a horribly atomized and superficial Society, but the other reason is the wretched urban planning and brutalist architecture.

I think there's been a few articles already on the importance of good architecture for creating a more "communal" mental effect for the people in the town.

I'm wondering if you guys found any articles or essays on the importance of specifically good urban planning (I already read about architecture). Stuff about how car centric urban planning atomizes the individual, ruins the social fabric, ruins the communal mentality, etc.. Sociological stuff.

If you do, please comment. I'd love to read.

I know the report is for the US but it also applies to Canada because we have an almost identical car market, regulations, and truck culture.

Submitted a post to r/usa advocating for more public transportation, bikability, walkability, and urbanity in general.

What irony be this, that in my earnest endeavor to illuminate the virtues of civility, my words were misconstrued as mere jest, my wit mistaken for malice. How swiftly the great reddit mods strike, casting me into the shadows of banishment. My intent was pure, my purpose noble, yet my words lost their essence, I was reduced to but a troll. They called me a troll! Oh, the indignity! A troll they called me!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/6978371

Non-Paywall Article

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5701064

Sudip Bhattacharya talks about his article at HardCrackers.com, "Socialism or Suburbia." Sudip is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at Rutgers University. He is also a writer, organizer, and you can find his other work at outlets like Protean Magazine, CounterPunch and Reappropriate, and the Aerogram.

I'm in Toronto Canada and it's a very car dependent landscape unfortunately and honestly I'm a little jealous seeing European places and how nice they are with their rich history. Meanwhile here in Ontario we have quadruple-carriageways and stroads lined with strip malls and big-box stores with their expansive parking lots. Unless you're with friends, going outside can be pretty bleak to the eye.

My ideal town would be as such

1. a car-free and dense downtown area with rowhouses and condo units above cafes and shops

2. lots of trees and greenery

3. traditional architectural design

What would you think for yours?

Unfortunately, the prime minister won't endorse his minister.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/1016375

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/1016365

the ccc (civilian conservation corps) man... they were huge

They even have the main kid rebel against his dad working with trains 🫠