Recently I flew into Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, aka DFW Airport. I had a nice window seat and was able to look down on the metro-plex as we landed. As we came on on the final approach, I could see all the nice houses with swimming pools in subdivisions with curving street ending in cul-de-sacs.
There is what looks like a supermarket. Over there I could see a big shopping mall with a huge parking lot. And over there is what looks like a high school with it’s football stadium.
Have a look yourself at the view from above DFW.
Americans Can’t Walk Anywhere
Then I thought of something. If you lived in any of those houses on the cul-de-sacs, there was no place close enough that you can walk to. You can’t walk to the supermarket to go grocery shopping, it’s too far away. Besides even if you wanted to try and walk, you find there is no sidewalk for pedestrians to walk on, only the road for automobiles.
Try it yourself on the google map. Pick a house and pretend you live there. Find the nearest supermarket or Walmart, movie theatre or high school. Get directions from google and see how far it is. The closest services are all at least two or three miles away, minimum. Some stuff is 5 or 10 miles away.
Elementary schoolchildren can’t walk to school, they need to ride a school bus or have a chaffeur (a.k.a. parent) drive them to school. Highschool kids are in a similar bind, until they are old enough to get a driver’s license, which is normally about 16. Then the parents can buy the kid his own car so he can drive himself to school.
How about getting to your job? The average commute time in Dallas is about 25 minutes each way, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Dallas was #17 for longest commute time and about average for all cities.
It is necessary to have an automobile to live in any of the subdivisions. Like a trusty steed, you have to take your auto everywhere you go. Well at least it doesn’t leave horse manure in your driveway.
I remember when I was growing up back in the 1950s, there was the family car. Most families that owned a car had a single family car. Many families had no car and used public transportation to get everywhere.
But now in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, each adult in the household needs his own car to get around. I think you will find that most places in America have a similar situation. In America, except for New York City or San Francisco, without a car, you are immobile. Americans have become totally dependent on their cars.
One question comes to mind: What happens when the oil runs out?
America Needs Cheap Oil
The oil doesn’t have to run out for there to be problems. It just has to get expensive. Suppose gasoline reaches $10 per gallon. It’s going to get awfully expensive gettin around from that suburban home on the cul-de-sac. When it costs $200 to fill your gas tank, people wont have any money left to buy other things. What does it mean for the U.S. economy if consumers have no money left over? Recession or worse.
It is an unfortunate truth, but America has become dependent on cheap gasoline. Unfortunately, America has become so dependent that she is willing to send American soldiers overseas to fight wars in order keep the cheap oil flowing.
This is a bad spot for America to be in. America is in a weak position, dependent on foreign producers of oil to keep the U.S. economy going. This does not bode well for America’s future.
