Car Dependence Has Robbed Us of Identity.

It is a commonly held belief that cars bring freedom and independence, but the reality may be the opposite. Car dependent cities are Orwellian in many aspects. Obviously, this 8 minute Youtube video is a huge simplification of the true situation.

Music used:
Justin Allan Arnold - Caribbean Night:
Short clip of The Death of a Violin:

Los Angeles in the 1950s colorized:

Chapters
01:18 Why is it Like This?
02:38 Cars are the Antithesis of Identity
05:55 We Spend Our Lives in Identical Boxes

[hillcitian]

As someone from Denver, I’m happy you shat on it so much. It truly deserves it

[railfan_]

I've got a serious bone to pick about this, specifically being from the country. This problem has had SERIOUS implications out here. Nearly EVERY pickup truck on the modern market is utterly fucking useless for anything outside of suburbia. They're over-complicated as fuck, they "enjoy" catastrophic failures at 50k, AND THEY CAN'T EVEN FUCKING HAUL. There isn't a SINGLE pickup on the modern market that DOESN'T sacrifice half its potential bed space for a "crew cab"(read: THE ENTIRE FUCKING INSIDE OF A 747). They're not made for people who USE pickup trucks to "pick up" or "truck". THEY'RE SHITTY FAMILY SUV'S WITH A VESTIGIAL BED. Even the SUV's suck ass. Nobody uses SUV's made after 2010 for "sport" or "utility". They just use them to haul groceries, and the design shows it! Good luck going offroading with ipad-mcgee. The worst, WORST part is that they're all designed under the assumption that you're 30 minutes away from a manufacturer specific dealership. They're UTTERLY UNREPAIRABLE. Meanwhile some shitbox from the 80s/90s can be eternally kept alive by your neighbor in exchange for a sixer of the WORST BEER EVER BREWED IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. It's utterly fucked that KEI trucks have more bed space than these giant land-battleships we call "trucks".

[GurHaenouasHazourem]

Cars have added an aspect of encapsulation and alienation to the way we live in human settlements. How ironic that governments have never been so big, complex, compartmentalized, corrupt and unaccountable! People have been deprived of common places, where we stay for no particular reason, close to home. Streets have taken up another meaning after cars, being inhospitable to those outside a car. We live in a car stablishment, that profits mainly from its fuels, asphalt (enourmously expensive), the cars themselves, and everything that's involved in maintaining this paradigm. Most of the time you are either in a concrete box or a tin box. No wonder the individual today is so disposable, having no common idea of what life is about with others. This international state LOVES that compartmentalization and nullification of the individual. Also ironic is the fact that Henry Ford himself said "It is WELL that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning".

[kurticusmaximus]

I think it’s a pendulum thing. Either extreme is not healthy ie banning cars altogether or total elimination of alternative transportation, but seriously, the pendulum is way too far in the favor of car enslavement. The US should start turning those parking lots into apartments or nice condos. Let downtown dwellers drive the economy of the downtown and let suburbanites deal with the consequences of their own suburbanite obsession.

[mostafaelnahass]

As someone who lived in Cairo, the neighborhood you showed is a pre-war neighborhood called el Dokki which is unique. Cairo in general is very car-centric, especially the new areas, which also look identical and are for rich people

[Jazzmaster]

I love that automobile dependency is being talked about and criticized more and more as a real issue. As much as I love the "freedom" of driving, I have to wonder if that is not simply me appreciating my ability to travel with relative ease, and if that ability to travel was possible with other modes of transit, would I really "love" driving as much?

[thedandelionranger]

You’re absolutely correct, and the light rail public transportation system used to be the pride of American cities like N.Y.C. until automobile companies, oil companies, and rubber companies dismantled the Manhattan Streetcar System alongside over 2, 000 Electric Trollies beginning in the 1920’s, only to replace the main method of public transportation for 90% of people living in cities with big gas guzzling smelly automobiles polluting up our atmosphere.

[ericwright]

3:14 it doesn't just make the people invisible, it makes the city and places you drive through invisible too. Car dependence turns most places into the car equivalent of "fly over country". People don't even notice what's going on, or how ugly most sprawl is. Even when they're in a beautiful walkable urban place all drivers care about is getting through quickly and finding a convenient place to park

[vincentng]

While Hong Kong is a transit-centric place, all 18 districts in the city are essentially anchored by huge shopping malls with similar soulless designs and almost identical retail chain stores.

[saagisharon]

It was like Americans think that a family friendly design has to come at either an environmental or psychological cost

[halleradam]

I just can’t help at laugh at people who spend a fortune on cars. Its a giant scam. Get the least car needed to face the car dependent hellscape our grandparents created, and get to work on changing the future!

[aidwin]

We're literally expected to go to work in a line... and if you don't follow the rules you risk death. How the fuck is that not dystopian?

[gamble]

I like how when you are driving everyones identity is narrowed to what make or type of vehicle they are, "What is that Audi doing?" "Stupid trucker!" "Damn cyclist, make me 2 seconds later to that queue!" "Silly jaywalker, I almost killed you, don't you know the street is for cars!"

[michaelbaird]

When I was growing up, I lived pretty rurally. 30 minutes to the nearest big box grocery store, long ass gravel driveway, animals every which way, you know the drill. There was an identity there you couldn't get anywhere else, and that is one of the most car centric areas you could live. My car, and my friends' cars were part of that identity. We spent hours working on our cars and bikes while we hung out in decrepit barns. Now that I have since moved to a large city, it feels like cars lost that identity. Well, it seems like everyone lost their identity. I know this video only talks about car centric infrastructure being a source of a loss of identity, but I think it goes deeper than that. Cars from home used to be a tool of expression, a reason to hangout, a hobby to spend hours on, and now they just get in the way. Everything that used to be a source of self-expression gets lost in the urban sprawl.

Not entirely sure where I was going with this, but I'm sure some people feel the same way.

[milascave]

What makes New York City such a great city is it's subway and pedestrian culture. That is why it has been called "the only real City in the USA." The subway was put in place so long ago that the Ike Eisenhower/Henry Ford duo could not destroy it.

[humanecities]

What’s upsetting is that many North American cities do have their own identity, but it’s smothered by the soul-crushing car-dependency.

In my city of Calgary, Canada, we have an annual rodeo (biggest in the world) with rides, a trade show, a rodeo, and more. For 10 days in July, you can eat a free pancake breakfast everyday. We also have a massive outdoor museum, complete with a paddle boat, steam train, and old fair rides. Our zoo is the most visited in Canada. And our multiuse path network is massive and takes you through some of the most beautiful parks in the city.

Like Calgary, many North American cities have AWESOME things going on… but when we concentrate the awesome stuff to a metropolitan centre, pave over everything else, and assign everyone to metal boxes with which they traverse the hellscape to return to their wooden box… We lose all passion and let our identity be consumed by conglomerates.

Great video! Thanks for getting me thinking! I hope to see more from you soon!

[mr.washbear]

I'm a car guy and motorcycle rider. I agree with most of what people like not just bikes says and I really do hope 90% of inner city roads are made pedestrian and bicycle friendly or exclusive with extensive mass transit networks. Because for us there's 2 types of cars: One is the hobbyist type with varying degrees of convienience that to from extremes like the ariel atom or ktm x-bow, to something super common but still fun like a 5.0 mustang. And then there's traffic. The things that you just take from A to B because you need to. From a car guy's perspective, We don't drive down super congested freeways and inner cities for fun (unless they're posers and just want attention). We go look for empty back roads that are fun to drive on. I don't want to be stuck on the road with someone who doens't like driving or isn't good at it, scared, to tired, drunk, whatever else, but is on the road anyways because they feel like they need to. It's not safe for anyone involved. Those of us who actually do have an identity in the vehicles we drive would only benifit from commuters taking mass transit and making cars the alternative form of transit. And trust me there's enough gearheads out there to keep making cars for those of us who want them. But smaller scale, higher quality and to a lower safety standard than is required today. All because it's just not nessicary.

[linuxman]

If you think the US is bad in terms of their cities looking Identical, Japan is even worse. Almost every mid-sized Japanese city looks the same at ground level. There are stroads with the same business from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The downtown Apartments all look the same, and so do the commercial properties. The rural areas and villages have more character because the buildings are smaller and actually look to suit their environment, with Tile roofing in the south, and Metal roofing in the north. But in the cities people generally are more in control of their environment so they build what is more economical, which is often ugly and Identical.

[elijahcook]

Nice vid, im working towards a urban planning & policy degree rn loved the content. I’ve always wanted to make a video like this, and it’s super cool to see someone with your size just go for it. Keep making vids in the future! I’ll be here to watch

[gnuwaves]

Idk if there’s hope for America. I’m glad these urbanist videos keep popping up and making people realize life doesn’t have to be like this.

I’m moving to a country where I will never need to rely on private transportation. Let the cars have THIS land. I ho