The automobile impacted the american landscape in many ways, but perhaps one of the most important was its role in enabling suburbia. not only did it make cars viable as a reliable mode of transportation, but they also provided an escape from crowded urban living (especially for people who didn't want to drive themselves every day).
the car led cities to “spread out” into suburbs that were not easily accessible by public transit. ironically, these suburban neighbourhoods often had more available space than urban centres because single-dwelling households followed this lead and purchased suburban property with ample land. automobiles made commuting long distances for work easy too; someone could buy a house 20 miles away from the city centre and still have reasonable access to employment opportunities.
how did the automobile impact the us landscape?
it transformed the landscape into a place that was more suburban than rural. it encouraged increased residential and commercial development as it made travel more convenient, and thus lessened the need for goods to be produced locally. it fueled sprawl via auto-dependent infrastructure such as highways and malls. the car changed cities themselves – by allowing people to live farther from work or accessing new opportunities (and with this came waves of migration away from urban centers). finally, cars fueled widespread inequality: allowing those who could afford them access to resources like jobs that were previously out of reach; meanwhile destitute individuals with no way to traverse vast distances were stuck, unable for work or opportunity alike.
what are three ways the automobile changed the american landscape?
3 ways automobiles changed the american landscape
the automobilization of america has changed the landscape in many ways. let's take a look at three of them.
1) loss of vibrant city centers roughly eighty acres are dedicated to parking for automobiles. the average small town has enough vacant space to fit 700 cars, but this doesn't solve the problem because people end up parking wherever they can find free space instead. this leads to spaces being filled by other drivers who are passing through – which creates more traffic and has adverse consequences on community life in big cities when larger districts become so filled with parked cars that it becomes difficult for emergency vehicles or pedestrians to move freely. pedestrians have even been killed in
how did the automobile change the urban landscape?
the automobile substantially changed urban architecture by introducing skyways and overpasses. the former allowed cars to bypass the street level, while the latter meant drivers could continue their path on a new road level.
since parking became more feasible, developers looked for empty spaces to sprawl buildings with large surface area. cars gave birth to “strip malls.” as interstates were built for long distance travel, they served as highways of sorts within city limits; this spawned suburbs and strip malls which fractured many cities into isolated pockets. ultimately it left room for the discovery of car-free communities from residents who wanted a slower paced lifestyle or small business owners who needed proximity yet independence from their customers.
making economies more jobs-centred again
