Yeah I think people might be downplaying the fact that some different choices on automobiles could have led to drastically different outcomes with respect to the health of cities, suburbs, and communities
I mean sure, people still had babies, and the babies (us) adapted to the new environment, viewing it as "inevitable"
But that doesn't mean we can't make better choices around governance and technology going forward, or that we're not making bad choices right now
Just to add a small example of what I mean, I stumbled across this video yesterday:
How New Jersey Turned Into A Giant Suburb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKgK7Z-yu-4
Talking about how NJ is one of the wealthiest states in the nation, but also has striking poverty
I'm not sure what exactly could have changed, and of course plans are different than outcomes. But to me it's clear there is huge leverage around certain choices, especially regarding automobiles, and they are worth being thoughtful about
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There's also the question of why public transportation from Manhattan to the 3 neighboring airports is surprisingly thin ... I'm pretty sure that a large part of the answer is lobbying by taxi companies that stood to profit