Unpopular Opinion: Car Dependency Is Killing Our Wealth And Health

Fact: Since 1984, more Americans have been killed in car crashes than have been killed in all wars in U.S. history.

 

Since the first person was killed by car in the United States in 1899, over 3,730,000 people have died in car crashes. So in 120 years of car crashes we’ve lost almost three times as many people as we’ve lost in 250 years of warfare.

Sorry to darken your day. Also sorry if this makes you uncomfortable or if you don’t like reading it because you’re a car person.  Facts are facts.  As I always tell people you have the right to your own opinion, you do not have your right to your own facts.

Now let me be clear, in no way am I equivocating the death of a US Soldier in a wartime scenario, which is presumably intentional, to the death of a person in a car crash, which is presumably accidental.

Regardless, they both end up six feet in the ground. 

Additionally pedestrian deaths from drivers in the U.S. were up 35% last year and at 6,227 deaths were the highest since 1990.

Despite what a few commenters have said on my blog, I am not anti-car.  I am, however, not really jazzed about how America intentionally develops huge swaths of the country in a way that makes it virtually impossible to get anything done without using a car. 

Especially when we know how dangerous, costly, and polluting they are.

 

Suburbia

Go to the suburbs of any major city in America and you’re likely to find the same thing. Endless windy streets usually ending in cul-de-sacs, accessible only from one or two main “feeder roads”.

You can drive seemingly forever in these tree lined neighborhoods, often forgetting how you even entered.  You’ll see symmetrical rows of big houses with garages and SUVs everywhere.

But one thing you won’t likely see is a store. Because once you’re in the ‘residential zone’, stores are forbidden.

That means for any of the poor folks living in these areas, getting something as simple as a pack of gum or a quart of milk involves getting in their car and driving.  Sometimes an absurdly long distance.

The stores, in a stroke of genius, are in a big “town center”.  The town center is surrounded by 200 acres of parking lot set up like a moat to a castle. 

Even if your house was close enough to walk to the town center, you’d have to cross a long, desolate stretch of mostly empty and barren concrete parking lot to do it.  You’d have to constantly be on alert of cars whizzing by, often driven by people playing with their cell phone.  It would be a miserable walk, not that you’re going to try. 

Many of these areas don’t even have sidewalks anyway.  Why bother.  Who would want to walk here? 

So the houses are where the houses are, and the stores are where the stores are.  And the gap between them is nothing but concrete and innocuous, non-native juniper trees. 

It’s clear these environments are for cars, not pedestrians.  This, quite frankly, is madness.

 

Twilight Zone-ing

This isn’t an urban planning blog.  For the most part I stick to finances or behaviors and aspects of lifestyle that affect finances.  I’m also a dork, and have read more urban planning books than I’d care to admit.  But I’ll spare you a treatise on how we can design these car-dependent suburbs better.   

The one thing that can be done at the broadest level is to promote mixed-use zoning.  What is that? 

Mixed use zoning is:

A development strategy that blends residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment uses, where those functions are physically and functionally integrated, and that provides pedestrian connections.

I’m not advocating that everyone has to live in a city, or a highly dense urban environment.  Mixed use zoning, when done well, allows for a suburban feel but with amenities such as stores and parks in walking or cycling distance.  Less time in the car, more time actually out engaging with your neighbors and being part of a community.

 

Social Deserts

Studies show time and time again as the US has been getting richer, it is also becoming less happy.  Some social scientists have found the main factor powerful enough to curb people’s self-reported happiness in the face of increasing wealth is our country’s declining social capital.   The decline of social networks (real ones, not the toxic ones only seen through a screen) and interactions in everyday life are more corrosive than the income gap between rich and poor. 

Bottom line – real personal social interactions are crucial for happiness.  I’m not sure why this surprises anyone but it shows how far we’ve gone down smartphone rabbit holes in the past 10 years. 

But car-dependent and single-use zoned suburbs create social deserts.  In today’s suburbs the only walkers you usually see are with their dogs, dutifully doing a robotic lap around the street with head buried in their cell phone, waiting to pick up poop.  You can sometimes drive for miles and not see a single soul on foot or bike. 

Walkable neighborhoods lead to better mental and physical health, and are also better for your bank account.  In walkable neighborhoods, the elderly keep their independence much longer because they can often satisfy their daily needs on foot.  Thus, they keep their muscle mass by moving more, and maintain more social interactions for mental health. 

Walkable neighborhoods give children more independence. Mom and Dad wouldn’t be nearly as stressed if they didn’t have to drive their kids to every single activity.  Kids like bikes and freedom, I’m sure most would rather ride to practice if it were a viable option.

 

Go From 4 Wheels To 2

Speaking of bikes, regular readers know I’m an avid cyclist and ride a lot.  Last year I rode bicycles more miles than I drove my car, and I’m proud of that, not to mention much richer and healthier. 

Getting around by bike is a perfect compromise between the overkill and wasteful excesses of a car, and the slowness of walking.  A bike allows you to move quickly and nimbly, yet still be outside of a bubble that shields you from interacting with your neighbors and your environment. 

But I’m a realist. I know that we who use our bikes to run errands  and commute to work are a small minority of the population, and that’s  probably not going to change anytime soon.

America is a nation that demands escalators to second floor health clubs.  It is what it is, cycling isn’t going to suddenly explode in popularity in a country that prefers easy-buttons and shortcuts over a little sweat and effort. 

But you’re different because you read personal finance blogs and are focused on life improvements.  So consider getting a bike to ‘walkify’ your neighborhood, it works even if you don’t have sidewalks. 

 

How Does This Affect Your Finances?

Let’s talk money. Transportation costs are one of the big three and for most in America it’s their vehicles and the things the vehicles need, such as gas, insurance, and maintenance.

The more you drive, the more gas you use, the more you pay.  And of course the faster your vehicle gets to that expensive 30,000 maintenance checkup.  You know, the one where the mechanic informs you that not only do you need tires, you need brakes too. 

There goes $1700, kapoof. 

Nerdwallet estimates the average cost of vehicle ownership for a vehicle driven 15,000 miles to be $8,469 per year.  And they got their data from AAA, an organization that often tries to cover up anything negative about cars.  If you think that sounds high then check out Mr. Money Moustache’s detailed breakdown of all the hidden costs of commuting in a car that you’re probably not considering.

I’ve showed before how simply driving a more fuel efficient vehicle can save you over $100,000 in 20 years.  But that’s just saving on fuel.  If you drove fewer miles overall the savings would be much much higher.  Cars aren’t one of the big three expenses for nothing.

 

Let’s Improve

How can we improve this situation?  We can designate more mix used zoning, and actually allow people to have a corner store on their street. 

Social interaction and civic engagement will increase.  Driving will decrease, pollution will decrease, and deaths from cars will decrease.  Waistlines will slim down, but bank accounts will fatten.  Financial independence would be achievable for so many more people.

A guy can dream….

Things are improving.  This concept has been catching on, and mixed use zoning communities have been popping up in pockets across America.

When they do, they’re usually incredibly popular and thus incredibly expensive.  There’s a reason for that. 

Many people have had enough.  Enough of the trappings of car dependency.  Enough of the bulging waistlines, high blood pressure, and diabetes risk their car dependent lives have devolved into.

They see a walkable and bikeable neighborhood and they see a better way.  A better way to build, to foster a sense of community, and to live.

I can only hope the trend of mixed use zoning continues to spread.  We have a lot of work to do to create livable communities that don’t require a trip in a car to do everything.  If for nothing else, we need to do it for our health, and our wealth. 

If I didn’t convince you, then Jeff Speck will probably do better.  Where I differ from Jeff is that he argues for big city living, while I’m convinced well designed suburbs  are possible.

 

Your Turn – Let me have it. I know America loves its cars and there are a ton of car people out there, so I’m sure they held their nose while reading this.  But if you live in one of these car-dependent suburbs, wouldn’t you like to have a store to walk to?  All comments are welcome just keep it civil.