Cars: A thing of the Past in the United States - Term Paper Example

However, this would not be an impossible task, especially if there was no choice in the matter. As long as there is a free choice to use automobiles, the people of the United States will be tied to a system of needs for transportation to cross the miles in between their homes, work, and essentials. The current arrangement of the United States is based upon the ability to cross miles at a fairly quick pace in order to get to a location. Traveling at a speed of 55 miles per hour for an hour or more to get to work is not all that uncommon.

Should the nation lose the ability to use automobiles, this would cause a great deal of troubles for those whose employment is not in near proximity to their dwellings. The rise of the suburbs was predicated on the idea that a person no longer had to live in the city to work in the city. However, the trends in suburbs at the end of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century has been to have smaller centers of development that include centers of employment. While the decentralization of the city to smaller communities has been the focus of the urban ‘sprawl’, the changing sense of community has provided for new cultural and social arrangements of work, home, and social interaction.

According to Wiewel and Persky (2002) “many suburban areas now have large sub-centers with significant effects on nearby population density, land values, housing prices and employment densities” (p. 182). The economic centralization of employment and major commerce that is within the city would be problematic should automobile transportation no longer be available to suburb dwelling workers. The national and global nature of large corporations who have power over the creation and distribution of high quantities of good that require truck transportation would be affected.

The culture, the nature of consumerism would be dramatically altered as employment, goods, and services would all have to be available within a reasonable travel distance when rates of travel are significantly decreased. To effectively function in a world without automobiles, the way in which culture evolved would depend greatly on the speed with which automobiles were eliminated. If they were eliminated with the concept of creating a new form of transportation that was public, but at a speed that allowed for civilization within the American society to continue functioning at relatively the same rate, then what would change would be associated to the economics of no longer having automobiles as a commodity and with the value of the replacement within the economic landscape.

As an example, one might look at the transportation system that was developed for the film Minority Report (2002). A transportation system that was similar to the people mover at Disney World’s land of Tomorrow, combined with the idea of an above ground subway system moved people rapidly from one place to another. However, the use of automobiles still existed in the nation because the transportation system was centered in the city. If they were eliminated completely, the transportation system would have to be extended to all areas so that no one was left without access to what they need.

However, if the use of automo