Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car Dependence

Trapped By Car Dependence: Stories From Commute-Battered Americans

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 31, 2011 | No Comments

Meet Darren Flenoy, a Bay Area security guard who lives 40 miles from work. Gas costs him about $500 a month. His car payment is another $500. On top of that, he spends $80 per month on insurance and $180 on tolls. In total, Darren’s commute costs him half of his monthly income. He must […]

Time to See Older Drivers Through Dry Eyes

By Anne Lutz Fernandez | Oct 24, 2011 | No Comments

“Have you cried at your desk at work yet today? Would you like to?” Time Magazine asked last week, inviting its readers to indulge in emotion on behalf of an Iowa couple whose story went viral last week. Gordon and Norma Yeager died as the result of a car crash, the same way about 630 […]

Has America Passed Peak Car Use, or Is It Just a Cyclical Decline?

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 8, 2011 | No Comments

Fast Company is the latest media outlet to trumpet the decline of driving, with a look at the phenomenon dubbed “peak car use.” In an article titled “We Are Approaching Peak Car Use,” the magazine examines an Australian study [PDF] which found driving rates are falling in a number of cities in Europe, North America […]

The Once and Future Auto Bailouts

By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez | Jul 6, 2011 | No Comments

You’d think the Obama campaign had confused Michigan and Ohio with Iowa and New Hampshire. As his 2012 Republican challengers flooded early primary states last month, the President instead headed to where he could stand beside beaming auto executives and watch proud workers toiling on once-idle assembly lines. The Obama administration and the industry have […]

Food Deserts: Another Way the Deck Is Stacked Against Car-Free Americans

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 5, 2011 | No Comments

Slate has posted this map to illustrate the concentration of “food deserts,” where large numbers of people don’t have access to fresh food. The USDA considers households more than a mile from a supermarket and without access to a car to be in food deserts, often with only convenience-store junk food for nourishment. In 2009, […]

Driven to the Poorhouse: How Car Title Lenders Prey on Americans

By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez | Nov 10, 2010 | No Comments

The cheerful come-ons seem more cheesy than sleazy — “Looking for a New Way to Borrow?” “Apply Now-Get Cash Today!” “Go From $0 to Cash in Less Than an Hour” — but these are not the friendly offers of local diversified banks. They are the insidious pitches of companies that do one thing very well: […]

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