Do ya’ll ever wonder if single family zoning, and car-centric urban planning, are some of the primary factors behind modern adults suffering from rampant loneliness? Two environments renown for fostering friendships and social activities are university campuses, and seasonal jobs in remote locations. What do those two things have in common? Proximity. People work, eat, and play together. In another word, community.
In my experience, humans are simple creatures. We take the path of least resistance. For your standard adult, the concept of traveling across town to meet up with friends after a full day of work or chores is exhausting. We crave those connections, but the barrier to entry is too high. We settle for whatever scratches that itch with the minimal amount of effort. Typically that involves some form of social media or other digital communication. It’s like grabbing that crappy packet of ramen because you ran out of groceries before your market day. It’s not really what you want to have for dinner, but it’s what is readily available so you shrug and eat it anyway.
This is all anecdotal and speculation on my part, but I’m curious if anyone else has any thoughts on this.
I don’t think so.
I know so. I’ve read a number of articles in recent years about how weak social ties are just as important as strong ones for happiness. This is just the first result from a search: Weak social ties are just as important as strong ones for greater life satisfaction
Weak social ties are precisely the ones that get cut off by car dominance, what with driving across town to do everything in life, only mixing it up with strangers you’ll never recognize again instead of the usual bunch of neighbors. Between snout houses, online shopping, and drive-thrus, one could live a normal suburban life for weeks without interacting with anybody but coworkers and family. Now add work-from-home…
Edit: Here’s another article that makes the connection directly: https://www.businessinsider.com/barcelona-solution-loneliness-crisis-pollution-cars-streets-parks-traffic-sidewalks-2023-12
I live in Tokyo and see a lot of people, particularly foreigners but also Japanese, complain about loneliness. We mostly use public transit, do not have zoning like that, etc. so it’s definitely not a cure-all to do just those two things (not that I think that was what you were saying).
That’s a good point.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I would imagine that in Japan the issue of loneliness cuts very deep due to the cultural and societal norms. I would also think that if you were to keep all those same norms but introduce in the car dependent design and infrastructure of the US then the problem would get even worse, no?
car-centric urban planning
Yes, this can absolutely contribute to weaker communities and fewer interactions.
One of the things I noticed since riding a bike everywhere, is how much social interaction you have compared to a car. Even a quick chat with someone while you’re both stopped at an intersection is something that never happens while driving.
But you really notice how awful cars have made things when our city shuts down a downtown road for an event, basically making it walkable. People are chatting with strangers, smiles everywhere, businesses get way more customers, etc. It’s just… better.
Even the loss of meeting spaces within communities is a direct result of car-centric infrastructure. Quite a few urban planning YouTube channels have gone over this. But yes, cars are making us lonely.
Not being able to leave my house without planning things around the schedule of my parents, and whether they even felt like driving, until I was 19 years old certainly didn’t have a positive impact on me.
I moved from a rural area to an urban area three years ago and I’m always blown away at how many old ladies chat me up on the bus. It makes my day so much brighter. Anecdoctal, but I figured I’d share.
Only if you drive a boring car. Take a really cool car to the grocery store parking lot, and people walking in will stop and talk to you about it.
