Title: The Car and the city : the automobile, the built environment, and daily urban life /
Authors: Wachs, Martin.; Crawford, Margaret, 1948-
Publisher: University of Michigan Press,
Year: 1992
Subjects: Urban ecology (Sociology) California Los Angeles Region History.; Urban ecology (Sociology) United States History.; Automobiles Social aspects United States History.; City and town life United States History; Automobiles Social aspects California Los Angeles Region History.; City and town life California Los Angeles Region History.
Abstract: A recent television documentary asked half a dozen centenarians what they remembered as the most exciting moments of their lives. Without hesitating, each of them mentioned their first automobile ride among two or three of their most prominent memories. When asked what development had changed daily life the most in the century through which they had lived, all six mentioned the automobile. Despite its importance, the automobile is the subject of surprisingly little intellectual inquiry. In The Car and the City, twenty distinguished authors--architects, designers, historians, sociologists, psychologists, and urban planners--analyze the influence the automobile has had on daily urban life and offer speculations about its future. The result is a fascinating study on the many ways in which urban life and the automobile are intertwined. Historians Sam Bass Warner, Jr., James J. Flink, and Mark S. Foster; journalist John B. Jackson; feminist planner Sandra Rosenbloom; and urbanist Melvin M. Webber are just a few of the foremost authorities who together provide a valuable interdisciplinary perspective on urban development and change.
Contents: The car, the city, and daily work. Learning from the past : services to families / Sam Bass Warner, Jr. -- Truck city / John B. Jackson -- Work and vehicles : a comment and note / Joseph J. Corn -- The automobile, families, and daily life. Why working families need a car / Sandra Rosenbloom -- The car's impact on the American family / Michael L. Berger -- Gender, electricity, and automobility / Virginia Scharff -- Men, women, and urban travel : the persistence of separate spheres / Martin Wachs -- The automobile and design. The suburban house and the automobile / David Gebhard -- A garage in the house / Drummond Buckley -- The perils of a parkless town / Richard Longstreth -- The ultimate status symbol : the custom coachbuilt car in the interwar period / James J. Flink -- Styling the strip : car and roadside design in the 1950s / Alan Hess -- The automobile and Los Angeles-- a special relationship. The role of the automobile in shaping a unique city : another look / Mark S. Foster.