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New World Politics
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To be sure, Americans have always had an urge to escape the confines of the city. Even as early as the first colonies, the settlers viewed America as a “New World” that would provide relief from the overcrowded and chaotic cities of Europe. Their descendents, the Pioneers, proved themselves also unwilling to accept the confines of their settlements (Garreau 15). Their eagerness to move around led to the exploration of the vast American continent in unprecedented time. Albeit that we are a nation of immigrants the influence of those who settled this land has nevertheless had an impact on shaping us as a society. They have left us with two undeniable legacies. One, that we seek escape to the unsettled and undeveloped land all around us. Two, that we refuse to be limited in the places where we choose to live and work. It is when these two heritages are combine with that other hallowed American tradition, the creativity and persistence know simply as ‘American ingenuity’, that we begin to realize sprawl. It is American ingenuity that gave us the Model T, the chain store, the suburban subdivision, and that often hated, but frequently utilized staple of American culture, the superhighway. Could it be that the very things we invented to satisfy our urge to escape our city centers have become the burden of modern-day urban living? Or is it that, in typical American fashion, we have become tired with what we have created for ourselves? Even as we move away from our former cities towards the suburbs, we revamp our suburbs into what can only be described as Edge Cities. In a sense America is, as it has been since its inception, at war with itself to define and redefine the standards and goals of urban living. The automobile and the coming of sprawl A working definition of sprawl depends on one’s perspective relative to urban size and history. It would probably seem ridiculous to label the old brownstones of Harlem or the Victorians of San Francisco as suburban sprawl, but at least as far as their purpose, that is exactly what they were. Both were attempts to provide housing for the masses away from the city and all its negative aspects. A more modern view of sprawl includes almost exclusively negative aspects. Its mainstay includes the clogged highways and dull parking lots that occupy acres and acres of today’s suburbs. How has our image of suburban sprawl changed so dramatically? Among other things the most visible and important agent of urban social change has been the automobile. It is hard to imagine that when Henry Ford rolled out his first Model T in 1908 that he envisioned twelve lane superhighways clogged with behemoth SUV’s and endless expanses of dull parking lots. Rather it is quite clear that his intentions were much more benevolent. In creating the automobile Ford produced a product that satisfied the social demands of the time, namely, how to provide affordable, and comfortable personal transportation for the masses?
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