Car Country: An Environmental History

ISBN-10: 0295804475
ISBN-13: 9780295804477
Category: Transportation
Pages: 464
Language: English
Published: 2013-05-15
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Author: Christopher W. Wells

Description

For most people in the United States, going almost anywhere begins with reaching for the car keys. This is true, Christopher Wells argues, because the United States is Car Country�a nation dominated by landscapes that are difficult, inconvenient, and often unsafe to navigate by those who are not sitting behind the wheel of a car. The prevalence of car-dependent landscapes seems perfectly natural to us today, but it is, in fact, a relatively new historical development. In Car Country, Wells rejects the idea that the nation's automotive status quo can be explained as a simple byproduct of an ardent love affair with the automobile. Instead, he takes readers on a tour of the evolving American landscape, charting the ways that transportation policies and land-use practices have combined to reshape nearly every element of the built environment around the easy movement of automobiles. Wells untangles the complicated relationships between automobiles and the environment, allowing readers to see the everyday world in a completely new way. The result is a history that is essential for understanding American transportation and land-use issues today. Watch the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48LTKOxxrXQ

Get the book

Similar books

WINGS LIKE EAGLES PB
By Paul A. Schweizer
Directors : R. S. Barnaby , T. Boyer , G. Briegleb , S. Corcoran , J. S. Charles , A. Dawydoff , F. Compton , P. Leonard , W. Klemperer , A. Raspet , E. J. Reeves , J. Robinson , A. Schultz , E. Schweizer , P. A. Schweizer , B. Shupack ...
Barney Hall's Tales From Trackside
By Barney Hall, Ben White
He also witnessed the unforgettable '76 Daytona finish between Richard Petty and Pearson. In Barney Hall's Tales from the Trackside, he reflects on many memorable stories, including Bill Elliott winning the Winston Million in 1985.
Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals
By Alan Renton
... lens is still in daily use and though it no longer ... revolves in its liquid metal bed by clockwork 36 it seems likely that it will continue to revolve in its mercury bath after automation . ... Stone , John Harris op . cit .
American Auto Racing: The Milestones and Personalities of a Century of Speed
By J.A. Martin, Thomas F. Saal
But by the end of the season the hot combination was Mark Donohue in the Camaro . Cougar did not return but Donohue did , taking ten of the twelve 1968 races , including eight in a row . American Motors entered the series with the new ...
The Truck, Van and 4x4 Book: The Definitive Guide to Buying a Truck
By Jack Gillis, Karen Fierst, Scott Beatty
Gillis is a Contributing Correspondent for NBC's “ Today Show ” and has appeared on all three network evening news programs as well as local and national talk shows , including “ Donahue , " “ 20/20 , " “ Nightline , ” “ The Oprah ...
Human Factors for Naval Marine Vehicle Design and Operation
By Jonathan M. Ross
Miller , J. , M. Sanders , E. Fitzhugh , K. Plummer ( 2005a ) . “ Real or Self - Imposed : The Gap Between Cognitive Systems Engineering and Softward Systems Engineering , ” Human Systems Integration Symposium , Arlington , VA , June .
Locomotives of the Western United States
By Jonathan Lewis
St Maries River Railroad GP9s 101 and 102, both built by EMD in 1959 for the Milwaukee Road, are seen working a freight from St Maries to Tacoma Rail Switcher MP15 1521, built by EMD in 1983. Plummer, Idaho, beside Chatcolet Lake on the ...
Picture History of the Cunard Line, 1840-1990
By William H. Miller, Frank Osborn Braynard
134 PICTURE HISTORY OF THE CUNARD LINE 1840-1990 Frank O. Braynard. Adriatic, 63, 64 Alaunia, 51 Albania, 44 America 1 1848), ... 110.111, 112, 118 #fx,44 Russia, 4 Sagafjord, 130 Samaria, 25 Saturnia, 1 10 &«w»w(1900), ...
Karen Brown's England, Wales and Scotland: Exceptional Places to Stay and Itineraries
By Karen Brown
Map : 4 Eglwysfach Ynyshir Hall Ynyshir Hall shares its location on the Dovey river estuary with a 1,000 - acre bird reserve , home to herons , oystercatchers , curlews , and cormorants . Nestled in acres of gardens full of azaleas and ...
The Transportation Experience: Policy, Planning, and Deployment
By David M. Levinson, William L. Garrison
The Transportation Experience seeks to understand the genesis of transportation policy in America and the UK, along with the roles that this policy plays as systems are innovated, deployed, and reach maturity, and how policies might be ...