Thread by @_fruchtose

Cars are one of the most amazing and wonderful inventions in all of history. They serve us. They connect us. They liberate us.

The future should have lots more cars. Self-driving cars. Flying cars. Space cars! Cars are fantastic.

Nothing else:

* Takes you directly from origin to destination
* Is available instantly on-demand
* Can carry a family and/or packages
* Protects you from the elements
* Is safe to use at night and in all weather

For convenience, practicality, and safety, cars are unbeatable.

Cities should absolutely be designed around cars! Not as an exclusive consideration, but as one of the top considerations.

A city that is unfriendly to cars is a bad city.

Cars were the savior of rural families, ending their isolation. Some farm families ranked having a car above even having a bathroom:

More on the “plauge of rural isolation”:

The transition from urban transit to automobiles was “enthusiastic”. “The twentieth-century urban ridership despised fixed rail transit.”

I am *not* saying that today's cities are designed optimally, or even well! There are probably much better ways we can accommodate many different ways of using and getting around a city. Walking, biking, transit are all great, and we should support those things better too.

I'm just pushing back against the deep, virulent anti-car sentiment I hear so often. People love to hate cars. They are unfairly maligned.

I repeat, cars are fantastic and one of the greatest inventions ever.

Nor am I saying we should design cities “for cars” or “around cars”. Cars aren't the only thing to optimize for, doing so would be unbalanced. But designing “for cars” vs. “for people” is a false dichotomy. People use, enjoy, and benefit from cars!

Incidentally, the value of transportation is super-linear: doubling the range you can travel (within a convenient period of time) quadruples the area and thus the opportunities that you can reach.

Thank you to the small minority of people in this thread who are arguing with me in good faith!

Finally seeing the replies to this thread after getting back from a trip. I assure everyone, I am not serious. The original thread I'm parodying, however, is.

I don't have a SoundCloud to promote. But if you live in Los Angeles, please let @Rendon63rd and @laurafriedman43 know that we need high-speed rail in California to create alternatives to car traffic, using proven and reliable rail technology.