Freedom: a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
Freedom is not just the freedom to cast a vote, or to speak whatever words come out your mouth, freedom is the ability to act as you choose, to make what you feel is your best decision, and then to act on it.
How does this relate to a bike blog? In America, we have severely restricted the freedom of people to use the public space in their cities. We have given this space to automobiles, and we have told everyone (in not so many words) that it is theirs to use only so long as they don't interfere with the automobiles. In many cases, we have simply told everyone they are not allowed to use it.
Automobiles are touted as a symbol of American freedom, and for certain things, they do grant a freedom we wouldn't otherwise have. The ability to travel across a state or country in a matter of days, rather than weeks or months. The ability to carry large loads of things across long distances. But in our society, they have become overused to the point of restricting mobility. Not to mention they come with all kinds of fine print - insurance cost and fuel cost and road building and repair cost, noise cost and air quality cost... and the thing nobody seems to want to mention, human life cost.
Starting largely in the 1940's the U.S. Government started heavily subsidizing highway and freeway projects, and encouraging cities and states to build them like mad. What this has resulted in, is that many cities have taken space that was the domain of people, just people, and has pushed them out of it, unless they are in automobiles. What this has also resulted in, is that much of small town America has become simply highways with strip-malls alongside. Most often, this was done without any consultation of the citizens - for instance, Interstate 5 was laid out in North Portland, and all the residents who lived in the path of the freeway were simply told they had to move, no choice about it.
What this resulted in was an increasing suspicion, and finally a confident opinion in many places, that if you weren't in a car, you didn't belong outside of your house/apartment/yard. It became more and more difficult to move around outside of your own yard if you weren't in a car in many places. Because of this, many places in the U.S. have inherited cities populated with metal boxes instead of trees, grass, flowers, and most notably, people. Because of this, many places in the U.S. have inherited cities that are noisy, smelly and stressful. Because of this, many places in the U.S. have inherited cities in which their children must stay inside, cannot go anywhere on their own, where children and parents alike feel afraid to enter public space, and where, once you step out your front door, you must be on guard to protect yourself.
As singer Derek Webb writes, "Oppression is always oppression, no matter the reasons or means."
So, let's do something about it. Let's work to get our public space and our freedom of movement back. Let's work to see cities in which a person can relax, meander, or just sit, without feeling in constant danger. Let's work to see cities where you don't have to drive to the park to feel safe, but you can stroll leisurely, or ride a bike. Let's work to see cities in which traffic is calm and people aren't maimed and killed from collisions. We can have freedom of movement in our cities, and let me tell you, it feels good. We're moving that direction, let's encourage our cities to continue, and show them how much the citizens of their cities would like to feel welcome and comfortable in their own city. We have examples to follow, and some of our own cities have retained or are rebuilding their public spaces to be really available to people - Portland being one of them. We can certainly do better, but we're getting there.
12 comments:
Thank you!!! I wholeheartedly agree.
Nice piece. Did you know that four Federal Courts of Appeals (including the 10th, which covers Oregon) have held that driving is not a major life activity for purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act? And that no circuit has held the contrary? And that the court to most recently reach this conclusion -- the 7th circuit (Chicago) -- held that one of the reasons driving isn't a major life activity is that it, unlike walking, isn't a *right*? I don't know where they'd come down on biking but walking clearly is a fundamental freedom, and driving is not. Yet we worship the "freedom" to drive and give walking secondary consideration at best.
Thanks for posting this. I live in a very, very bike-unfriendly city, Kansas City, and my commute often puts me in dangerous situations due to drivers' choices. I keep doing it so they know I'm here, and I'm not going away (and neither is my bike!). This post is a huge motivator to keep going.
@livelittle: good to hear!
@Eileen: Though you're told in driver's education that driving is a privilege, not a right - that's pretty much the last time in your life you hear anything resembling that idea. From there on out, it's almost as if walking or riding a bike are a privilege, that we're allowed on the same roads as automobiles on a probationary basis, and it would be almost unheard of for any road to disallow automobile traffic (but plenty of them disallow bicycles and pedestrians).
@bikefancier: keep it up! the best advertisement for using a bicycle is a bicyclist enjoying their ride. people will catch on, slowly but surely. winter riding isn't too bad - I find that I can wear basically the same stuff on a bike as I would if I were walking (sometimes even a little less, as I get a bit warm from riding). Wool is brilliant, as it stays warm even when wet, and is somewhat water-resistant. There are options for snow too if you feel like trying it - I've heard good stories about studded tires and such. Of course, sometimes it becomes easier to just hoof it or take a bus, and that's ok too. We're not out trying to prove our super cycling skills, just that a bicycle is a legitimate means of transportation. Best of luck!
I currently live in the Oil City USA Houston, TX...moved here a year ago from Chicago...and in a hurry to move out...Yesterday my 5 yoa son and I were walking on the sidewalk from the park home. We were crossing a bank parking lot entrance when all of a sudden a LOUD Long HONK and the car did not slow down...scared my son to bits! I have never heard him scream that loud before...and comforting him took awhile. We will be in Portland in a month can't wait! Keep up the good work! Love the "Oppression" comment.
@Jane: hope you have a great time in Portland, it's a good city.
I think when you spend most of your time out in public inside of a car, you don't realize how loud and intimidating they are - a few weeks back, we were driving down the freeway to visit my wife's parents, and after about 40 minutes on the freeway with my window down, I realized my ear was actually ringing and starting to temporarily lose hearing (like it would at a loud concert) from the noise of cars passing. Granted the noise is less on city streets, as the cars aren't moving as fast, but still, just the noise can be oppressive, not to mention the 2 tons of steel bearing down on you. You forget what it feels like as a pedestrian to have that happen to you, if you only go anywhere by car.
Cars aren't going to leave our cities, but we need to make sure in our policies and behaviors that we respect a person's ability to move around in their city without being in fear of their life. That means putting what we would now consider very strict limits on what automobile drivers can do and where they can go, rather than what we do now, which is largely allow them to go wherever they want and drive however they wish.
We should all be able to choose how we get around the city, and we have to make sure that, as much as possible, that happens in a calm, respectful way. Different modes of travel *can* co-exist peacefully, and we can have public spaces that people love to be in, it just takes some regulation, some interaction, and some understanding.
Great post!
@zweiradler: thanks once again :)
You have to try to fly before you will find out you are in a cage. I am starting to think that what we need is a freedom movement more that a slow bicycle one.
Yeah, I don't think it really has much specifically to do with bicycles - I think it has more to do with the simple question of how do we make it possible for all residents of our city to be able to get where they need to go on a daily basis with the means they have.
That means, if they can't afford a bus ticket, they should be able to walk where they want to go. If they can't afford a car, they should be able to take transit, bike or walk. We should also make it possible to get places by car, however, we have to design the whole system in such a way that people getting places by car doesn't remove the ability of others to get places by other means.
It's clear that systems that work like this do exist, they can be made.
Part of it is, we need to un-learn that a car is a part of the American Dream (which really amounts to either nothing, or everything you wanted with a lot of bad credit), and that every American can and should hope to own two, and a big house to boot. A car is also simply a tool to get from one place to another, which is well suited for trips which buses, bicycles and legs are not well suited for.
I think of cities as ecosystems, and the automobile transport system is like a deadly stampede: a sea of sharks, a river of crocodiles.
Mobility freedom should be measured by the youth's ability to move in the city.
Yes, the 'American Dream' myth is quite contagious. I'm aghast after a failed relationship with an immigrant who is musing over the American Dream.
My family lived the American Dream and their automobile-oriented lifestyle ended in miscommunication, divorce, and debt. I have no idea of their true identity and I refuse to travel by car to meet them.
I want no friendship with a motorist. Non-motorists are sane and healthy, and health is wealth.
I don't think it's so much whether a person drives or not - I think the more important thing is their mindset. I do drive for instance, however, I usually don't drive to anything that is under 3-4 miles distance, or if I'm going somewhere where I need to carry large objects. That means that about 95% of my trips are by bike or walking. I also consciously think about the danger I pose to others while driving, and I therefore try to drive carefully and respectfully, and I try to plan, whenever I'm going somewhere (and by whatever means), that I don't need to be in a hurry, so I won't feel the need to get aggressive.
I don't think cars themselves are necessarily evil, I think they have very useful purposes. I think simply our overuse and overdependence on them - and the resulting imbalance in law and city development - is the bad part. We just need to get back to heavily limiting where and how people can drive, so that people can feel safe and comfortable in their cities again, when they are outside of their cars.
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