GRG 305 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Gerontology Research Group, Automobile Dependency, Australian Academy Of The Humanities
Document Summary
Lecture- urban density: the cbd (central business district) In the mid-20th century, the downtown department store was a magnet for urban life. Streets were given over more and more to the cars and trucks, garages, inhospitable sidewalks and unfriendly building facades. Cities at that time were smoky, dirty, places. Suburbs quickly became the fashionable places for the wealthy to live. Early form of public transit dating from the 1870s. By the 1950s it was in competition with the car bus companies backed by auto-makers bought then dismantled the system. Federally-subsidized highway construction (states ended up paying 10%) Congress created a form of corporate welfare under lobbying from the road gang : oil, car, and tire corporations. Currently, the federal gas tax covers only half of the cost of freeways, while over 1/3 comes from other taxes. These taxes indirectly subsidize the auto and oil industries.
