The Carhead Page
Do you suffer from Car-Head? Or do you think you might, but are not sure what it means?
Our friends at Cascadia's Sightline Institute define it thus:
... Unintentionally and even unknowingly, we see the world as if through a windshield. We evaluate our surroundings as if from the driver’s seat (obstacles to speed? places to park?). We consider "automobile" almost a synonym for "transportation." And we consider such thinking utterly normal. This Car-head mindset, this set of auto-oriented assumptions and perspectives, is so deeply enmeshed with our life experience that we are little aware of it. It's so universal that we certainly shouldn't be blamed for holding it. But it's there and it's powerful and it has consequences in our actions and, more important, in our communities' decisions ...
(Read Alan Durning's excellent, full post explaining car-head here >)
The purpose of this page is to help us learn about how we got here, to recognize how car-head continues to shape our transportation framework, and to find ways of talking about it so that we and our fellow citizens can work to replace this mindset with a more sustainable, convivial and respectful perspective.
Car Sharing
As a carless resident of the Twin Cities I find that my need to use a car is rare. Sometimes life and work create situations where you just need one for a few hours or even a day. I woke up and today was one of those days. I walked over this morning and got into a hybrid prius Hour Car. Read more >
MnDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator position includes car parking facilities management
Thanks to Congressperson James Oberstar Federal transportation law requires all 50 state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to employ Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinators which are intended to advocate the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists in state transportation projects. I'm wondering why a recent job announcement for this position from MnDOT includes management of the I-394 ABC auto parking garages in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator's job description. Read more >
More Parking = More Driving
In New York City leading transportation, planning and environmental groups issued a study which concludes that the kind of off-street parking required at new residential buildings by the New York Department of City Planning leads to more driving, contrary to the City's plans to reduce congestion. Read more >
Through Minneapolis (a poem)
Through Minneapolis you travel
On a freeway
Not to, but rather
Through Minneapolis you travel Read more >
St Paul Police to Ticket Drivers who Fail to Yield on Snelling
It's been on the books for 9 years, but St. Paul police say motorists continue to refuse to give pedestrians the right of way at roadway intersections. St. Paul City Councilman Russ Stark says the result has been 454 accidents in the past 2 years.
"Most people believe cars have the right of way. Pedestrians have the right of way when they're crossing at intersections," St. Paul Police Commander Gregory Pye said. He went on to explain that pedestrians have the right of way at intersections with or without crosswalks. Read more >
NOW on PBS: Driven to Despair
With gas prices spiking and home values crumbling, the American working class dream of a cheap commute to work from ever-appreciating houses on the fringes of suburbia has become more like an American nightmare. NOW on PBS, with Blueprint America, examines this crisis through the example of southern California. Read more >
Park(ing) Day Minneapolis 2008 (the movie)
A brief movie shot and produced by John Akre documenting National Park(ing) Day 2008 in Minneapolis, MN.
Park(ing) Day + Happy Hour This Friday! Stop by and say hello!
James Howard Kunstler: The tragedy of suburbia
(Please click on a comment to go to the full post to which it refers)