From 2025, and a great read. Excerpt that really stands out to me:

One theory is that growing up in a world dominated by vehicles puts them in a collective blind spot. In other words, car culture changes your brain. “It’s so endemic, it’s so pervasive, it’s so ubiquitous that people don’t recognize just how much it is all around them,” said Ian Walker, an environmental psychologist at Swansea University in the United Kingdom. “And if it’s all around you, it’s shaping your perceptions.”

Walker coined the word “motonormativity” to describe this bias, which causes people to apply laxer moral standards to driving than to other activities.

I walk for errands a lot and I’ve found myself planning routes down quiet low traffic streets just like I take into account hills and shade to stay comfortable. The constant engine sound and exhaust clouds really make things unpleasant even on an otherwise picturesque street. When I’m forced to walk down a busy street I’m naturally drawn to daydreaming about my city keeping its cars on the perimeter (to be used for long distance car trips, hiking/camping) with a little monorail for getting to the garages.

I have family I occasionally visit in the Phoenix area. It’s a sobering experience that has made me appreciate more what it must mean to be handicapped. That you must rely on wheels to get anywhere because your own 2 legs are useless appendages. The nearest corner store is a gas station a mile away. I’m not exaggerating.

They’ve built a light rail now. Even made it free to attract user-ship, but it’s an uphill battle. It’s also a test market for driverless cars. I rode one last time I was there and it was an experience for sure! Apparently, they are proving popular with young women tired of getting hit on by the uber driver.

But man, I just can’t see myself ever wanting to live in a place like that. It’s a cautionary tale of where car culture can go if you let it dictate everything.