Contemporary American Life Must Change

James Howard Kunstler evaluates how the sociology of American communities leads to obesity and depression.

1 minute read

September 14, 2003, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Most Americans live in suburban habitats that are isolating, disaggregated, and neurologically punishing, and from which every last human quality unrelated to shopping convenience and personal hygiene has been expunged. We live in places where virtually no activity or service can be accessed without driving a car, and the (usually solo) journey past horrifying vistas of on-ramps and off-ramps offers no chance of a social encounter along the way. Our suburban environments have by definition destroyed the transition between the urban habitat and the rural hinterlands."

Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism

Sunday, September 14, 2003 in Orion Online

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