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DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE OF A CAR-OWNING CULTURE. - Coggle Diagram
DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE OF A CAR-OWNING CULTURE.
1920s - car ownership rose hugely.
1920: 9 million owned cars
1929: 26 million owned cars
Cars were an easier, faster way to travel. They provided access to more work and leisure opportunities.
Post was economic boom of 1950s - Eisenhower insterstate highway system contributed to increase in car ownership.
IMPACT OF THE CAR-OWNING CULTURE
Industry:
Car factories expanded and employed more workers.
Industries producing raw materials for cars increased production.
This increased demand for workers in these industries, which increased wages.
Mass production led to cars being cheap, which increased demand as more people could afford them.
Mobility:
People could travel further.
Led to more motels. By 1958, there were 56,000 motels.
Travelling further was possible before cars, as you could go by train.
Cars helped people travel faster, and more cheaply.
Entertainment:
Growing number of drive-in restaurants.
Drive-in movie theatres.
Drive-ins were more convenient for families.
Drive-in cinemas popular amongst young people.
1954, there were 3,800 drive-ins.
1960-80: Cinema attendance halved!
Tourism:
Cars hugely helped develop the tourist industry.
People could travel to major cities.
They could visit big attractions such as Disneyland.
This led to growths of hotels and motels.
Cars also had an impact on shopping, and associated supplies.
1960-80, 30,000 shopping malls built.
Problems/limitations
Life without a car became increasingly difficult - so the poorest people who couldn't afford a car suffered.
Non-car transport shrunk.
It had damaged the inner cities by leading to white flight / urban degeneration.
Ghetto residents who couldn’t afford a car found it harder to obtain employment , especially as public transport facilities had declined because of the popularity of cars.
Alternatives to cars were expensive e.g. rail travel. So was not an option for the poor.
Poor used buses - but they were usually overcrowded e.g. Greyhound Buses.
Increased the divide between the poorest Americans (many of them non-white) and the rest.
By the 1970s, cities had too many cars:
Driving was slow (traffic).
Pollution was rising, and so were protests against pollution.
Fuel crises led to rising fuel prices, meant that some people could no longer afford their cars and had to sue public transport.
Car accidents - Over 1000 people killed in car accidents in NYC in 1927 alone.