This is why transit advocates need to engage with cars as so much more than a mode of personal transportation. In many cases it's tantamount to asking someone to give up their personal private recording studio when you suggest they take transit instead of driving.
I once suggested that the old black men in my life think of their cars as an extension of their underground economy hustle and we need to think more comprehensively about how people see their cars. And I had to block 500 people on Twitter.
Oof. Of course.
The sociology of car ownership is real and very important. Those of us who lean #bancars often struggle to remember this.
Maybe it exists, but a comprehensive sociological study of the uses and meanings of cars in the US, written for a general audience with an agenda of facilitating deeper understanding would be real good. Not car culture, but car society/economy.
I've read some good stuff on it from Latin America, but less in the US. IIRC, there are a couple of chapters in here that go into it in the US context though: www.routledge.com/Incomplete-S...
Thanks!
☝️I'm including myself in that first person plural up there
Oh yeah, a long time ago we did a project for Yahoo! Autos. (I looked in my heart and said "since car ownership is necessary in 90% of the US, providing trustworthy information about purchasing doesn't violate my prime directive") …
the beginning of my strategy recommendations went something like "the audience for the website comprises adult US residents who believe that personal car ownership is necessary and worthwhile…" and one of the client team members raised their hand and said "…wait…does this mean you don't?"