Americans keep asking me what is, in my opinion, the major difference between life here in the United States as opposed to Europe, from where I came. Generally, there are a lot of differences -- major and minor -- but not all of them are so clear and so easily seen as difference in our cities. Most European cities are still desirable places for people to live and enjoy an urban lifestyle. They are not like cities here, where the word "city" in an American context means something very bad, ugly and dangerous. Most American cities today are like visual symbols of this "cutthroat society" in general. I lived in New York for a while myself, and I know what I'm talking about. As a writer working here in the United States on my new book about this society, I feel like a qualified observer of American culture and lifestyle.

Two years ago we moved to the Pacific Northwest from the East coast. The main reason why we chose Eugene was that we heard a lot about the good reputation of this town, and about its being somewhat "different" from the rest of America. Eugene seemed to be quite an attractive place for living. Especially after seeing photos of the downtown pedestrian area, including those two nice Willamette Street blocks that are now doomed to destruction.

So, we came to Eugene and we settled here. Unfortunately, as we can see now, the reality in this town is far less attractive than it looked in those pictures.

One of the worst disappointments for me here was that this community, like everywhere else in the United States, is too dependent on the automobile, even in spite of having one of the better mass transit systems in this country. It must be said that among the reasons for our moving to Eugene, one of the most important was our desire to live without having a car. We were already sick and tired of day-to-day driving just to get around in New Jersey. Now, we have lived here intentionally without an automobile for two years already, and we like it. So, as you can see, I walk my talk. Not like some "environmentally conscious" folks who like to hold forth against the evils of the automobile, but at the same time drive their Volvos to local "health food" stores. Even if it is only few blocks to walk.

In my opinion, the tyranny of the automobile is now completely and irreversibly destroying this country's quality of life. Instead of providing freedom and mobility, the car in the United States has become like a form of enslavement. This, I think, is the single greatest tragedy of Americans today. If somebody asks me what I dislike in America and American society most, I always answer that it is their addiction to the automobile and their indebtedness, their total dependance on bank credit. In fact, these two things are very tightly correlated with each other. People here are forced to spend a big chunk of their incomes for an obligatory form of transport, which is the private automobile. Very few can afford to buy a car without taking some kind of loan. Financing automobile ownership keeps most Americans permanently in debt.

American cities and towns have already lost all feeling of humanness and warmth because facilities for cars, not the environment for people, dominate. The more the space devoted to cars, parking lots and busy traffic streets, the less the livability in a city. Huge parking garages and countless parking lots, gas stations, overpasses and underpasses, dangerous-for human-being streets dehumanize the landscape, creating ugly zones to which anyone with four wheels can have access, but which create no rest, beauty or satisfaction. Just look around. See how ugly and dangerous they are, streets dominated by the automobile. This all proves my point: the American lifestyle, with its total fanatic dependence on motor vehicles, makes this country more and more unlivable.

Eugene, so far, is still among the very few cities in this country where the downtown hasn't completely surrendered to the cars. And those two carless blocks of Willamette Street, in my opinion, created one of the nicest pedestrian malls in America. However, this is going to change. Ignorant citizens of this town have decided to destroy their last little island of beauty and to surrender to the monster automobile. When I see the destruction of Willamette Street in downtown, and especially when I see those beautiful trees cut-down, my heart starts bleeding. And I understand very clearly what kind of mentality prevails in today's America. In all honestly, I am not very optimistic about the people's common sense here.

In Europe we don't have yet such ugly and soulless shopping malls, located on outskirts of cities, with huge parking lots around, like here. People go downtown for shopping, for entertainment, and for social life. So, city centers in Europe are full of life all day long and even at night. People can stroll on a vast network of pedestrian streets, lined with a variety of stores and cafes. What is most important is that many people use public transport instead of driving to get there from the suburbs. The private automobile is still used by many Europeans more for recreation than for day-to-day transportation needs. People haven't yet become a slaves of the automobile like Americans. That, in my opinion, is the most important factor in why the quality of life in Europe is still much better than here in the United States. The use of the automobile is the major difference.

People here must first of all change their car oriented behavior and their mentality in order to have a better life, and to make America a livable place again. The drive-through culture and lifestyle will just make things worse and worse...

Every 450 cars are responsible for one fatality;
Every 100 cars are responsible for one handicapped person;
Every 7 cars are responsible for one injured person;
Every 50 minutes a new car is produced that will kill someone;
Every 50 seconds a new car is produced that will injure someone.

This article was first published in The Runoff, Fall, 1996