Reading the Wednesday edition of the Mississauga News brought forth a really smart letter to the editor submitted by a reader after a recent article on the Mississauga transit system:
I moved to Mississauga with my family in the 1960s and have seen firsthand the transformation of small farming towns into one large, sprawling metropolis.
For my parents, the move to Mississauga was the culmination of the (North) American dream – a new house in the suburbs with the white picket fence, the 2.5 kids, two cars and happy motoring for everyone.
Some 40 or so years later, suburbia is taking on a vastly different tone. With petroleum hovering at almost $130 a barrel, gasoline at $1.25 a litre and the price of just about everything except wages skyrocketing, one can’t help but question the viability of our lifestyle.
The suburbs and their interconnecting freeways are the brainchild of the automobile industry, and its very existence is based not only on the proliferation of the car, but also on cheap and abundant quantities of petroleum.
Despite the fact that we suburbanites spend hours a day in an automobile, it never dawns on most people how much we have become slaves to our vehicles and how utterly dependent we are on them to support our standard of living. It is also beyond the comprehension of most that our living arrangements are also entirely unsustainable.
We survive solely through the profligate use of oil, and the very foundation of modern society is built on the premise of a forever cheap and plentiful supply of the stuff. Now that oil production has reached a peak (or close to it) and demand is starting to overtake supply, the cracks are starting to appear in the foundation of our society and the system is beginning to show serious strain.
Unlike most of Europe, our cities in North America are built around the car. Our public transportation is less than adequate, and there are many areas of our city that can be described as outright “pedestrian unfriendly” with nary a sidewalk or bike path to be seen, but certainly no shortage of parking lots, roads and big box stores. It’s this short-sightedness of city planners that must be addressed; our city reflects our addiction to our cars. This is not only detrimental to the environment, it’s a downright unhealthy way to live. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease aren’t on the rise because people exercise too much.
While an enormous increase in our public transportation infrastructure is a step in the right direction, it’s not the only thing that needs to be done to avert a looming catastrophe. What we need is a massive change in lifestyle and our way of thinking. We simply cannot continue at this rate of consumption.
The news headlines are there for all to see: Rising petroleum prices. Skyrocketing food prices. Massive food shortages worldwide. The demise of the automobile and the airline industries. These are all results of a slowly-dwindling fuel supply, and the situation is bound to get worse — much worse.
What can be done? We need to work closer to home, grow our food closer to home and find a better living arrangement than tearing up vast tracts of valuable farmland and replacing them with pavement, houses and strip malls. The question is, do we as a society have what it takes to bring about serious changes?
- Nick Lagrasta
'Nuff said.
I moved to Mississauga with my family in the 1960s and have seen firsthand the transformation of small farming towns into one large, sprawling metropolis.
For my parents, the move to Mississauga was the culmination of the (North) American dream – a new house in the suburbs with the white picket fence, the 2.5 kids, two cars and happy motoring for everyone.
Some 40 or so years later, suburbia is taking on a vastly different tone. With petroleum hovering at almost $130 a barrel, gasoline at $1.25 a litre and the price of just about everything except wages skyrocketing, one can’t help but question the viability of our lifestyle.
The suburbs and their interconnecting freeways are the brainchild of the automobile industry, and its very existence is based not only on the proliferation of the car, but also on cheap and abundant quantities of petroleum.
Despite the fact that we suburbanites spend hours a day in an automobile, it never dawns on most people how much we have become slaves to our vehicles and how utterly dependent we are on them to support our standard of living. It is also beyond the comprehension of most that our living arrangements are also entirely unsustainable.
We survive solely through the profligate use of oil, and the very foundation of modern society is built on the premise of a forever cheap and plentiful supply of the stuff. Now that oil production has reached a peak (or close to it) and demand is starting to overtake supply, the cracks are starting to appear in the foundation of our society and the system is beginning to show serious strain.
Unlike most of Europe, our cities in North America are built around the car. Our public transportation is less than adequate, and there are many areas of our city that can be described as outright “pedestrian unfriendly” with nary a sidewalk or bike path to be seen, but certainly no shortage of parking lots, roads and big box stores. It’s this short-sightedness of city planners that must be addressed; our city reflects our addiction to our cars. This is not only detrimental to the environment, it’s a downright unhealthy way to live. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease aren’t on the rise because people exercise too much.
While an enormous increase in our public transportation infrastructure is a step in the right direction, it’s not the only thing that needs to be done to avert a looming catastrophe. What we need is a massive change in lifestyle and our way of thinking. We simply cannot continue at this rate of consumption.
The news headlines are there for all to see: Rising petroleum prices. Skyrocketing food prices. Massive food shortages worldwide. The demise of the automobile and the airline industries. These are all results of a slowly-dwindling fuel supply, and the situation is bound to get worse — much worse.
What can be done? We need to work closer to home, grow our food closer to home and find a better living arrangement than tearing up vast tracts of valuable farmland and replacing them with pavement, houses and strip malls. The question is, do we as a society have what it takes to bring about serious changes?
- Nick Lagrasta
'Nuff said.
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