Originally Posted by
doc0c
The article is interesting, but the above quote is a little off, I believe. The highway system in America was designed because the dept of defense needed a good way to move troops around the country in the event of an invasion. The suburbs sprang up as a side-effect of the highway system because people did not want to live in urban centers anymore. It became easier for them to commute by car using the interstates.
Los Angeles, for example, was planned specifically to encourage automobile ownership and reduce the efficacy of public transportation. This model was partially adopted by plenty of other cities--especially where land was undeveloped and cheap.