Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car Dependence

Food Deserts: Another Way the Deck Is Stacked Against Car-Free Americans

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 5, 2011 | No Comments

Slate has posted this map to illustrate the concentration of “food deserts,” where large numbers of people don’t have access to fresh food. The USDA considers households more than a mile from a supermarket and without access to a car to be in food deserts, often with only convenience-store junk food for nourishment. In 2009, […]

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Driven to the Poorhouse: How Car Title Lenders Prey on Americans

By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez | Nov 10, 2010 | No Comments

The cheerful come-ons seem more cheesy than sleazy — “Looking for a New Way to Borrow?” “Apply Now-Get Cash Today!” “Go From $0 to Cash in Less Than an Hour” — but these are not the friendly offers of local diversified banks. They are the insidious pitches of companies that do one thing very well: […]

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Electric Car Fever and Polar Bear Halos

By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez | Oct 12, 2010 | No Comments

Over the next few months, electric cars will start rolling out of showrooms and onto American roads. They’ve been a long time coming. For years, Chevy has been trumpeting its yet-to-be-released Volt. Journalists test drove a version of it over eighteen months ago; it’s been a perennial feature at auto shows; this summer President Obama […]

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Our Mobile Money Pits: The True Cost of Cars

By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez | Sep 2, 2010 | No Comments

Rowena learned about the true cost of cars the hard way. Raised by her mom, a Filipina immigrant, in a happy if carless home in northern California, Rowena marveled upon graduating from college and getting a steady job that she could afford to lease her very own car. For a small down payment and $199 […]