Upon realizing that life was sometimes too stressful, and even just too short, to be spending an hour a day commuting to work I began to think more about the effect that sitting in traffic, alone, in a car has on one's life.
In a city that almost promotes a suburban life, or in order to live in a bigger house for less money (does this really save you money in the long run?), we sacrifice that hour in the car alone for what seems to be a better life. With no significant options to alter your commuting habits people believe that driving in a car alone is the only way-buses do not market to the middle to upper-class citizens, many cities think light rail is too expensive and not feasible, and the "any real traffic problem can be fixed by widening the road" mentality-these are all contributing factors.
What people need most is interaction; interaction with other people, places, and things. What we don't need, and what is, in my opinion, affecting many Americans lives, the main contributing factor to our unhappy, monotonous, unfulfilled lives, is the repetitive interaction with the SAME things-car, house, family. Citizens that live close enough to walk to the places that they live, work, and play have interactions that are not everyday/monotonous/unfulfilling. There are other ways of living, and living near the places that you frequent is important to peace of mind.
You just have to frequent places other than your couch.
Get out on the streets, create places that are walkable, bring the scale back down the the human level, and stop depending on a car that guzzles gas, money, and lives.
