Big businesses run by people who live far away and don't give a shit is a trend that goes way, way back. The first and second Industrial Revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries were all about transporting goods and machine driven manufacture, resulting in the migration of workers to urban centers and the construction of row housing. Towns like Sudbury and Aspestos were built to service mines. Prior to that there was feudalism and absentee landlords around the world.
With the new prosperity of the 1950's US, people in North America could suddenly afford luxury items like cars and radar ranges. That in turn drove the market for backyards, garages and suburbia. So, it is not centralized factories that are causing people to buy cars, it's the lure of suburbia and 'transportation freedom' that is causing people to buy cars. I work in a big, headless, oversexed farm with dozens of other workers. While some live within easy walking distance of work, many have moved so far away that the _only_ way they can get to work is by car. Why? Because they can. Insanity.
So, even if they work in a small enterprise employing one or two people full time (been there, done that), most people will still live so far away that walking to work would be impractical at best.
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branchandroot
Some corrections
Date: 2009-12-30 03:42 pm (UTC)With the new prosperity of the 1950's US, people in North America could suddenly afford luxury items like cars and radar ranges. That in turn drove the market for backyards, garages and suburbia. So, it is not centralized factories that are causing people to buy cars, it's the lure of suburbia and 'transportation freedom' that is causing people to buy cars. I work in a big, headless, oversexed farm with dozens of other workers. While some live within easy walking distance of work, many have moved so far away that the _only_ way they can get to work is by car. Why? Because they can. Insanity.
So, even if they work in a small enterprise employing one or two people full time (been there, done that), most people will still live so far away that walking to work would be impractical at best.