Customer Reviews

Divorce Your Car! : Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile

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I've come to realize that driving my car is not only killing the planet, it's killing me. Each time I return from a car trip to town it takes a few hours to clear the stress-induced traffic jam in my nervous system caused by more and more cars and congestion, faster driving speeds and hurriedness, and the increasing impatience and aggressiveness of drivers. The worse it gets, the more I want out. This is the best book I've seen on the why and how of getting out of our cars and onto our bikes, feet, and public transport. It's not preachy or fanatical, and presents the reader with a number of options ranging from keeping your car but using it less (a car-lite lifestyle), to going entirely car free. I'm now finding that this book's core message of driving less and enjoying life more really can work.

We live in "a drive-in, drive-up, drive-thru, and drive-by society" (p. 57), and the urban sprawl of a city in which I live, Phoenix, is no exception. There is no escaping the problem of the automobile, even in our country's national parks. For instance, there are 7000 parking spaces in Yosemite (700 per mile), and 12,000 parking spaces in Yellowstone (p. 41). In many ways, America's addiction to cars is easily comparable to cigarette addiction.

The premise of Alvord's well-reasoned and well-researched book is that "we are addicted to our cars, and the relationship is fundamentally unhealthy for ourselves, our environment, and ultimately (and ironically) our economy" (p. xiii). In the Introduction to her compelling book, she writes, "divorce from a car is not only possible, it can bring unexpected delights and great rewards. On a collective level, divorcing cars can bring us clean air, clearer water, less noise, and friendlier communities. It can foster better transportation options, more compact cities, and correspondingly more farmland, wildlife habitat, and parks. On a personal level, it can be incredibly liberating, bringing less stress, more money, better health and fitness, reduced risk of accidental death, and a simpler lifestyle" (p. 5).

The first five chapters of Alvord's book examine our seduction by the automobile, revealing "our union with the car is in part a forced marriage and not simply a free-market choice" (p. 7). The next five chapters consider "some of the symptoms of love sickness caused by our automotive marriage" (p. 63), air pollution, climate change, oil spills, water pollution, costly repairs, noise, obesity, road rage, social isolation, real expenses, and fatal car crashes. In the last seven chapters of her book, Alvord offers up real alternatives to the automobile, walking, bicycling, shared transportation, and telecommuting, for instance, before she addresses "the big quality-of-life advantages of driving less or even living without a car" (p. 125).

G. Merritt

I checked DIVORCE YOUR CAR out of our local library, because the title made me wonder how such a thing could be possible. I read the whole thing, and I was astounded at how simple it really is to use your car less.

The first two parts of the book cover the history of the car and the American "marriage" to it, as well as the reasons that same marriage has turned into a disaster. The third part then offers practical solutions for non-car travel, going into great detail about walking, biking, mass-transit, ride-sharing, etc, and providing plenty of information on the benefits, drawbacks and availability of each, as well as how to get in contact with alternative travel associations in your area, or how to start your own.

It's a slim volume, but the quality is evident. This book really woke me up to something MAJOR I could do to improve my own quality of life and the planet's. My fiance and I currently own one car between us, and though we've been doing alright with it, we'd been planning to buy another! After reading DIVORCE YOUR CAR, we're realizing we really don't need to have more than one, and we're now planning ways to use our bikes and mass transit more, and actively discouraging each other from taking trips we don't need to take by car. It's already making a big difference, and someday we hope to go entirely car-free, with this book (which I've since purchased from Amazon) and our creativity as guides.

Thank you, Katie Alvord, for such an excellent wake-up call!

Alvord makes a very convincing argument for divorcing your car. So convincing, in fact, that my husband and I will likely divorce our one and only car in the coming months.

Divorce Your Car explains the obvious--how divorcing your car will save money and help protect the environment. More intriguing, though, is the explanation of how divorcing your car will actually save you time.

How can divorcing your car save time, you wonder? Alvord factors in not just how long it takes to get somewhere (by car versus by other modes of transit), but also how much time you have to spend working to pay for all the costs associated with a car. When all is said and done, the car doesn't move any faster than a bike.

While Alvord does mention that walking and biking instead of driving have health benefits, her calculations of time don't include another big factor working against the car--making time for exercise. Many people complain that they don't have "time" for exercise. I used to complain about this too. But now that I bike virtually every day, making time for exercise is a non-issue. It may take me 20 minutes to bike somewhere I could get to by car in 10 minutes, and ditto for the return trip. But if I had to find another 40 minutes each day to exercise (plus time to drive to and from the gym!)...geez, no wonder I didn't used to have time to exercise.

By ditching the car, you can save enough money to work less (Alvord has some inspiring examples) and easily work exercise into your daily routine. As an added perk, you even get to help save the planet. What's not to like!

I'm moving out of state next year and won't be taking my car with me. Life will probably be more difficult in some ways but it's worth it. When you read about cars and study about them and think about them, it's really unbelievable the amount of death, destruction, and suffering that they've caused over the last hundred years. I've read a lot of anti-car books and this is one of the better ones. It's very thorough while not being too dry or academic like some of the others. Read this book and you'll learn things that will surprise you, like how much money it really costs a society when it uses cars as its main form of transportation. And don't forget perhaps the greatest tragedy of all. Cars gave rise to one of the lowest forms of life that the human race has ever known - the car salesman!

<u>Divorce Your Car</u>, by Katie Alvord, is thought provoking. In the United States of America, an automobile is many things to many people: transportation, status symbol, hobby, money pit. Alvord takes apart the place of the car in modern society (the focus of the book is on North America, though she does refer to Europe and the Third World in places) and roundly condemns our dependence.

Her book is split into three parts--the first covers the history of the automobile and other forms of transport. She legitimizes what I'd often heard and dismissed as a myth--the car industry bought up the transit systems of cities in the US early in the 20th century and replaced them with buses. The second is a laundry list of the negative effects of the car (which, I must confess, I didn't finish--too depressed after the first thirty pages). The final section covers alternatives, including walking, biking, mass transit, non-gasoline cars, and telecommuting.

I found the book to be quite good in outlining the problem and highlighting solutions. The dependence of modern life on the car is a dependence on convenience. But, to some extent, it's a matter of inertia. Automobiles are so prevalent and easy that many of us never try the alternatives, let alone use them in preference to our car. A strong point is that she realizes that car-free living isn't for anyone, and makes a point that going car-lite can have a positive effect as well. She also touches on the far reaching implications that technology decisions have had on our society, our cities and our lives--from subsidies to the development of advertising. It would have been interesting to read more about that, but what she did say was definitely thought provoking.

However, I do have three quibbles. Alvord cites sources extensively, but her arguments would be more compelling were the sources less biased (as you can tell by titles like <u>Asphalt Nation</u>) and more first hand. She ignores two factors that would affect my divorce. Giving up your car, or at the very least being aware of alternatives, makes drunk driving less likely--a good thing! On the other hand, if you don't have a car, you suddenly have a dearth of available camping and hiking activities. But these concerns aren't everyone's, to be sure.

Overall, a book well worth reading, especially if you commute a lot. Too bad they don't sell it as a book on tape!

In the book, Divorce Your Car!, Katie Alvord talks about how our increased auto-dependence has led many of us to give up alternate modes of transportation. She stresses that a car is like a marriage; once you have one, you feel obligated to use it. Not only are cars useful and convenient (as in we can go almost anywhere within a shorter amount of time), they also provide psychological benefits. Cars are status symbols, and in many ways, they outwardly reflect our wealth and personalities. However, this does not mean that cars should consume our lives. In fact, a car being referred to as a marriage is not necessarily a good thing. In the US, 50% of marriages end in divorce. Marriages can go wrong for several reasons, and this is why Katie Alvord compares a car to marriage.
Driving a car can obviously be very beneficial, but at the same time, it can also be very destructive. The worst part is that cars kill thousands of people each year, many of them children. Secondly, the environment is becoming more polluted, leading to global warming. But besides the physical effects, driving can be emotionally draining as well. As more and more people use cars, traffic and congestion is becoming a huge problem. Driving can be a very frustrating experience, mainly during rush hour and when there are road constructions. If people spend too much time cooped up in a car, their frustration and anger may come out while they are driving. Therefore, these negative effects along with others, are what made Katie Alvord decide to divorce her car.
It is clear throughout the book that Katie Alvord is in favor of divorcing a car. She constantly argues that the negative effects of driving outweigh the positive effects. Divorce Your Car! is thus a guide to help people find alternate ways to get places. These alternate modes of transportation such as walking, biking, and using trains and buses, will then effectively reduce our auto-dependence. It is evident that the author put a lot of time and effort into writing this book. I really enjoyed Divorce Your Car! because I also feel that people unnecessarily use their cars at times. I have to admit that I drive to save time, even if the place I'm going to is only a 10-minute walk. But there are many reasons why I have to drive, one being that places are so far away from each other. I am willing though to change my ways and get some exercise in the process. Katie Alvord does a great job in convincing readers that "divorcing a car can be fun, healthy, money-saving, and helpful to the planet" (Alvord, back cover). I find this book to be incredibly useful and I'm sure that others will feel the same.

The first few chapters of Alvord's book try to show us why we feel the way we do about owning a car. Is it true that we are really `forced?into having a car? Alvord suggests that this romance with cars started with our "desires?for three things: improved mobility, idealism about changes, and the fascination with the new technology. It seems as though we did not look at any of the negative effects that a car may have, including pollution.
These downfalls of our "marriage?to the automobile are the main focus of the next chapter. Air and water pollution, climate change, oil spills, repairs, noise, obesity and car crashed are a few of the things mentioned by Alvord as downfalls to owning a car. Truly shocking is the list on starting on page 65 of seven different things that come out of our tailpipes polluting our air. Not only do the things that come out of our cars pollute our air, but also have you ever thought of the emissions from the factory that makes our cars and the oil refineries that produce components that make our cars run? These are forgotten when you hop into your car for that drive to the store two blocks away.
Alvord explains some realistic alternatives to using a car. The use of shared transportation, using a bike and even walking will definitely help to clean up SOME of the air pollution that there is in the world. These alternatives will also help to alleviate some of the costs on one's household, especially with the elevated gas prices we are seeing now.
Now the question that I have to ask myself is "Can I live without a car?? I guess that it is possible, but I really don't think that it is feasible at this time in my life. I drive to school because I work at home on my family's farm. The drive takes me about an hour, so I think that a bike ride would take too long. Most of my trips in my car are to buy large (and heavy) items, in towns that are 20 ?30 miles away. I also drive to the nearest town to go to the library, post office, and grocery store, which is 10 miles away. I have run to town in the past, but the busy main highway is a little scary, so I don't really do that anymore.
I just don't think I could do it. I will eventually have to put my car to rest, but I think that I will just go out and buy a new one. Oh well!

Why is it that people are so dependent on their cars? Why have all other forms of transportation been neglected? Does this dependency on cars lead to anything damaging and if so, how can that be changed? Alvord attends to these issues in her book and she suggests that the dependency should just be abandoned.

Katie Alvord begins her book with by explaining what divorcing your car means. She compares the relationship people have with cars to marriages and divorcing a car is much like divorcing a spouse. Then, she describes how this marriage or dependency between people and cars was formed, starting from when the car was introduced into society and finishing with the conditions of the present. In the next section of the book, Alvord discusses reasons why we should divorce our cars. That is, why we should consider trying to live a car-lite or even car-free life. In the final section of her book, she goes into detail on how living a car-lite or car-free life is possible. She addresses how individuals, communities, and societies can accomplish the goal of becoming car-free.

The main argument that Alvord makes is that anyone and everyone can go car-free or at least car-lite and they should in order to improve the condition of this world. This can be done by using other modes of transportation such as walking, biking, buses, trains, or car-share programs. She suggests that people gradually move in to a car-free lifestyle by first trying a car-lite lifestyle. This consists of using the car less or as little as possible, maybe for long trips only. Alvord even states that going car-free may not be possible for some so a car-lite lifestyle is the best idea in those situations which might include people living in rural areas. Alvord backs up her car-free argument by providing multiple reasons as to why people should use cars less. They cause overcrowded streets, health problems, indirect and direct pollution, and they are very expensive.

Divorce Your Car is a very good and convincing book. It not only makes and case for abandoning cars but it explains how this can be done. Alvord addresses each issue of her car-free idea in depth. She gives the reader history, evidence, and the how to. Another very impressive aspect of the book is that it is not preachy or condescending. It simply tells you the facts and what your options are. In approaching the argument this way, I think more people will be open to the idea of attempting a car-free or car-lite lifestyle.

In a perfect world, all people would abandon their cars for the pollution- and danger-free existence of walking or riding bicycles and reap some pretty hefty health benefits in the process. Perhaps this will become possible, but not before it is also more easily accomplished. Divorce Your Car! persuades the reader to think along these lines, and is successful in suggesting alternative travel to work, school, et cetera.

Alvord is very passionate about this subject, being a car divorcee herself. She mentions Madison, Wisconsin numerous times in her writing. Apparently she looks favorably upon the possibility of a non-car culture in our fine city She notes the many bike paths, the prosperous State Street pedestrian mall, and still-surviving capitol square area in the heart of downtown. As Alvord points out, there is no such thing as free parking, and this is the current main problem Madison's downtown prosperity faces. These costs are absorbed in retail prices, residential and corporate rent, and wages of employees. If Madison can let go of its automobiles it can free itself of these woes.

The health benefits to cutting out the car are innumerable: reduce weight, blood pressure, stress, cholesterol, depression, increase or maintain bone density, muscle tone, the list goes on and on. Reduction of the automobile in society would also have a great social impact: people would know their neighbors and neighborhoods. The streets would be more populated and would therefore be safer. There simply would not be as much isolation. However, the main problem with cutting out the car is the time factor. Small children can be in daycare no more than 10 hours per day, by law. By the time they are dropped off, the parent gets to work, and works an average eight hour day with an hour for lunch the time constraint really gets tight if a bike is used.

Divorce Your Car! is an easy read, and chock full of interesting facts about the development of the automobile and roadways, auto culture. Did you know that `warming up' your car by letting it idle is a myth? Any longer than ten seconds of idling wastes more gas and pollutes more than shutting off and re-starting! Alvord also included some remarkable injury and death statistics due to the automobile, beginning in the late 19th century. In spite of this, the book is extremely one-sided and the skeptical reader may suspect they are being flooded with propaganda. Alvord would have done well to show some of the other side of the automotive story, if only to validate her extensive knowledge and be more persuasive to the hard-core drivers of the world.

Alvord pointed out some very feasible ways to cut down on car `consumption'. The Circle game is helpful: draw a circle with a two mile radius on a map, with the center being your home. Plot out the places you frequent on the map and pick one or two within the two miles to walk to once a week, once a month, whatever is attainable for you. Soon you ill notice that you are able to leave your car behind more, and ever bike if you want.

The concept of divorcing the car is great, but there are some situations that still warrant its use, and until these are eliminated we will be unable to convince the populous