Cars play an integral part of our society in America and they have since the rise of the suburbs. They made it easier to travel longer distances (Beauregard, 2008). As of May of 2022 approximately 76% of Americans use their own cars as a primary source of transportation (Richter, 2022).  Due to the American reliance on private vehicles cities have geared themselves towards accommodating and centering themselves around vehicles (Kamga and Yazici, 2014). While cars have long provided many with a sense of freedom and comfort, they have also become detrimental to the function, flow, and structure of our communities within the city. Car Centric cities affect our way of life in three major areas: Economic, Environmental and Health, and Social. The goal of this proposal is to address what impacts we would see in these three areas if we replaced cars as our primary form of transportation in the city and instead made cities more people centric.

Why does it matter that our primary source of transportation are private vehicles? Why does it matter that most of our cities in America are centered around them? It matters for a variety of reasons. To start, health effects. The emissions given off due to cars can be pretty nasty. It can lead to issues such as impaired lung function and cardiovascular mortality (Schulte, 2014). Not only that, but the high levels of NO2, CO2, and particulate matter generated from car exhaust can cause respiratory issues like asthma (World Health Organization, 2021). While cardiovascular and respiratory issues are alarming they are far from the only negative consequences of excessive vehicle use. Environmental concerns can also be linked to car centric cities. Car centric cities tend to use mass amounts of land for parking structures and roads. In Grand Rapids alone about 28% of all space is taken up by parking spaces or structures (McVicar, 2023). This means that for every 10ft of land available in Grand Rapids about 3 feet of that land would be dedicated to vehicles just so they can sit empty being stored. This can pose a variety of issues. Asphalt and pavement contribute to the city heat effect, where cities are often anywhere between 5 and 15 degrees hotter than rural areas. This is because these surfaces absorb and retain heat. Additionally, asphalt and pavement create impervious surfaces which leads to increased risks of flooding and larger amounts of runoff water from storms. Runoff water can carry toxic chemicals into our water sources which can then negatively affect our aquatic life and the surrounding communities (Davis and Pijanowski, 2009). Lastly, the economic and social effects are car reliant cities is quite significant as well. Cars have an extensive economic cost to an individual. The cost of insurance, vehicle maintenance (oil changes, repairs, fluids,etc), gas, taxes (yearly tag renewals, drivers license, etc), and if applicable, car payments. According to an article by the New York Times in 2023, the average cost of owning a car was roughly 12K yearly, or a bit over 1K monthly (Carrns, 2023). To put that in perspective the average American makes about 56-57K (Mulhere, 2018). Twelve thousand dollars out of fifty seven thousand would mean that people spend about 20% or a fifth of their yearly income on their vehicles. Socially, parking ramps and streets tend to block parts of the city from being easily accessible to the people trying to walk, run, or pass through the area. This creates disruptions among those that are actively trying to be a part of the city and causes fracturing between communities.

To get accurate results for this research there would be multiple methods being used to collect and analyze data. To start there would be a need to narrow down the research to a targeted area. In this case Grand Rapids, Michigan. Existing data from this area would need to be collected for the last 10 years. The data needed would be quantitative and qualitative since this subject can be measured with both numbers as well as peoples experiences. Data would be gathered from existing sources on air quality levels, transportation trends, space allocated to parking, average city temperature, and runoff levels for the last decade. Once data is obtained from previous years current data would be obtained from today's levels. On top of the statistical data, interview or survey data will be collected from current residents on how they felt about transportation (both public and private) in the city 3 years ago versus today (the city has added additional bike lanes and public transit options in the last 3 years). This same survey would then be done 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years later once the city has implemented some of the changes to increase public interconnectivity and decrease the presence of cars. These would be done to gauge how effective the changes were on a social level. Additionally, new reports would be pulled to show the updated data for the runoff levels, air quality, transportation trends, and average city temperature after the changes have been in place for two years to see if the changes actually created meaningful change. 

Grand Rapids is a good opportunity to study due to its manageable population size and its growing economy. The Methodology outlined is appropriate for the research because it includes both qualitative and quantitative results. This topic is a complex one which deals with both social and economic factors and the methods outlined in the methodology with gather both human experiences and feelings as well as statistical data that can be used to compare how the changes effected the individual/population and how they effected the environment. Utilizing multiple surveys ensures the people get to voice their feelings about the effectiveness of the changes and will help monitor trends since the surverys are done each year. Utilizing past data regarding air quality levels, transportation trends, space allocated to parking, average city temperature, and runoff levels and comparing it to current data and then monitoring those same factors for the next 5 years will also ensure that meaningful impacts can be watched for and monitored to determine if the changes made in the city were significant.