02 July 2008

I Surrender to the Smart Car Hype

I give up. Farhad Manjoo in today's Salon enthusiastically exclaims, "the Smart is perhaps the first modern, street-legal car small enough to completely upend your relationship with the city." It's not the first (it's not even new), it's one of many to the rest of the world (Londoners have been driving cute little urban teacups-on-wheels for over 40 years). But I can't keep ranting about small cars in big cities and the US repeatedly missing the boat. I predict that in 2011, Manhattan will discover scooters.

1 comment:

JustJoeP said...

Honda scooter sales in the US are going through the roof.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080602/NEWS01/303576167

Washington DC, SF, Atlanta, San Diego, have all seen large increases in scooter riders in the last 2 years as gas prices begin to reach European levels. What used to be the designated "lost your license due to DUI moped" is becoming the practical way to commute to work, even for big car loving Umerikuns.