America and the Los Angeles Syndrome

Many years ago I moved my family to Los Angeles for business opportunities. My children were small and to occupy their minds we would go driving throughout the city for hours. The city is so large and spread-out that we were afforded a new adventure weekly. Freeways criss-cross every which way, and for our amusement we would exit into an area, get totally lost and then find our way out. What was remarkable to me was the feeling that as I exited the freeway, it appeared to be the same as my last exit. I realized that the city housed different cultures in different areas, but in appearance they were all the same at the base of the exit.

In January I drove from California to upper New York, stopping in various locations to see relatives. Leg one of the journey was to Biloxi, Mississippi. I began this trek on Interstate 10 in California, and completed it on the very same interstate two thousand miles later. In between were many stops for rest, fuel, and food. After the visit in Biloxi was the 10-hour journey to Evansville, Indiana, and then to complete the trip, Evansville to Syracuse, New York. Altogether I traversed thirteen states and 3500 miles. Along the way every exit gave me the same impression I had of Los Angeles those many years ago: the all appeared the same!

Interstate highways have given us the means to travel by automobile more quickly, but in the process have taken away much of the diversity once witnessed on these journeys. At every exit are the same corporate fueling stations, the same restaurants...the same everything. Even the people, linked by our amazing e-freeway, talk about exactly the same things.

What is going on here?