Social Barriers

Was just reading Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody. Mostly, it has nothing to do with cars, but part of one chapter talked about the barriers to people interacting socially. I liked the quote

...much of the time spent doing errands or ferrying children from hither to yon is spent in a car. In a pedestrian setting, running into someone is a good thing; in a car, not so much.

He went on to point out that the highly enclosed nature of the travel reduces the likelihood of social encounters.

As i've said before, being car-free is good for the ol' social life.