Burg Life

With an unemployment rate of 5.1%, the Harrisburg area appears to be holding its own in the current economic tsunami.  It’s safe to say that a willing body can find some way to earn a little money around here.  Of course, the unstated truth in employment numbers is that not all jobs are good jobs, and sometimes money’s not even the deciding factor in what makes a job “good.”

Consider, for a second, the situation of Kenynn Pattillo.

Kenynn Pattillo had pieces of his future in his hands, but he didn’t hold on tightly enough.

Pattillo had wheels, a 1993 Plymouth Voyager with a sagging front door he tied shut with a shoelace. He had his own apartment with a view of the Harrisburg rooftops. Above all, the 22-year-old had a steady job.

Then, one night, the minivan broke down on Paxton Street. He was flagging passing vehicles for help when the police car pulled up. The pieces were about to shatter.

Pattillo did not go home that night in the Voyager; he went downtown in the back of the police car. Pattillo did not wake up the next morning in his apartment and go to his job; he woke up in a jail cell and went nowhere for the next three weeks. He could not post bail on a handful of old charges, including driving without a valid inspection or insurance.

When Pattillo got out, his minivan was gone – and so was his job. 

Here’s a guy who was try to make it work with what he had, hardly perfect, but one thing is consistently dogging him: transportation.  In Harrisburg, as in most of the nation, owning a car is mandatory for all but the determined and the destitute.

Nearly a quarter of the residents of Harrisburg are trying to scrape by on an income below the poverty line.  That a level of income that makes keep a roof over your head and food on the table a challenge.  Little is left for big ticket items like a car.

For decades now, we’ve developed our communities and our economy in a way that makes both car ownership and auto industry bailout necessary for survival.  Our culture has glamorized the automobile and become dependent on it, without an answer for those who choose not to own a car or can’t affort one.

The time has come for us to acknowledge the land use – transportation – poverty link.  They way we build impacts the way in which we get around.  By spreading out, we have built our communities in a way the requires driving to live conveniently.  Those without are left out and locked out of employment opportunities in dispersed locations.

We originally looked at a house in the suburbs as the American dream, and a car in the driveway as the ultimate symbol of freedom and mobility.  But all decisions have unintended consequences, and our decision to hitch our fate to the automobile has had plenty — from global warming to drunk driving.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  In 2009, the federal “highway bill” will be up for renewal, and people from all perspectives are coming together to ensure that this year Congress passes a “transportation bill” instead.  This coalition is convening under the banner of T4America, and we’ve got a bold agenda shape the future of our movement.  Be sure to check them out, and join in the chorus if you too feel that our transportation system is broken.