--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Automobiles are often conveniently tagged…" description: "\"Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. B..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png" --- # Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains… ![“Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the destructive effect of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building.” quote by Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png) > “Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the destructive effect of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building.” [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement argues that cars are a symptom, not the root cause, of urban problems, highlighting planning failures. **In simple terms:** Cars show deeper city planning failures. Key Takeaway Improve city design to reduce car dependence. Themes urban planning transportation responsibility Mood hopeful analytical Type strategic diagnostic When to use this quote - city development - policy making - community design Key Concepts systems thinking environmental impact Questions to Reflect On - How can we redesign cities to limit car reliance? - What policies can address planning incompetence? A Different Perspective It may downplay the environmental impact of cars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Automobile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) [Automobiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobiles/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [City planning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city-planning/) [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) [Futility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futility/) [Incompetence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompetence/) [Planning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planning/) [Villain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/villain/) ## Related quotes > [As in the pseudoscience of bloodletting, just so in the pseudoscience of city rebuilding and planning, years of learning and a plethora of subtle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/as-in-the-pseudoscience-of-bloodletting-just-so-in-the-pseudoscience/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a marvelous order for maintaining the safety of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/under-the-seeming-disorder-of-the-old-city-wherever-the-old-city-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Neighborhood is a word that has come to sound like a Valentine. As a sentimental concept, 'neighborhood' is harmful to city planning. It leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/neighborhood-is-a-word-that-has-come-to-sound-like-a-valentine-as-a/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“A democracy is understandably boisterous and subject to the prevailing social and economic whims of the nation’s bulging populous. Politics based upon mass appeal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-democracy-is-understandably-boisterous-and-subject-to-the/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Architecture is a slow business, and city planning even slower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/architecture-is-a-slow-business-and-city-planning-even-slower/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [The peoples of the old world have their cities built for times gone by, when railroads and gunpowder were unknown. We can have cities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-bushnell/the-peoples-of-the-old-world-have-their-cities-built-for-times-gone/) [Horace Bushnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-bushnell/) > [“The ballpark is the star. In the age of Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth, the era of Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams, through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-ballpark-is-the-star-in-the-age-of-tris-speaker-and-babe-ruth-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the planning and designing of new communities, housing projects, and urban renewal, the planners both private and public, need to give explicit consideration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/urie-bronfenbrenner/in-the-planning-and-designing-of-new-communities-housing-projects-and/) [Urie Bronfenbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/urie-bronfenbrenner/) > [It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-whyte/it-is-difficult-to-design-a-space-that-will-not-attract-people-what/) [William H. Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-whyte/) > [When people condemn me for designing iconic buildings in cities and not having an idea what a city is, they haven't done their homework.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/when-people-condemn-me-for-designing-iconic-buildings-in-cities-and/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [I've often thought that if planners were botanists, zoologists, geologists, and people who know about the earth, we would have much more wisdom in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/i-ve-often-thought-that-if-planners-were-botanists-zoologists/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [The materials of city planning are: sky, space, trees, steel and cement; in that order and that hierarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-corbusier/the-materials-of-city-planning-are-sky-space-trees-steel-and-cement/) [Le Corbusier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-corbusier/) > [City planning finds its validation in the intuitive recognition that a burgeoning market society can not be trusted to produce spontaneously a habitable, sanitary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/city-planning-finds-its-validation-in-the-intuitive-recognition-that/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [The work that launched Snohetta into the architectural big leagues was their Oslo Opera House, which will certainly rank among the firm's highlights whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/the-work-that-launched-snohetta-into-the-architectural-big-leagues/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## More by Jane Jacobs > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [My mother used to say when we were children, 'When a boy gets a stick in his hand, his brains run out the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/my-mother-used-to-say-when-we-were-children-when-a-boy-gets-a-stick/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Design is people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/design-is-people/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them… for really new ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-need-old-buildings-so-badly-it-is-probably-impossible-for/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. This is what was so bad about Modernism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-that-you-could-discard-the-old-world-and-now-make-a-new/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-are-an-immense-laboratory-of-trial-and-error-failure-and/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Development isn't a collection of things but rather a process that yields things. Not knowing this, governments, their development and aid agencies, the World…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/development-isn-t-a-collection-of-things-but-rather-a-process-that/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Most sentimental ideas imply, at bottom, a deep if unacknowledged disrespect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/most-sentimental-ideas-imply-at-bottom-a-deep-if-unacknowledged/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Beneficent spirals, operating by benign feedback, mean that everything needful is not required at once: each individual improvement is beneficial for the whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/beneficent-spirals-operating-by-benign-feedback-mean-that-everything/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“I tis hopeless to try to convert some borders into seams. Expressways and their ramps are examples. Moreover, even in the case of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/i-tis-hopeless-to-try-to-convert-some-borders-into-seams-expressways/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Probably the most important element in intricacy is centering. Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/probably-the-most-important-element-in-intricacy-is-centering-good/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Throughout the world Dark Ages have scrawled finis to successions of cultures receding far into the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/throughout-the-world-dark-ages-have-scrawled-finis-to-successions-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Privacy is precious in cities. It is indispensable. Perhaps it is precious and indispensable everywhere, but in most places you cannot get it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/privacy-is-precious-in-cities-it-is-indispensable-perhaps-it-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Never underestimate the power of a city to regenerate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/never-underestimate-the-power-of-a-city-to-regenerate/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) [Explore all 193 Jane Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More Automobile quotes > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-that-he-cannot-be-and-is-a/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There comes a day of public ceremonial, and a chance to make a speech… A million voters with IQs below 60 have their ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-comes-a-day-of-public-ceremonial-and-a-chance-to-make-a-speech/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The power of branding, particularly when it comes to automobiles, is overwhelming. You go back to the seventies and eighties with the General Motor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-power-of-branding-particularly-when-it-comes-to-automobiles-is/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Democrats are going to proudly run on the fact that we turned the economy around. It was our policies under President Obama's leadership through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-wasserman-schultz/democrats-are-going-to-proudly-run-on-the-fact-that-we-turned-the/) [Debbie Wasserman Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-wasserman-schultz/) > [... in spite of being happier than I ever dreamed I could be, I'm also soberer. The fear that something may happen to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/in-spite-of-being-happier-than-i-ever-dreamed-i-could-be-i-m-also/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [But it is my total conviction that all the trappings of good leadership are generic and widely applicable whether you are standing in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cosgrove/but-it-is-my-total-conviction-that-all-the-trappings-of-good/) [Peter Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cosgrove/) > [You can see what man made from the seat of an automobile, but the best way to see what God made is from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-marion-russell/you-can-see-what-man-made-from-the-seat-of-an-automobile-but-the-best/) [Charles Marion Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-marion-russell/) > [The electronics industry expanded rapidly and the seeds for the semiconductor and software revolution were planted. The postwar period also saw the suburbanization of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/the-electronics-industry-expanded-rapidly-and-the-seeds-for-the/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [I'm a huge fan of John Hughes and can say that 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is easily a top 3 favorite. I'm also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-mcpartlin/i-m-a-huge-fan-of-john-hughes-and-can-say-that-planes-trains-and/) [Ryan McPartlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-mcpartlin/) > [“Most people do not realize that they are one car crash away from death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/most-people-do-not-realize-that-they-are-one-car-crash-away-from-death/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [This country has achieved its commercial and financial supremacy under a regime of private ownership. It conquered the wilderness, built our railroads, our factories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-b-cortelyou/this-country-has-achieved-its-commercial-and-financial-supremacy/) George B. Cortelyou > [“The first decade of driving is the most hazardous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-first-decade-of-driving-is-the-most-hazardous/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) [Browse all 424 Automobile quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the destructive effect of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Jacobs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Automobile" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/983/jane-jacobs-1991_automobile_automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagge_177517.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the…” — Jane Jacobs", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jane Jacobs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```