The impossible paradox of owning a car

For many Americans, cars are a burden and a necessity. vox.com/culture CULTURE   If you went somewhere for the Fourth of July weekend, there’s a pretty good chance you took a car (unless you [rolled the dice with air travel](.) Cars are the standard mode of transportation in the United States, and they provide so much convenience that it’s easy to dismiss the costs. But they are tremendous, and not just in terms of pollution. Auto manufacturers have turned their production efforts to luxury vehicles, making a new car too expensive for the majority of buyers. That’s driven up the cost of used vehicles by 50 percent. If you’re working-class, or low-income, a car can eat up your budget or ruin your credit. But you don’t really have a choice, because in a car-dependent society, you need one to find a decent job. Or, as one Twitter user succinctly [puts it](: “Can’t afford to have a car. Can’t afford not to. What a trap.” That’s the subject of [my story in Vox this week](, about the burdens car dependency places on working-class people. But it’s not all hopeless. I write about Shala Waines, a woman in San Diego who received a car through a vehicle access program and used it to rebuild her life. –[Marin Cogan](, senior correspondent The impossible paradox of car ownership [A woman sitting in a sedan car looking directly at camera]( John Francis Peters for Vox It was the third Saturday of the month, which meant that Shala Waines was up early. In a few hours, she had to set up for the Soul Swapmeet, a monthly open-air market she founded in 2018 for Black entrepreneurs. To get to the swap meet that morning, Shala had to transport herself, her 17-year-old daughter, Damiyah, and Damiyah’s two friends, plus a large, A-frame plastic sign advertising the event, and a tent for her DJs. Shala drives a silver 2015 Hyundai Elantra, and fitting the kids and supplies in a compact four-door requires some creativity. She made it work by asking the teens to hold the tent in their laps. [To look at Shala’s car is to get a sense of the woman who drives it](: a small business owner, a single mom, and the type of person who volunteers to bring all of the food for a friend’s lakeside birthday bash. There are the empty cups her teenager and friends left in the back seat right after she cleaned it; boxes and bags rolling around in the trunk. There’s a “minding my Black-owned business” sticker, and some scrapes and dents on the driver’s side doors and bumper that Shala hates but can’t afford to fix right now. The Elantra has meant a lot to her. It’s how she’s built her business, driving around San Diego to meet with potential vendors and city officials, scouting locations for the swap meet, loading it up with supplies. It’s how she makes UberEats and DoorDash deliveries to supplement her income, making food deliveries and supermarket runs for other people. It’s how she transports her daughter to school, gets her groceries, and makes it to doctor’s appointments. It’s her constant companion as she hustles, creates opportunities for herself and her clients, and cares for her daughter. In other words, her car is her ticket to participating in American life. “It’s everything,” Shala says. [Read the full story »](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( No, AI can’t tell the future TikTok users are turning AI filters into fortunetellers. [Read the full story »]( 2023’s best books (so far) From shipwrecks to hijackings to sex comedies, these are the best books of the first half of 2023. [Read the full story »](   Support our work We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a gift today. [Give](   More good stuff to read today - [Why pedestrian deaths in the US are at a 40-year high]( - [It's pasta salad summer]( - [Hollywood is staring down the barrel of a double strike]( - [The Bear's second season is about the people it takes to make you great]( - [4 tips to help you cope with climate anxiety](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=culture). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.