Sometimes, when life gets complicated or I feel particularly frustrated with our car-oriented world, I daydream about trading in my jeans and iPhone for a shapeless frock and simpler life. Would joining an Amish settlement solve all of life’s problems? No, of course it wouldn’t, the rational side of my brain tells me. And yet, my brain’s other side can’t shake the appeal of renouncing modern-day evils: social media, car dominance, fast fashion, Little Debbie snack cakes.
Who among us humans doesn’t crave a little more time with family and friends, a little less clutter in our homes, a larder stocked with homemade pies? Unfortunately, the majority of folks today — including Millenials — cannot imagine a simpler life, or at least one without a car. What an unfortunate reality, as the benefits of being car-free and having people-oriented places far outweigh the costs of continuing with car-domination. These benefits include reducing climate change, preserving human life (1.35 million lives lost a year globally), improving mental and psychical health, reducing our financial burdens… and contributing to society.
Contributing to society?
When urban planners consider the destructive effects of cars, they rarely take into account many ills of modern society. To better understand the negative impact cars have on society, look no further than Amish Country: in this obscure but growing segment of the population known best for rejecting cars, the Amish live relatively rich, happy, balanced, and financially stable lives. The Amish value family and community — and the environment — which is the reason they stand so strongly against cars. How has being car-free served the Amish community, and what can we learn from these simple people?
1. Cars ≠ freedom
Living a simple, car-free life is perhaps the defining characteristic of being Amish, somewhat of a curiosity considering how deeply entrenched car culture is in today’s society. For over a century, the Amish have spurned the temptation of purported freedom in the hulking form of the automobile, recognizing that cars represent “most of what the Amish resist: extravagance and, more important, the mobility to escape the close-knit confines of the Amish community for the lures of the big city” (chicagotribune.com).
Conscientiously restricting car ownership and use is a universal choice among the Amish — although this may be changing — with horse-drawn buggies, public transit, taxis, carpools, trains, and hired drivers their primary modes of transportation. Not having an automobile at one’s immediate disposal is inconvenient and expensive, but it helps curb the overuse of private vehicles.
Amish America explains the principles behind preferring slow travel over internal combustion engines: slowing the speed/pace of life, preserving family and community from fragmentation, maintaining distance from the world, and acting as a symbol of “Amishness”. Relying on the horse-and-buggy with its roughly 20-mile range, Amish America says, physically limits Amish mobility, helping to keep families and communities close. To think, by planning our communities so they are people-oriented and not car-oriented, urban planners would not only gain the physical and financial benefits of having a less polluted, more attractive, and truly equitable place but we’d also gain the social benefits of a relaxed pace of life and closer relationships with neighbors. Those are some damn good reasons to plan our communities to serve people and not automobiles.
Resisting the car comes with a price, though, and in a cruel twist of fate, the single thing most eschewed by the Amish community is also its greatest threat: Amish people are more likely to die in traffic accidents when modern vehicles driven by non-Amish collide with the slower horse-drawn Amish buggies (wikipedia.com). And as cars keep growing in size and drivers are more distracted, we will continue to read frequent news stories about drivers hitting Amish buggies and killing their occupants, like this September 2019 tragedy in Michigan in which a drunk driver killed three children under the age of 6. (This related article shows the unfortunate reality of “victim blaming” when drivers kill people, with local officials and police chiding the Amish for not conforming to car-culture by installing decidedly un-Amish rubber tires or flashing lights which experts say wouldn’t reduce Amish deaths anyway.)
2. Thoughtful consideration on which — if any — technology to accept
“The difference between Amish people and most other Americans is the deliberation that takes place before deciding whether to embrace a new technology,” explains an NPR.org article titled “Amish Community Not Anti-Technology, Just More Thoughtful”. When Amish consider accepting a new technology, they cautiously consider its effects on the community, asking if it will be helpful or detrimental to their culture. Oftentimes, the Amish observe a particular technology’s effect on outside society before communities vote on accepting it — in other words, the Amish view us “English” as guinea pigs and in turn ban many technologies, such as cars and televisions, because they “erode their community and neighborliness [and] you no longer have to rely on your neighbor”. James Wetmore, a social researcher who’s studied the Amish, understands the Amish population’s reluctance to embrace the car, noting “It’s pretty crazy if you stop to think about it to realize that car travel is so important to us, that we’re willing to sacrifice 30,000 to 40,000 [U.S.] lives a year for it.” (qz.com).
An Amish man by the name of Ben follows the advice, “You shouldn’t be the first in your neighborhood to adopt the new technology and neither should you be the last”. In the world of urban planning, it would be prudent to also follow this advice instead of being so quick to jump on new technology like autonomous and electric private vehicles that are expensive distractions to simple solutions to our urban woes, those solutions being investing heavily in bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure and public transit. And by reducing our reliance on technology, such as using the internet to make most purchases (which, by the way, puts major strain on our cities), we encourage more community-oriented behavior, like walking or biking to make a local purchase in-person. Social interactions, exercise, personal relationships, investing in the community: the Amish way of life reveals often overlooked benefits of living car-free.
3. Harnessing social capital
Amish settlements aren’t formal towns but picturesque rural clusters of homes, farms, and one-room schoolhouses. Amish Studies says Amish society is organized into self-governing local church districts bound by roads and streams with twenty to forty households in each district; districts divide as their members grow. Amish keep their communities small and physically close together for many reasons, the main one being that Amish gather at each other’s houses for Sunday religious services so it’s important that distances not be too far by horse and buggy. Face-to-face interactions in daily life are also important to the Amish, meaning neighbors living within close proximity encourages familiarity and a sense of community.
To further develop a sense of community and trust, many Amish business owners don’t charge deposits or offer complicated financing for expensive items like custom buggies, instead treating someone’s word for a purchase as their bond. And the quintessentially-Amish barn raising is a collective act and an excellent example of “social capital” that keeps community bonds strong. Having a community to rely on for something as significant as building a barn comes with a variety of benefits, from distributing labor for complex tasks to allowing the Amish to forgo commercial insurance on their buildings because it “undercuts aid in the community”. Imagine that, if a barn suffers a fire, the community pitches in to restore the barn or raise a new one, turning what would be a single family’s burden into an enjoyable event for everyone.
4. Sustainable practices & self-reliance
One adjective that comes to most people’s minds when considering Amish products is quality. From organic produce to handmade quilts to sturdy furniture, the Amish are known for taking the time to produce quality, traditional goods with the best materials available. The Amish live by the creed of quality over quantity, with one buggy maker preferring slow production of high-quality products to fast production of lower-quality products, an approach his Amish customers agree with : “The demand isn’t there for it; the better you make them, the fewer we can make”. By producing only high-quality and useful goods, the Amish create virtually no waste and thus circumvent sticky issues plaguing cities, like overflowing trash receptacles that make places unsanitary and unattractive, dangerous trash trucks contributing to air and noise pollution, and precious city resources allocated to dealing with waste.
It’s worth noting that, while the use of electricity is becoming increasingly common in Amish communities, especially with families that make a living in an industry trade instead of on the farm, Amish craftsmen frequently use pneumatic or hydraulic tools or electric tools powered by generators, solar energy, batteries, and propane.
The Amish community offers an abundance of lessons to learn about what makes vibrant, equitable people-oriented places. By maintaining a simple and car-free lifestyle, Amish settlements continue to be thriving, community-minded places to live, raise families, and be financially independent. What a contrast to the car-dominated society that’s grown up alongside the Amish.
In recent decades, the Amish population has “exploded” and more Amish youth are choosing to become Amish adults. In a world of ever-increasing speed, technology, and moral corruption, the Amish stand as a wholesome, functional society we can all learn from. Sure, they’re far from perfect and few people envy their austere lifestyle, but their thoughtful approach to community can teach us a thing (or four) about creating great places.