Using an analysis of the history of Los Angeles's streetcar and highway systems, Sikivu Hutchinson argues that the cultural geography of transportation has had a compelling influence upon the construction of race, gender, and urban subjectivity in the postmodern city. She highlights the influence of American anti-urbanism upon visions of the city during the Great Migration and World War II eras. Proceeding from the premise that the creation of city spaces are informed by collective cultural memory, Hutchinson explores how the decline of public transportation and the rise of the automobile have shaped African American communities and cultures in Los Angeles.

"In this slim yet informed and complex volume, Sikivu Hutchinson provides a thoughtful examination of America’s shift from public transit to private automotive transportation throughout the past century. In particular Hutchinson explores the effects of this phenomenon on non-Anglo communities, women and the poor in the Los Angeles area. The book is impressively synthetic, both in its theoretical scope and in the numerous varied sources of data the author consulted in her work.”

--William Sutch, George Mason University Space and Culture Journal