The Social Consequences of Sprawl-Type Development

One of the awful little strip malls on Route 123 in Norwalk was mobbed with cars yesterday as people made last-minute purchases for New Year's Eve festivities. I pulled in looking for a place to park, eased my way past a half-dozen other cars also looking for a place to park, then circled back onto Route 123 again, and repeated the process. After several attempts, I stopped behind a car that was backing out of a spot.

In an attempt to encourage the driver, I beeped my horn -- just slightly, of course. The driver backed out and, with her window down, looked at me and muttered something unintelligible that ended with the words, "son of a bitch."

I had never been called a son of a bitch while looking for a parking space in a traditional downtown -- even though I've offered other drivers similar mild encouragement with my car's horn.

"Ah ha!" I said to myself as the driver headed away and I pulled into her spot. Another example of the anti-social behavior caused by sprawl-type development.