A、It eliminated many factory jobs. B、It allowed workers to live far from their jobs: C、It gave workers opportunity for better tr

Today we’ll examine the role that private transportation—namely, the automobile—plays in city planning.
    A number of sociologists blame the automobile for the decline of the downtown areas of major cities. In the 1950’s and 1960’s. the automobile made it possible to work in the city and yet live in the suburbs many miles away. Shopping patterns changed; instead of going to downtown stores, people in the suburbs went to large shopping malls outside the city and closer to the home. Merchants in the city failed, and their stores closed.
    Downtown shopping areas became deserted. In recent years there’s been a rebirth of the downtown area, as many suburbanites have moved back to the city. They’ve done this, of course, to avoid highways blocked with commuters from the suburbs. I’ve chosen this particular city planning problem—our dependence on private transportation — to discuss in groups. I’m hoping you will all come up with some novel solutions. Oh, and don’t approach the problem from a purely sociological perspective; try to take into account environmental and economic issues as well.
Questions:
29. How did the automobile affect the work force in the 1950’s and 1960’s?
30. What problem did downtown city merchants face in the 1960’s?
31. According to the speaker, why are some people moving back to the city?