Re: Idiocracy
"How far in the past do you want to go? Just far enough where the mill was the only place to work and was 15 minutes away (as was the mill owners shop)?"
I'm old enough to remember when the local mills were the main sources of employment and they were within walking distance with a good bus service to take others to work. There's a stretch of about 300 metres of road near here where there were once an independent butcher's shop, a Co-op butcher's shop, two independent grocers' shops a sweet shop, a newsagent/tobacconist a hair-dresser, a pub, a chippy, a joiner's workshop and a garage/filling station. The Co-op grocery was just off that road. Briefly there was also a green-grocer. No mill-owners' shop. It was sustainable.
Currently most of the shops, including both Co-op premises are turned into housing. The garage premises has been built over with several houses. The pub survives and there are two hair-dressers, one being run out of what was (and possibly still is) a house. Most of the local mills are also replaced by housing.
If you look at that road now you will see it lined with parked cars down each side - rather less than full lined during the working day but tightly packed evenings and weekends. The bus service is vestigial but obviously the choices there are work from home, commute by car or retire.
That isn't sustainable: roll on no more ICE private cars to commute and we're either back to work from home, retirement or hope that somebody quickly has a flash of inspiration and converts the remaining unoccupied mill building back into a place of employment.