Mobility, Communication, and Place: Navigating the Landscapes of Suburban U.S. Teens

In the context of sprawl and car dependence in U.S. metropolitan areas, young people—especially teens in middle-class suburbs—create new mobility practices with near-universal adoption of cellphones and high levels of access to automobiles. The growth in the use of handheld mobile devices for communication and information might enhance independent mobility and accessibility for higher socioeconomic segments of the youth population. In a project with teens in two high schools near Burlington, Vermont, representing somewhat different land-use contexts, we examined how often and in what ways teens use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to arrange transportation, what travel needs are being met and which transportation modes are used, and how household situations contextualize the use of ICTs for mobility. We explore the ways in which access to cellphones and cars affects how high school teens organize and enact their daily lives in suburban and rural contexts. We employ a conceptual framework that connects mobility, communication, and place based on the notion that contemporary teens generate new intersections among the built, digital, and social landscapes.