A story about how people who live and work in Detroit prefer driving rather than walking or using public transit includes a comment by Michael Smith, director of WSU's Walter P. Reuther Library. "This city didn't grow up like Boston or New York ," he points out. " Detroit never flourished in the era of mass transit. It came of age in the era of the car." He also observes that " Detroit was the prototype for the 20th century American city. In a lot of ways, we were the prototype for Los Angeles ."