I live in Los Angeles, the city whose denizens drive more than anywhere else in the United States.

Back in December, the city thought it had achieved something important and, for the time being, had driven back the shadow.

All along the myriad ways of Europe that sordid splendid city in the avenues Charteris had driven hard.

Previously, the city had threatened to tow only the scofflaw vehicles among the 500 or so driven by consular officials, not other diplomats.

"How close did you get, before the city drove you mad?"

"The city is driving the growth," said John L. Wieting, the New York regional commissioner for the statistics bureau.

Another city official drove himself in his own car to the inauguration, where he met up with the New York City police security detail assigned to guard him.

The city, Ootah, even began to develop a sense of self-preservation and drove the inhabitants out of its boundaries, building up greater defenses to prevent them from returning.

At the same time, though, the city drove the owners up the wall from time to time and now looms as a potential threat to their continued operations here.

In Rockford, a city of 138,000 people, manufacturing still drives the economy.