# Are whites better than blacks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334 "2001-06-19T13:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/1 "2001-06-19T13:51:40Z")
Of course, I’m talking about roads and parking lots. Here in Atlanta they’re always paved in black asphalt. I’ve heard black roads and parking lots are bad, because they absorb more heat from the sun and contribute to smog. White pavement, on the other hand, reflects sunlight and therefore stays cooler. But if that’s true, then I figure there must be a down side to white pavement as well, or everyone would be using it. Is it just more expensive? I’ve lived places where the roads were white, but generally these were older, residential areas. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/2 "2001-06-19T13:55:20Z")
you little trickster…trying to rile everybody up. It’s as if you thrive on conflict 😉 Here’s my WILD uneducated guess. From what I’ve seen, white paved driveways and roads crack and crumble faster than asphalt. A lot of driveways and suburban streets in Chicago are white (well, pale stone color), but the main drags are asphalt. jarbaby ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/3 "2001-06-19T14:15:57Z")
According to my contacts at the Ministry of Transportaiton in Ontario, concrete is inferior to asphalt in most respects. 1. It’s more expensive. WAY more expensive. It has to be reinforced more, and costs more to make and lay down. It takes far more time to build, too. 2. Concrete doesn’t withstand heavy use as well as apshalt, especially in cold weather; ice and salt are harder on concrete. 3. Asphalt is easily resurfaced and repaired, so once built it’ll last a long time with only occasional resurfacing. Concrete can’t really be “Resurfaced” at all. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/4 "2001-06-19T14:25:53Z")
Asphalt soaks up the heat more readily (just try walking on it with bare feet in the summer :eek: ). Concrete keeps its cool better. I think concrete looks more appealing, less industrial IMHO. But what **Jar** said seems to be true: concrete seems to have less flexibility and breaks up more quickly. What really looks tacky is when the potholes in (white) concrete are patched up with (blue-black) asphalt. The lazy pothole patrol in DC does this often. I know they’re just trying to save our hubcaps, but would it really be all that hard to use white filler concrete & set up a few traffic cones? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/5 "2001-06-19T14:50:33Z")
Maybe this is a stupid question, but if white pavement stays cooler and asphalt lasts longer, then why don’t we paint asphalt white? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/6 "2001-06-19T14:58:13Z")
But, is making it out of concrete the only way to make it white? What about other materials, or imbedding white gravel in the top layer of the asphalt, or even just painting the surface? Ah, on preview I see **ultrafilter** has the same question. Well? ---
**Author:** ![kenny\_canoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@kenny\_canoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenny_canoe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/7 "2001-06-19T16:14:54Z")
Rickjay…whay are you talking about? I live in New Hampshire, and we had a concrete road that was made during the 30’s. (new deal?) Anyway, if you want cold weather, we got it. You want salt on roads? Got that too. They just redid it for the FIRST time in the 80’s. Now this is Route 3 mind you, a very busy road, not some little back woods road. I guess 50 years ain’t too bad. Ever see a 50 year old original paved road ? Not in NH you won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Acco40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Acco40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acco40)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/8 "2001-06-19T18:04:41Z")
I agree with Kenny Canoe: concrete lasts MUCH longer than asphalt. The items that Rickjay listed above (I believe) are completely backward. I’ll have to check, but I’m sure I know this. Actually, I don’t know if it’s even necessary to research this. (I lived in Cleveland, OH.) Experience has shown me that asphalt crumbles like a cookie in the winter after salt gets down in it (potholes). It cracks up too, especially near the edge of the road. (I’ve actually seen giant segments of periphery asphalt road fall off into ditches where the ground has given way first.) Also, in the summer, it gets extremely HOT and gooey like tar. Concrete on the other hand is more dense, has fewer holes the salt can get into and corrupt, is lighter in color for less heat (which is much appreciated in summer rush hours), and stands up to wear for MUCH longer than asphalt… this is why it costs more to produce as well —\> it’s a higher quality product. Not to mention it is harder than hell to break apart! The preceding was a message brought to you by the Concrete Manufacturers of America Softball Team local 497. NO just kidding, it was brought to you by the Asphalt Bashers of America Bowling Association local 322. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whites-better-than-blacks/69334/9 "2001-06-19T18:31:04Z")
Please, people, do _not_ give your threads misleading titles, just to get attention. If you want to ask about asphalt, then ask about asphalt.