This essay blew me away! And the truth of this insight —“It feels sometimes like Americans live in a sort of interminable secular Lent, denying ourselves good things and viewing it as meritorious.”—made me laugh out loud. You have divined a deep lode in American culture, and it makes so much sense!
I have had French friends comment on the “Puritanism” of American culture, and when one visits France, one is struck by all the ways in which beauty, comfort and sensory delight are embedded in the fabric of daily life: delicious food and drink that everyone can enjoy, flowers everywhere, shared, orderly public spaces with art, fountains and carousels for children and benches for resting, lovely textiles, lovely fragrances. I admire “la bonne vie” of the French and value urbanism—and thus, I find your insight that Americans culture has a “no pain, no gain” orientation wonderfully illuminating. Urbanism, finding pleasure in simple things, is resisted by some toxic mess distilled from cultural strands of the Protestant work ethic, individuality and capitalism. Racism, too. Can’t have nice things be too easy lest those lazy others benefit, too.
"Can’t have nice things be too easy lest those lazy others benefit, too." - Honestly and sadly this is so much the case in our American approach to.... so much.
Pickleball looks like fun and a number of my city's community centers have converted aging tennis courts to pickleball courts. I guess I've managed to avoid hearing how it's turned into yet another culture war issue. In fact, the only complaint I've read about is from people who live in close proximity to these courts, who say the constant thwacking sound for hours on end gets to them.
Yes, some of the criticism of pickleball is snobby but I would hate to live near a court. It is very loud and I've seen some of the same reports of people who have basically lost their minds from the noise...
Every "sport" cyclist I know (including me) absolutely DOES want protected bike lanes. Not least because many of those cyclists also commute by bike, run errands by bike, sometimes bike with their children, etc. And I have yet to meet any sort of cyclist who enjoys courting danger by mixing it up with drivers, in any context. Hardcore cyclists may be intense, but we're not stupid or suicidal.
You're 100% right, though, that many (most?) "sport" cyclists embrace misery. Same with distance runners. I say this as someone who has spent many years at both of those things. I have my theories as to why, but won't get into there here. (You're welcome!)
Re: cyclists. There are "vehicular cyclists" who prefer to ride on the roads with cars and who dislike bike lanes. If you see a cyclist riding in the center of a road lane, that's likely a "vehicular cyclist".
That is very interesting! FWIW, I've been biking for almost four decades and this is the first I've heard the phrase "vehicular cyclist."
Also FWIW, that seems like a bit of a fringe thing to me. And I'm suspicious of any sort of framework that uses a binary like that—e.g., you're either THIS type of thing, or you're THAT type of thing. As I said earlier, virtually every cyclist I've ever known fits neatly in neither of those two categories.
I love using protected bike lanes, especially when I'm riding with our 11-year-old. I advocate for more protected bike lanes in more places. (I also advocate for traffic calming measures, lower speed limits, red light enforcement cameras, and so on.)
Many places I ride do not have bike lanes, protected or otherwise. Especially on longer solo and group rides that I do beyond the city limits. In those cases, I ride as the law (and common sense) dictates. That means riding with the direction of vehicle traffic, as far to the right as safely possible, signaling my turns, etc.
In some cases, riding as far right as possible is actually LESS safe than "taking the lane," even if it's not immediately apparent why to the drivers behind me. So I do ride in the center of the lane, until it's safe to move right again.
Most cyclists I know operate this way as well. I don't think any of us would consider ourselves "vehicular cyclists."
p.s. This sub-topic has become a bit of a rabbit hole, so apologies to anyone who finds it annoying!
I've seen plenty of online chatter from hardcore cycling advocates (not necessarily the same as hardcore "sport" cyclists) who insist that bike lanes are bad because segregating cyclists tells drivers that bicycles don't belong on the "real" road. I understand the point, but I think it's counterproductive.
The outrageous and daredevil bike riders I ever saw was when I lived in Chicago and these were the bike couriers who made deliverys on bikes in the crowded city traffic.
I had a pickleball-like experience in northern France some decades back. Boules is French bowling, and it is definitely a lazy sport.
The following definition is from Google.
Pétanque, also known as boules, is a French game that's similar to bocce ball. The game involves rolling or throwing heavy balls, called boules, as close as possible to a small target ball, on a flat surface. Players may also use their balls to knock their opponent's balls away.
To summarize, the game demands rising from your seat and waddling about five feet to the point where you toss your heavy iron ball. The clanking of the balls is quite loud and is often accompanied by drunken hilarity and boisterous commentary.
One night, after a long day of cycling (no EBike purist), my old cheap hotel happened to be located across the town square from a petanique court. Imagine hearing the locals enjoying their social sport from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM when I think I finally fell asleep.
However, all this was definitely NIMBY, so comments on my part seemed quite pointless, indeed, highly ill advised. But I definitely tore some hair out.
I live in Orange County CA and pickle ball is the rage amoung active retirees. I've never seen a younger (under 40 and working) person play pickle ball. It reminds me of when I was a teen living in a college town and tennis was the rage. You couldn't get time on the court at all. It's like that with pickle ball. I laugh because an active older woman I know talks about the special gloves, rackets and such as if she were trying out for the Olympics instead of an easy game for seniors.
Regarding pickleball, my main gripes are that 1) it seems like a fad, and 2) the chain of gyms we use converted most of its basketball courts for pickleball, and now the monthly Parents Night Out (think "active pizza party") is much less fun for kids since they can no longer use the court during their play time.
Life should be more than an endurance and resilience test:
"In other words, the pain and discomfort are the point. The misery is the merit. If you’re enjoying it, you’re cheating."
OTOH, many people who make the same point also are extremely averse to any experience of discomfort, and that's a problem, too.
Walking for transportation serves objectives for climate, urban transportation, and public health. But it can also be very joyful, and we should use every opportunity to point this out. Walking is best suited to dense neighborhoods with diverse populations. While there are many direct and indirect benefits to diversity, it also creates conflict, so part of urbanism requires a normative theory of how we should react to conflict and discomfort. Alternatively, what are a good set of rules for neighborhoods where a diverse population lives close to each other? NIMBYs refuse to consider these questions. They don't want urbanism and they don't want diversity.
Did you see that story about the Fairfax county Park authority turning a pickle court back into tennis and the pickle players staging a sit in? Springfield maybe. Also, call back from several weeks ago, I am sad to report that my Southern States has closed as of this weekend. I am bereft.
This essay blew me away! And the truth of this insight —“It feels sometimes like Americans live in a sort of interminable secular Lent, denying ourselves good things and viewing it as meritorious.”—made me laugh out loud. You have divined a deep lode in American culture, and it makes so much sense!
I have had French friends comment on the “Puritanism” of American culture, and when one visits France, one is struck by all the ways in which beauty, comfort and sensory delight are embedded in the fabric of daily life: delicious food and drink that everyone can enjoy, flowers everywhere, shared, orderly public spaces with art, fountains and carousels for children and benches for resting, lovely textiles, lovely fragrances. I admire “la bonne vie” of the French and value urbanism—and thus, I find your insight that Americans culture has a “no pain, no gain” orientation wonderfully illuminating. Urbanism, finding pleasure in simple things, is resisted by some toxic mess distilled from cultural strands of the Protestant work ethic, individuality and capitalism. Racism, too. Can’t have nice things be too easy lest those lazy others benefit, too.
Thank you so much!
"Can’t have nice things be too easy lest those lazy others benefit, too." - Honestly and sadly this is so much the case in our American approach to.... so much.
Didn’t expect to be saving quotes from an urbanism blog to discuss in THERAPY but here we are
Pickleball looks like fun and a number of my city's community centers have converted aging tennis courts to pickleball courts. I guess I've managed to avoid hearing how it's turned into yet another culture war issue. In fact, the only complaint I've read about is from people who live in close proximity to these courts, who say the constant thwacking sound for hours on end gets to them.
Yes, some of the criticism of pickleball is snobby but I would hate to live near a court. It is very loud and I've seen some of the same reports of people who have basically lost their minds from the noise...
This is nitpicky, but:
Every "sport" cyclist I know (including me) absolutely DOES want protected bike lanes. Not least because many of those cyclists also commute by bike, run errands by bike, sometimes bike with their children, etc. And I have yet to meet any sort of cyclist who enjoys courting danger by mixing it up with drivers, in any context. Hardcore cyclists may be intense, but we're not stupid or suicidal.
You're 100% right, though, that many (most?) "sport" cyclists embrace misery. Same with distance runners. I say this as someone who has spent many years at both of those things. I have my theories as to why, but won't get into there here. (You're welcome!)
Re: cyclists. There are "vehicular cyclists" who prefer to ride on the roads with cars and who dislike bike lanes. If you see a cyclist riding in the center of a road lane, that's likely a "vehicular cyclist".
There is a Wiki article on this school of thought on cycling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling
That is very interesting! FWIW, I've been biking for almost four decades and this is the first I've heard the phrase "vehicular cyclist."
Also FWIW, that seems like a bit of a fringe thing to me. And I'm suspicious of any sort of framework that uses a binary like that—e.g., you're either THIS type of thing, or you're THAT type of thing. As I said earlier, virtually every cyclist I've ever known fits neatly in neither of those two categories.
I love using protected bike lanes, especially when I'm riding with our 11-year-old. I advocate for more protected bike lanes in more places. (I also advocate for traffic calming measures, lower speed limits, red light enforcement cameras, and so on.)
Many places I ride do not have bike lanes, protected or otherwise. Especially on longer solo and group rides that I do beyond the city limits. In those cases, I ride as the law (and common sense) dictates. That means riding with the direction of vehicle traffic, as far to the right as safely possible, signaling my turns, etc.
In some cases, riding as far right as possible is actually LESS safe than "taking the lane," even if it's not immediately apparent why to the drivers behind me. So I do ride in the center of the lane, until it's safe to move right again.
Most cyclists I know operate this way as well. I don't think any of us would consider ourselves "vehicular cyclists."
p.s. This sub-topic has become a bit of a rabbit hole, so apologies to anyone who finds it annoying!
I've seen plenty of online chatter from hardcore cycling advocates (not necessarily the same as hardcore "sport" cyclists) who insist that bike lanes are bad because segregating cyclists tells drivers that bicycles don't belong on the "real" road. I understand the point, but I think it's counterproductive.
That is a fair point!
The outrageous and daredevil bike riders I ever saw was when I lived in Chicago and these were the bike couriers who made deliverys on bikes in the crowded city traffic.
My pickleball take is mostly just a bundle of anti-Boomer and anti-casual-gamer prejudices that I should probably be ashamed of.
It doesn't really interfere with my daily life, though, so they get a pass from me.
I had a pickleball-like experience in northern France some decades back. Boules is French bowling, and it is definitely a lazy sport.
The following definition is from Google.
Pétanque, also known as boules, is a French game that's similar to bocce ball. The game involves rolling or throwing heavy balls, called boules, as close as possible to a small target ball, on a flat surface. Players may also use their balls to knock their opponent's balls away.
To summarize, the game demands rising from your seat and waddling about five feet to the point where you toss your heavy iron ball. The clanking of the balls is quite loud and is often accompanied by drunken hilarity and boisterous commentary.
One night, after a long day of cycling (no EBike purist), my old cheap hotel happened to be located across the town square from a petanique court. Imagine hearing the locals enjoying their social sport from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM when I think I finally fell asleep.
However, all this was definitely NIMBY, so comments on my part seemed quite pointless, indeed, highly ill advised. But I definitely tore some hair out.
I live in Orange County CA and pickle ball is the rage amoung active retirees. I've never seen a younger (under 40 and working) person play pickle ball. It reminds me of when I was a teen living in a college town and tennis was the rage. You couldn't get time on the court at all. It's like that with pickle ball. I laugh because an active older woman I know talks about the special gloves, rackets and such as if she were trying out for the Olympics instead of an easy game for seniors.
Regarding pickleball, my main gripes are that 1) it seems like a fad, and 2) the chain of gyms we use converted most of its basketball courts for pickleball, and now the monthly Parents Night Out (think "active pizza party") is much less fun for kids since they can no longer use the court during their play time.
Life should be more than an endurance and resilience test:
"In other words, the pain and discomfort are the point. The misery is the merit. If you’re enjoying it, you’re cheating."
OTOH, many people who make the same point also are extremely averse to any experience of discomfort, and that's a problem, too.
Walking for transportation serves objectives for climate, urban transportation, and public health. But it can also be very joyful, and we should use every opportunity to point this out. Walking is best suited to dense neighborhoods with diverse populations. While there are many direct and indirect benefits to diversity, it also creates conflict, so part of urbanism requires a normative theory of how we should react to conflict and discomfort. Alternatively, what are a good set of rules for neighborhoods where a diverse population lives close to each other? NIMBYs refuse to consider these questions. They don't want urbanism and they don't want diversity.
Did you see that story about the Fairfax county Park authority turning a pickle court back into tennis and the pickle players staging a sit in? Springfield maybe. Also, call back from several weeks ago, I am sad to report that my Southern States has closed as of this weekend. I am bereft.