Thanks for this. I especially like the phrase being an advocate but not an activist. That's definitely how I see myself in my City of Annapolis. Like you, I'm about discussing ideas and trying - advocating - to explain to people with different perspectives the pluses and minuses of various urbanism ideas.
I’ve been reading your posts for maybe a few months now and I didn’t know until you said it specifically at some point that you are more conservative. So whatever you’re doing must be working. 👍
Your clear attention to language and unusual (well-considered) analogies and metaphors is something I really appreciate in your writing. And it really does help place your pieces outside the typical political echo chambers. So thank you!
You do great work in writing about how urbanism properly conceived stretches from downtown to the exurbs, and where you really stand out is in writing with care and even lovingly about, well, the deleted scenes of what almost everyone takes as faceless and uninteresting sprawl. And you go out of your way, as you note here, to write with precision and with intention.
But two things...it's not a stretch to point out that one end of the political spectrum goes out of its way to find any and every not-even-a-challenge to their version of the status quo as a vicious and (((globalist conspiracy))) attack on the American way of life. It's really not a both-sides thing when you contrast 'DON'T TOUCH MY ROLLING-COAL TRUCK YOU COMMIE' with 'let's have some more bike lanes because cars are deadly.' And -- this is where your voice *could* in some alternative reality actually move the conversation -- when you spend hours researching and writing about a converted Pizza Hut and the strip mall out lot it occupies, you're the n=1 who *cares* and takes the time to ponder the historical and structural realities that produced that circumstance in the first place. Those who profess to *love* their exurbs aren't willing to listen to any critique -- even if not critical -- no matter how carefully you phrase your analysis.
Likewise, really not a stretch nor unfair to point out that the never-known-anything-else suburbanites rarely take any (stated) pride in the infrastructural fabric of their communities, against the sometimes overweening pride city-dwellers take in theirs. When exactly do the former wax poetic (as you sometimes do) about the 'town center' mall in the exurbs? How many substacks are devoted to a thoughtful analysis of the civic initiative + tax and governance structure that make possible some new bike-path-to-the-dog-park-along-the-six-lane exurban artery? I really really want to believe that your unique perspective can dislodge some of the unreflexive assumptions about urbanism as un-American and Euro-exotic...but then you'd have to believe that even a tiny fraction of intentional suburb-dwellers would even think to consider an alternative to MOAR ROADS and NO NEW APARTMENTS. Absent that pride and interest, it's hard to see how your excellent reads will land with that crowd.
Please do keep it up, but as (like you) someone with feet in multiple camps, I despair of reaching people who really could care less about public policy and anything but what they grew up knowing. Most of my family lives in the exurban fringe of Bos-Wash and alternates between complaining about traffic / roundabouts and opposing higher-density condos closer to the edge of nearby towns. Or here in northern Kentucky, everyone was HELLA MAD when anyone dared to suggest tolls for a new bridge across the Ohio, even if said bridge is encumbered by massive freight traffic (Amazon, Wayfair, everything else in the I-75 corridor) that a new giant bridge will only exacerbate...let alone the obvious fact that 80% of folks in northern Kentucky commute to work across a bridge mostly paid for by hardworking New Yorkers and Californians for the convenience of McMansion-dwelling Kentuckians and our low low income tax.
Amen to ecumenism, but are you sure most of your prospective audience is listening?
I’m enjoying your posts as we’re trying make big changes here in Bend, Oregon. Understanding the conversation around urbanism and what makes a healthy city is nuanced and overlaps other political issues in so many ways. My belief? Better bike infrastructure will actually solve many of America’s health, inequity, and economic issues. I have yet to dive into actually writing about this. So I’m grateful you are!
Thanks for this. I especially like the phrase being an advocate but not an activist. That's definitely how I see myself in my City of Annapolis. Like you, I'm about discussing ideas and trying - advocating - to explain to people with different perspectives the pluses and minuses of various urbanism ideas.
I’ve been reading your posts for maybe a few months now and I didn’t know until you said it specifically at some point that you are more conservative. So whatever you’re doing must be working. 👍
Your clear attention to language and unusual (well-considered) analogies and metaphors is something I really appreciate in your writing. And it really does help place your pieces outside the typical political echo chambers. So thank you!
The conservatives I know, when they hear "traffic violence" think WTF is wrong with the person invoking such a ( puerile ) term.
You do great work in writing about how urbanism properly conceived stretches from downtown to the exurbs, and where you really stand out is in writing with care and even lovingly about, well, the deleted scenes of what almost everyone takes as faceless and uninteresting sprawl. And you go out of your way, as you note here, to write with precision and with intention.
But two things...it's not a stretch to point out that one end of the political spectrum goes out of its way to find any and every not-even-a-challenge to their version of the status quo as a vicious and (((globalist conspiracy))) attack on the American way of life. It's really not a both-sides thing when you contrast 'DON'T TOUCH MY ROLLING-COAL TRUCK YOU COMMIE' with 'let's have some more bike lanes because cars are deadly.' And -- this is where your voice *could* in some alternative reality actually move the conversation -- when you spend hours researching and writing about a converted Pizza Hut and the strip mall out lot it occupies, you're the n=1 who *cares* and takes the time to ponder the historical and structural realities that produced that circumstance in the first place. Those who profess to *love* their exurbs aren't willing to listen to any critique -- even if not critical -- no matter how carefully you phrase your analysis.
Likewise, really not a stretch nor unfair to point out that the never-known-anything-else suburbanites rarely take any (stated) pride in the infrastructural fabric of their communities, against the sometimes overweening pride city-dwellers take in theirs. When exactly do the former wax poetic (as you sometimes do) about the 'town center' mall in the exurbs? How many substacks are devoted to a thoughtful analysis of the civic initiative + tax and governance structure that make possible some new bike-path-to-the-dog-park-along-the-six-lane exurban artery? I really really want to believe that your unique perspective can dislodge some of the unreflexive assumptions about urbanism as un-American and Euro-exotic...but then you'd have to believe that even a tiny fraction of intentional suburb-dwellers would even think to consider an alternative to MOAR ROADS and NO NEW APARTMENTS. Absent that pride and interest, it's hard to see how your excellent reads will land with that crowd.
Please do keep it up, but as (like you) someone with feet in multiple camps, I despair of reaching people who really could care less about public policy and anything but what they grew up knowing. Most of my family lives in the exurban fringe of Bos-Wash and alternates between complaining about traffic / roundabouts and opposing higher-density condos closer to the edge of nearby towns. Or here in northern Kentucky, everyone was HELLA MAD when anyone dared to suggest tolls for a new bridge across the Ohio, even if said bridge is encumbered by massive freight traffic (Amazon, Wayfair, everything else in the I-75 corridor) that a new giant bridge will only exacerbate...let alone the obvious fact that 80% of folks in northern Kentucky commute to work across a bridge mostly paid for by hardworking New Yorkers and Californians for the convenience of McMansion-dwelling Kentuckians and our low low income tax.
Amen to ecumenism, but are you sure most of your prospective audience is listening?
I’m enjoying your posts as we’re trying make big changes here in Bend, Oregon. Understanding the conversation around urbanism and what makes a healthy city is nuanced and overlaps other political issues in so many ways. My belief? Better bike infrastructure will actually solve many of America’s health, inequity, and economic issues. I have yet to dive into actually writing about this. So I’m grateful you are!