“This is one of the main reasons why I love to spend time in Europe.”
The above comment was written by a fellow white boomer, In response to a post from Revitalize, or Die, contrasting an ancient Italian city with a USA suburban development taking up the same amount of space.
My response:
I get that, and realize that is the case for many members of our generation (the boomers).
My sad react here is because I wish more of us (who belong to the most-resourced generation in history) would have used, and be using, more of our energy and other resources to making things better in our own cities/towns/neighborhoods instead of escaping to the cute quaint streetscape countries. — Countries that we are ruining, bith culturally and ecologically, with our mass travel.
What is it that keeps us from insisting on beauty and charm and REAL LIVABILITY in our own places? What keeps us from making it a priority, above cars and shallow convenience and all else?
On a personal note — For this reason, I no longer engage in overseas travel (The last time I went overseas was in 2004, a month in Tokyo, and it was for work).
Eco note: And I no longer fly, period. Not even domestically. My last domestic flight was in 2017, for a family funeral. Before that, my last donestic flight was in 2010, work-related.
And I limit my travel in general, to visiting family once a year (usu by train or bus). Beauty and charm has to start at home, and it’s arm in arm with protecting the planet.
In response to my comment, fellow white boomer mentioned his frustration at the fact that sprawl development has persisted despite all of his efforts to speak to local government.
I replied:
Norman Lane I totally get that about feeling like we are wasting our time trying to prevent sprawl. The thing I’m realizing after so many years of speaking at commission meetings and so on it’s just that we need to make our own immediate neighborhoods more like the beauty and charm that captivates us in whatever those overseas places are. The more I do that, the less I feel the need to escape to some more charming and cute and walkable and cultured place. The truth is culture has to start here at home.
BTW I am here because I felt called here for my work. As a freelance ecological educator and activist. What brought you guys to Florida, and would moving to a more dense and walkable city be an option for you? Even right here in the USA there are a number of such cities. Especially for people of means. although actually now that I am thinking about it, a person doesn’t have to be able to afford Manhattan to be able to live in a dense walkable place. A lot of smaller towns still have their walkability, plus many other attributes besides. My friend and colleague and Living FREE co-author Eric Brown – Author has been instrumental in feeding the movement for walkability and local living in a rather small town that still has urban qualities.
The government isn’t going to stop sprawl. But we ourselves can take back our own neighborhoods by supporting local businesses, local food supply chain, introducing art & beauty into our immediate neighborhoods etc.
In my neighborhood we have noticed a significant difference over the past few years, and it has actually accelerated in the past couple of years. We are becoming a genuinely charming and more walkable neighborhood although we have a long way to go. And, the neighborhood has the bones of the old walkable place still. The beautiful 1920s and 1940s houses by the sea next to an old Main Street etc. We’re just doing a little bit of retro retooling to take back that walkable community aspect from the aberration of the past few years.
(BTW I live Daytona Beach side in the main street area. But I see similar things happening in Ormond.)
on a related note – it takes a lot of discipline for people who own a car to resist driving everywhere and also to resist shopping in WM, CC, and other big box stores. Not owning a car, I find the most wonderful small businesses such as my organic produce ladies who buy up produce from many local farms and then deliver it to our houses! Talk about a win-win. I’m going to take a picture of today’s delivery.
As a bonus, all of this comes loose and not wrapped in plastic that then has to go into the trash. The ladies bring it in reusable cloth bags and I transfer it directly to my reusable containers and refrigerate.
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***In case my link above doesn’t work, I am also copy-pasting the original post from revitalize, or die:
“I saw a meme this week showing a massive Houston highway interchange next to an aerial of Siena, Italy. Same amount of land. Siena fits about 30,000 people into that footprint. Houston fits zero. And they probably cost about the same to build.
“People get defensive when America gets compared to Europe. They’ll say it isn’t fair, the timelines are different, the history is different. All true. But humans aren’t different. We keep excusing our built environment instead of asking what people actually need. Americans aren’t Europeans, but we all run on the same hardware.
“Density gives people the chance to walk and humans are built to walk. Six miles a day is what our bodies were designed for. Walking boosts physical and mental health and people naturally seek it out. When we design places where no one can walk, we shouldn’t be shocked when the health consequences pile up.
“Density also increases human interaction. People need other people. When connection disappears, isolation, distrust, and resentment fill the space. You can see the results unfolding in the culture every day.
“Then there’s quality of life. More density means less driving, less searching for parking, less time doing chores you didn’t ask for. It means more time walking, sitting outside, grabbing coffee, riding a bike, and actually living. Even die-hard drivers should want density because it reduces congestion. More people walking means more open road for you.
“Dense places cost less too. Cities spend less on sprawling infrastructure. Households spend less on fuel. Energy use drops. It’s more efficient across the board.
“Community attachment strengthens. When you know your neighbors, you feel rooted. You get involved. You stay. That stability boosts property values and civic pride.
“The density-crime myth doesn’t hold up. Design, economics, and social supports matter far more. And most people feel safer when other people are around.
“Businesses benefit as well. The more people nearby, the more customers. Sprawl helps national chains. Walkable neighborhoods help local owners. Redesign a car-dominated street for people and sales usually increase. Foot traffic is the lifeblood of real business districts.
“People panic about shifting space from cars to humans, but the downside never shows up. Drivers might slow down, which isn’t exactly a national tragedy. Meanwhile you get stronger communities, lower public costs, healthier residents, and better local economies.
“And honestly, density is just more fun. Life gets easier when everything is close. It feels calmer, more social, more vibrant, and far less stressful. A little density goes a long way in improving physical, mental, social, and fiscal health. It’s also what people increasingly want.
“If none of this is convincing, that’s fine. Keep building highway interchanges the size of Italian cities and pretending it’s normal. But don’t expect new residents to line up. Mall-towns aren’t the future.
We can’t rebuild Siena, but we can stop building Siena-sized interchanges. We can do better, and at this point, we have to.”