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  • From: Ben Brunk <brunkb AT ils.unc.edu>
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [internetworkers] "New" Urbanism?
  • Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2003 13:29:39 -0500

You folks crack me up, so I just had to make a comment. I find it hilarious that everyone is getting behind this new kind of carefully micromanaged sprawl now that the older kind has become such an obvious failure. Hasn't anyone noticed that sprawl was a direct result of the zoning ordinances and top-down control? I hear people blaming the developers and calling them money-grabbers. While that may be somewhat true, don't forget it was the local politicians who restricted the kinds of development that could take place to begin with. That's why most people can't walk to work--the control freaks said it wasn't right to put houses so close to the factory!

I've looked around Southern Village several times. Whenever I have visitors, we often take a drive through there in our car. Frankly, it looks more like a movie set than an actual place where people live. I have visions of Stepford wives and evil humanoid robots. People glare at you if they don't recognize you, they don't take kindly to strangers poking 'round. And why the hell do all the children have helmets on, anyways? Is every adult there obsessed with safety or what? In my opinion, for Southern Village to be worth anything at all in the long run, it should disincorporate from Chapel Hill and become a village of its own and walk on its own two feet. Without that, Southern Village is just a big subdivision for hipsters who like to act holier than thou. And yeah, "new" urbanism is elitist--the Harris Teeter hidden over in SimCity, er, I mean Meadowmont is snobtown writ large--I parked my pickup between two Mercedes, but then decided I wasn't dressed well enough to actually go inside, so I hit the Food Lion out of 54 instead. Fascist corporations? How is corporate structure of Wellspring any different than Food Lion except in your heads? It's all Madison Ave.

As far as "light rail" the other anointed savior of all things utopian, one need only watch the old Simpson's "Monorail" episode to see what a crock that idea is. Very few light rail systems ever turn a profit, they are a perpetual drag on nearly every community that commandeered all that private property in order to install them. For example, this article about LRT in Minnesota:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/1/5/210125.shtml
Pretty funny that some of you folks believe in conspiracy theories about how car manufacturers killed light rail. Yeah, right! Technology advanced, and rail systems couldn't compete. And just remember, if you can get to Raleigh in 15 mins. (would that be on the express?), the homeless drug addicts with TB can get to your house just as quickly. Think about that the next time you send your kid out to play wearing their helmet. ;-)

If there is any hope for us as America gets more and more crowded, it will be in deregulation, allowing entrepreneurs to solve these problems and many of the others that we face nowadays. It seems to me that the "New" Urbanism is just a flawed rendition of what was done in major cities during the mid-20th century, which is provide affordable places to live for average people. Now, however, there are so many laws, as well as people who need to get a cut, it has taken on an authoritarian and "instant, just add water" taint. Some progress. Thanks, but no thanks.



Ben Brunk




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