The book describes a not-so-distant future where war, illness, and a profound oil shortage have devastated the world and made life impossible in outlying suburban neighborhoods. Yet, all is not lost. Humanity finds strength and renewal in building a close-knit community free of cars, fast-food restaurants, and Walmarts.
The story may sound far-fetched, but Kunstler really does believe the suburbans are headed for disaster. "Ask yourself," he writes on his blog, the Daily Grunt. "Is it really a good thing to plow up more pastures, cornfields, and meadows to plant more suburban houses -- especially when over seven million houses are already in pre-default loan delinquency?"
What do you think? Should we re-think the way we design our neighborhoods? Tell us!
More:
- World Made by Hand Official Site
- Empire of the Stunned, in UTNE Reader
Comments
I live in a city neighborhood and prefer to live in the city but I feel the new urbanist belief that we should abandoned or halt suburban development to fix societies problems is flawed. New urbanism ideology that has us hearken back to “pedestrian friendly”, “traditional style” neighborhoods works directly against the way in which many people want to spend their money to live. This powerful sector of the housing/retail market defines the way suburban developments are developed. The needs and requirements of these people, which may be flawed as well in my opinion, drive developers and villages to lay out neighborhoods, streets, retail etc.. the way they have been laid out primarily since the end of WWII. Even big cities like the one I live in have been heavily influenced by this lifestyle in the sense that it is code and the wishes of the city to have a ton off street parking for the newer developments/retail centers. This renders them very similar to their suburban equivalents. This development type which is heavily influence by both city and suburban planning standards has begun to create a more homogenous space that creates a blur of the boundary between the urban/suburban. It is a harsh reality but this type of space may be here to stay because the market has defined that this is the way many want to live. Its my feeling that instead of forcing a large group of people to change the way they live to the standards of a time since past, we should examine the way in which we have come to use and move through out our current urban and suburban spaces. We should do this in an attempt to improve certain aspects of what we have. I think we would find that a more affective way to improve life quality, efficiency, etc.. in our current trajectory of building/planning typology will be found mostly in aspects outside the realm of architecture. Example, cleaner more efficient automobiles, different types of mass transit, the way we layout mass transit, greener building and energy, the way we use commerce and purchase goods and food. Main street Disneyland is not the answer. In that environment things are not always as they seem.
I too am of the opinion that we need to kill the suburbs. What we will replace them with is the other question. During the 1960s it was found that the suburban model was financially not sustainable. Gasoline was cheap and so we tried the experiment. We can’t continue building them, and I can say that from now on gasoline will be come dearer and more expensive year after year. There are many other ways to organize our living spaces to be more economical.
The goal should be the removal of fossil fuels from our lives as much as possible, and to reduce to a minimum, the other material inputs needed to live a “comfortable” life, but not to force us into a state of hard ship. We are not middle eastern sheiks that “NEED” solid gold toilets. The “best” way to live is going to be a regional decision, as well as cultural and generational. The fact that we look to the past suggests not that the past has all the answers but that we do not have very good imaginations on how to move forward with “better” solutions. I would suggest that rather then just have opinions on how things should and should not be done, we should actually allow and encourage experimentation, try first hand various life styles. Try to live in a variety of communities in tents, in caves in baloons. New technology is coming down the pike such as solar and robots and ubiquitous internet. These new and various products and future problems will render moot any quick knee jerk solution.
If we don’t try to make these decisions for our selves, they will be made for us by the market place and we will once again be slaves to those who own the Autos and oil and highway with no options to try other solutions.