Design vs. Develop

From the New York Times, there’s a profile of Nassau County, New York which is home to the original Levittown (which was soon after followed by Levittown, PA): the model post-war suburb. We see aging, single-use neighborhoods with stagnant tax bases and high housing costs. What’s the cure? Take a look at Arlington, the author suggests.

Yes, my current home of Arlington, VA is showcased as a model for renewing a suburb. From what I’ve read of historical accounts, I’d have to agree. Shoutouts are given to having subway service within walking distance of apartments and the fact that 8% of our land generates 1/3 of our tax revenue, thanks to condo high-rises and other compact developments. It is interesting living here: you have clusters of very large buildings that taper all the way down to single family homes within half a mile. The auto traffic here is pretty tame, with the exception of a few intersections. We have bike routes people actually use to get places and many things are close enough to walk to.

From TectonicP’s Stud Central:

This is what the age of the blog is doing to people, it is destroying interpersonal relationships. We cease to live within the context of close relationships with people we trust and instead begin to function within a watered down kind of “group relationship.”

You are cheating the people close to you out of showing them that you trust them, and the relationship becomes all take and no give; where you are taking the support you need and offering nothing in return.

Dan could totally start talking about how private, suburban surroundings cut us off from people and feed the personal blogging phenomenon.

By the way… I’m trying to keep this blog reasonably “professional,” sticking to mildly snarky opinion and observation rather than my daily emotional fluctuations. If you ever catch me writing sappy, self-serving posts like the ones he’s describing, please call me out on it.