Hit Me With Your Best (Anti-Urbanism) Shot
There are times when I kind of feel like doing a gut check and preventing myself from accidentally or imperceptibly getting into a bubble, where what comes to feel normal, or barely needing explanation, to me sounds nutty to other people. I saw this interesting thread on Twitter recently, asking: “What are the best arguments against urbanism or YIMBYism that you’ve heard or considered?” And it got me thinking about this. I’ll give you mine, the thing that’s always in the back of my head and that I feel a need to reconcile in some way. People need familiarity—landmarks, markers, places to plant and gather memories. Individuals and built places and the communities that arise in that interplay are not abstractions. A lot of very NIMBY neighborhoods are also genuinely lovely, neighborly places to live. It’s difficult to pry apart their exclusive nature from their neighborly nature—from the social trust that you get when the same people inhabit the same place over time together. When I hear someone—even in my own neighborhood!—say “Oh, it’s such a lovely place to live, isn’t it?” my first thought now is, “I bet you oppose new housing, huh?” And I realize that being an urbanist and housing advocate has made me have that reaction. I’m not sure that’s healthy—to see neighborliness as following from an exclusionary attitude, rather than perhaps seeing exclusion as the flip-side or cost of social trust. I don’t want to “ruin” anybody’s neighborhood or my own, but it’s hard not to think that there are some costs to growth and density. It seems to me that if we focus on housing units only, we can lose the point of housing units. We can end up implicitly endorsing the atomization of American life instead of seeking whatever the right pathway is towards thicker and more neighborly communities. We can almost define “community” as some actual particular place out of existence. Now, my way of reconciling this is to get a little mystical and argue that the “character” of a neighborhood is different from the current built environment. Or, even more mystical, the inward substance of a place is different from its outward form. I like this idea and it’s also true—as a city evolves, it does in fact remain the same place in some ways—but I recognize it’s a little bit of a device for explaining away or smoothing over what might be a real psychological cost to growth for the people who are already in a place. Here’s a long piece I wrote about some big changes in my hometown, and how I understand my town’s future in some ways to be a picking up of the past—carrying on the same, old project of building it up—versus locking it in amber and treating it like a historical artifact. Nonetheless, I do feel a need to force myself to choose growth/housing/urbanism over my natural inclination to keep things the way they are. So that’s me. There are some interesting answers to the original question on Twitter. Here are a few.
In other words: it’s futile.
In other words, housing advocates are annoying on the internet. There’s a “weak” version of this: “ They’re right but they’re annoying so I disagree with them.” But there’s also a “strong” version: “If these people are snarky and sardonic and uncharitable, maybe we should be a little suspicious of their policy priorities and how they’re going to implement them if given the political power to do so.”
In other words, contra some of the most market-/property-rights-oriented framings, there will always be a need for social/public/subsidized housing. I think most housing advocates are both/and on this, but you will find some market-only folks.
In other words, land-value tax would fix it?
Pretty straightforward, but an acknowledgement that building housing would mean anyone gets to live anywhere they want is simplistic. Yeah, when I see someone say “I should be able to live anywhere on any budget” I get why people connect housing advocacy with entitlement. That will never really be the case.
This is an endorsement of incremental, “slow” improvement, like Strong Towns, over dreams of a national high-speed rail map. Some others: people need green space, which might suggest walkable low-intensity urbanism but not super-dense Manhattan-style urbanism (unless, I guess, you can get your Central Park in there). Mixed-use development is difficult to execute well because architects and builders mostly focus on one building in one use segment (I guess this in increasingly not true, but it does take time to relearn the old skills.) There’s more. Go peruse the thread if this interests you. So I’m curious how you would answer this question—even or especially if you do support housing growth/density/walkability/the whole urbanism package. Leave a comment! Related Reading: Thank you for reading! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekly subscribers-only piece, plus full access to the archive: over 900 pieces and growing. And you’ll help ensure more like this! You're currently a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Older messages
State Of Work
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Checking in on urbanism vs. remote work ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
New and Old #158
Friday, April 19, 2024
Friday roundup and commentary ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
An American Walks Into A Sushi Bar
Thursday, April 18, 2024
America needs to make better things boring ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
A Towering Achievement
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
What Do You Think You're Looking At? #158 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Respites and Little Luxuries
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
"Dynamic pricing," precarity, social credit, and efficiency as ideology ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
You Might Also Like
Why are we all suddenly drinking powder?
Friday, May 3, 2024
Did a “Top Chef” contestant steal his winning dish?
5-Bullet Friday — How to Find Joy, A Powerful Journaling Prompt, Hilarious Tokyo Blind Dates, Wisdom from a Firebrand, and More
Friday, May 3, 2024
“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle'..."
A Cut Editor’s Search for the Perfect Black Summer Dress
Friday, May 3, 2024
A stylish weekly newsletter helping you make good choices about what to spend your money on. Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may
New and Old #160
Friday, May 3, 2024
Friday roundup and commentary ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Figure it out
Friday, May 3, 2024
10 things worth sharing this week ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
I’ve spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live?
Friday, May 3, 2024
But first: the under-$25 dress we're buying in every color — Check out what we Skimm'd for you today May 3, 2024 Subscribe Read in browser But first: the under-$25 dress we're buying in
"He Mea Māloʻeloʻe #3" by Donovan Kūhiō Colleps
Friday, May 3, 2024
I cannot draw a line beyond your names, Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day May 3, 2024 He Mea Māloʻeloʻe #3 Donovan Kūhiō Colleps to my kūpuna, Kaahanui & Pelekanoho I cannot draw a line
Claim Your Special Men's Health Offer Today!
Friday, May 3, 2024
Subscribe to Men's Health today! Men's Health Shop logo Get stronger, smarter, better 1 year of print mag + digital mag access Men's Health Magazine is the essential read for active,
Dakota Johnson’s Go-To Sneakers Are A Cool Girl Staple
Friday, May 3, 2024
You'll want a pair.
My Top 3: Little Things I'm Proud Of
Friday, May 3, 2024
*preens* ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏