The Deleted Scenes - My Old New Jersey Home
I had my first full American Diary column in Discourse Magazine the other day! I’ve got another piece coming out in a new magazine sort of related to the same theme, too: that small-town life in many ways lets you live as if you’re in an adventure/RPG video game. I explored this idea way back around the time I started this newsletter, based on an idea my best friend and I had had for a very long time:
I had not, in fact, reread that piece before writing my column. Here’s my updated version of that old analogy. I’m struck by how it feels like the same idea but refined. I guess that’s what happens when you’re a writer:
This, however, is probably the key in the column, and it’s a completely new element compared to that first newsletter piece:
It’s not a stretch to say that for me, that’s what urbanism is all about. That’s what urbanism is. It’s the interplay of our humanity with a built environment that works with it and not against it. I think our tendency towards individualism in America can make this hard for us to discern. We experience our lives as a series of our decisions and their payoffs, but it’s a lot harder to see how our circumstances are shaping those outcomes. Economic circumstances, sure. But the way density and proximity just of lower the stakes of doing things and make things happen? We don’t even really have the language for that concept. Say this the wrong way, and it can sound sort of…commie. Or it can sound like “You didn’t build that,” which is a thing I still hear people quote sometimes. Well, there’s a conservatism in there somewhere: we didn’t build the world we inherited; it is entrusted to us. For a brief moment, we are its stewards. This isn’t a statement on economic policy; it’s a call to humility. I also want to emphasize this bit from the column: “There’s this physical, geographic center that exerts a force on its little region. The old town is a social and economic lodestone.” I write about how “suburbia” isn’t one thing: the older suburbia of the Northeast is ordered by the presence of all these old towns. I think of it almost like Catholic parishes; you belong to one because of where you live, even if you’re not that close to it. It’s a sort of real and sort of intellectual way of ordering physical space. You could say all these little old small towns have a penumbra around them; there is no no man’s land. Even the strip malls and subdivisions “belong” to a place. I would never have thought about this, at least not this way, had I stayed in New Jersey, or if I had not become interested in urbanism. But as much as I love Northern Virginia, I do find that it lacks this deep sense of place and local identity:
In other words, there’s a manner in which spreading things out throws up friction, raises the psychological and time cost of doing things. Physical density and proximity allow you to densely pack your day with actual activities and interactions. To build places that are dense with delight and whimsy and serendipity. We’ve so greatly lost touch with this way of living that simply describing it sounds like a fairytale. But that is the life of small towns and urban neighborhoods. Some of us, perhaps, don’t know what we have. Most of us, I think, don’t know—or can’t put into words—what we’re missing. Read the whole thing! 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 1,100 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. |
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Friday, October 25, 2024
Friday roundup and commentary ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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