The Deleted Scenes - When Small Towns Wanted Tall Buildings
Recently in my hometown of Flemington, New Jersey, I spotted these buildings on Main Street. I’ve already suggested the significance of this in the headline, but just take a look at the pictures. I’ve seen many façades like this in small towns throughout my explorations, but it never struck me until this recent visit that this was not just another little bit of ornamentation, but something quite significant. It isn’t architecturally significant, really; it’s kind of tacky. But it’s culturally significant, because it points to a time when small-town residents and builders actually embraced size and tallness in buildings. So much so, they wanted them to look taller than they actually were. This contrasts almost directly with the prevailing attitude in many of these same places today, where the size and scale of buildings ends up subject to all kinds of silly bargaining: five floors? That’s too tall, it doesn’t fit, it will block out the sun, could you do three or four? (200 apartments? That’s too many! Could you do 150? 170 parking spots? That’s not enough! Could you do 200?) This is the fate of virtually every proposal for a new project, ironically, often, in the exact places that have classic urban forms and once built false façades to exaggerate the height of buildings. This is a window into how dramatically American attitudes towards cities and urban form have changed from those days to the present. Once, in one of my grad school classes on international trade, I remember the professor noting that in Chinese villages, people wanted factories. It meant jobs, and it meant progress. Even then, before I knew much about urbanism, it occurred to me that this was the opposite of NIMBYism. Perhaps this has something to do with the level of economic development at which a country finds itself. Perhaps there’s something about affluence that dulls the sense of competition and upward striving that led to these attitudes back then. We value stability and order more, and we have less of an ability to identify with the entrepreneurial rough-and-tumble that actually built the places we love today, but wish to freeze in time as lifestyle accouterments rather than as organic human habitats. Related Reading: Spread Out or Smashed Together? Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekend subscribers-only post, plus full access to the archive of over 200 posts and growing. And you’ll help ensure more material like this! You’re a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Older messages
New and Old #32
Friday, November 19, 2021
Friday roundup and commentary
Hilltop Hotel Rises
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Good news from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Glass Blocks, Glass Blocks, Glass Blocks
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
What Do You Think You're Looking At? #32
The Record-Tape Missing Link
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
A fascinating piece of industrial design evolution
Development and Open Space in Madison, NJ
Monday, November 15, 2021
Save the forest or build in the town
You Might Also Like
Success means you get to do it again tomorrow
Friday, May 10, 2024
10 things worth sharing this week ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
savourites #88
Friday, May 10, 2024
people watching | picnics | pistachio ice cream ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Do what you like, you've been too nice
Friday, May 10, 2024
But first: wellness at your fingertips — Check out what we Skimm'd for you today May 10, 2024 Subscribe Read in browser But first: wellness at your fingertips Update location or View forecast “From
"Doodh Pitthi // Cidium" by Chandanie Somwaru
Friday, May 10, 2024
call it // cauldron // earth of winter // cut into // Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day May 10, 2024 Doodh Pitthi // Cidium Chandanie Somwaru call it // cauldron // earth of winter // cut
Brittle white roses
Friday, May 10, 2024
You drive past the country cemetery on a cool morning. Rows of the dead long buried and long forgotten. Weathered headstones and tombstones. Markers half-sunken into the earth. A small memorial garden
Hailey Bieber Announced Her Pregnancy In The Most Breathtaking Dress
Friday, May 10, 2024
Congratulations!
My Top 3: Drama TV Series
Friday, May 10, 2024
You can sink your teeth into these ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
How to Tell If Someone Is Stealing Your Utilities
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Don't Fall for This Stolen iPhone Scam. Power, water, and internet are valuable—that's why we pay for them. And that's why someone might try to steal yours. Here's how to spot utilities
Poems for Mother's Day & Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Plus browse poems for graduation Facebook Twitter Instagram May 2024 poems to read and share Mother's Day is May 12. Celebrate with kid-friendly poems about mothers and motherhood: “From
Blast Belly Fat With This Plan from Men's Health
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Men's Health shop logo Lose Weight With The Ultimate Belly Fat Workout View in Browser Men's Health 28-Day Belly Fat Burner This Science-Backed Plan Gets Rid of Your Gut! This Science-Backed