I’m busy doing a little city planning in my mind today. In five minutes at the bookstore I skimmed a book called The Suburban Nation. I wish now that I’d bought it, but I didn’t, yet, so this is all based on my brief acquaintance with the work! Google it: there are lots of reviews out there. But the basic premise is this: America has a suburban sprawl creeping the nation. You know what I mean. Each town looks pretty much like the next town, with its standard assortment of recognizable restaurants and stores, and very little to distinguish it from the next town over. In some ways, we are comfortable with this trend. It provides us with known quantities in shopping, eating. In other ways, we wonder why there’s no real sense of “place” in some of these places.
The author offered severa reasons for the suburban sprawl, including several that really stood out to me as making sense in both city planning and in life planning.
- Curved streets as opposed to straight streets. Apparently a curved street is the little black dress of city planning: everyone wants them. But the curved streets also limit the sight lines of a town. You can’t look down the square and see the courthouse at one end and the church at the other. This creates a lack of landmarks, and a blandness in character. In addition, modern planning has us treating churches and other civic buildings the same way we treat our residences. We hide them behind an access road and lots of landscaping, rather than embracing the role they play in our lives.
- Failure to appreciate our public spaces. we have lost the concept of the public space, except (as the author says) in Walt Disney World parks and in shopping malls. In days gone by we valued — and budgeted for — public places for conversation, leisure, gathering. And while we have the rise of third spaces (something I’m all for!), something is lost in the translation.
- Lack of meaningful destinations. If a person were so inclined to leave their home and walk, in most suburbs there is no meaningful destination to walk to. In an ordinary amount of walking time, the person will only arrive at more manicured lawns and homes. Small towns and cities that thrive — Such as the author’s example of Alexandria — offer basic services and entertainment within a five to ten minute walk.
There was more, so much more, but these issues really spoke ot me on a spiritual level, as well. Life is kind of like that city planning. We really need to honor what is unique about our own lives and the lives of others. Sometimes the straight path leads to a greater appreciation of what lies on the other end. I know I need to stop and enjoy how far I’ve come, how the view from here could not have been imagined from there. We also need to build public spaces into our lives. The blessings God has heaped on us are not for our enjoyment alone. All of the beauty and wonder of life multiplies when it is shared. Grief is more bearable, joy is more vivid. God has meant us to live in the public square. And finally, those meaningful destinations call. Setting a compelling vision for your life and celebrating the goals along the way are what make us unique from each other, distinct, with character. I want to make sure that my days pass journeying towards a meaningful destination, not wandering in a circle mired in errands and minutia.
Just a few odd thoughts at the end of a very busy, productive day. And yes, I’m headed back to the bookstore as soon as possible!
