A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way.
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| Preachin's Blog A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way. |
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Friday, May 21, 2004 Topic: New UrbanismToday my rant is about the issue of suburban sprawl, greed driven developer destruction of useful community space, and the excesses which flow from these two components. We in the United States live in a society characterized a type of hyper-modernism wherein few care much about surrounding community issues, the natural flow of things, and the long-term effects of short-term prosperity. Since the end of the second World War our country has changed, some area more quickly than others, but one of the most radical changes has been in the shape and form of our communities. Traditionally our country was characterized by communities where housing, business, streets, and public facilities were all one and worked together to facilitate a living space.  Yet after the second World War the baby boomers began a panicked driven movement to the suburbs, contractors obliged and suburban sprawl found a nesting place in the American community.
Through this sprawl city and town planning gave way to neighborhoods isolated from business sectors where one might be able to gain easy access to food stores, entertainment venues, public spaces, restaurants, and the other things a community offers its citizenry. Isolation from community became a result. Families would have several separate cars in order to get to their jobs while stilling being able accomplish various tasks. The streets and roads would become congested with thick layers of traffic, mall parking lots would spill over with the autos parked, few people were able to walk about to get their tasks and goals accomplished. The car became a necessary staple for the suburban family unit simply for viability sake. In this time few suburban towns and cities invested much money in public transportation programs, and those that did saw little use of these marginalized programs. Large tracks of land would become encumbered by newly designed neighborhoods, large strip malls would spring up over short periods of time, and public space all but disappeared. The harm on the environment would soon begin to show. Yet due to contractors efforts and the public appetite for quick housing zoning laws would be enacted to pacify. Urban planning was not given much planning. A bleak picture emerged and we are where we are today because of the excesses of past generations. Now has come the time to clean up our mess. The Congress for New Urbanism is a group of developers, architects, city planners, politicians, concerned citizens amongst others who seek to bring together urban space and make it sensible again. There are a great number of methods behind the New Urbanism movement; perhaps the best is revising local community space to once again integrate business sectors with community sectors. Several projects have been attempted on this model (perhaps the most prolific is Seaside, Florida) and are still in the development stages. One of the goals of New Urbanism is to cut down on automobile traffic, blend communities, use quality public services (trains, buses, etc.) to provide transportation, and reestablish a coherent looking community structure.  I believe that it is high time we began to seriously investigate working towards steps which will correct the blight of suburban sprawl. The church can have an amazing impact on these discussions and help facilitate a vision. I make no lies about this matter, I believe that if we are serious are being stewards of what God has provided for us we must be stewards of the environment where we exist too. New Urbanism would offer an excellent place where we could place a church at or near the center of a community and draw others into that church. Evangelism methods would be strengthened. A real sense of community would abound. We could see a unique opportunity to provide a substantive living quarter that helped meet all the needs of a person and their family. Suburban sprawl has its affects on our churches, but more so our churches turning a blind eye to issues has created more of a problem for us.
An excellent read on this matter is the Acton Institute's Markets and Morality issue on the topic. posted by Preachin Jesus | 1:04 PM | |
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