Comments on: The horror

By: Cowtown Pattie

Cowtown Pattie — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 17:17:12 +0000

Yes, it is a passing of an era for New Orleans, sadly. Like the horrid car commercial which took a thoughtful ( if a little corny) song – “Dust in the Wind “- and made it cheap, so go our links to the past.

“Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky…” and even those are on a short list it seems…

By: lindy

lindy — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 01:27:05 +0000

It seems that it is a deep seated fear in the heart of mainstream middle-income America of real life, which demands that all experience be sanitized and turned into a tame theme park outing, where you never need fear running into anyone or anything different than you expect, including, say, a poor person, or a chicken coop, or children playing a game in a place not designated as a play area, and not coached by an obsessed adult.

The central fancy shopping districts of all our major cities are becoming indistinguishable, and vast numbers of americans head for Toyland Europe, in Vegas, rather than deal with actual people who don’t speak their language, and narrow streets where it might be hard to park. Life at 3/4 scale, a la Disney.

I have tried, and I find it nearly impossible to discuss this with people who appear to live in this kind of self imposed bubble. There is always some reason for limiting themselves to a narrow range of pre-digested choices in housing and community. These are people who can afford to take a nice holiday every year, and have never gone anywhere but Disneyworld, or a cruise. It gives them the illusion of control or safety, I guess- though how any one can feel protected by these things, I can’t imagine. Particularly in the immediate wake of Katrina.

It seems so limiting and joyless to me- why would people want to cut themselves off from all the creative energy of their cities- but many folks do not experience this as sad in any way.. It is quite possible that they and their elected representatives will turn everywhere which is not actually a prison into a souless replica of an imaginary safe community in the imagined safe past. Because they really don’t see what you’re talking about. At all.

And I am awfully worried whether your concerns, which should be the concerns of all of us, can be communicated to people who do not already understand them or care for them.

By: jenett

jenett — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:29:56 +0000

It seems to be politics vs. culture, at least to me. It is kinda sickening…

By: mercuryfern

mercuryfern — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:34:00 +0000

Oh, it hurts, it hurts.

To my mind, the south is the worst region of all re land use issues. Maybe it’s the more rural tradition at compared to, say, the Northeast or even the West and Midwest. (adorable little towns in this last, I had no idea. It’s like a New Urbanism Mecca, only technically Old Smalltownism)

I’m not surprised by this proposal either, but sickened nonetheless. People are so shortsighted and cheap when it comes to land use. New Orleans was a southern anomaly, but I can’t help but believe it will become just another Atlanta. How can the artistic foment the city was so famous for thrive again in a physical place which is not just generic, but which fosters separation and privacy like a suburb over the collaborative use of public spaces that are the life blood of any urban culture?

Meh.