Can't Please Everyone, So You've Got to Please Yourself

When I was a kid I loved the song, "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band. I loved the narrative embedded in the song and as a budding non-conformist I was especially drawn to the lyric "you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."

As a planner studying with talented, enthusiastic, but incredibly diverse planners at USC I believe that there was something that linked us beyond our love for cities, and I believe that it was our unquenchable desire to do good, sometimes to the point of pleasing others.

Planners want to create cities that serve as many people from as many walks of life and socio-economic levels as possible. "Equitable cities," "socially inclusive," "socially equitable- we can play this game all night people- cities," etc., But as we've all learned the hard way, if you try to please everyone you'll wind up pleasing no one.

Yale School of Architecture assistant design and professor Keith Krumwiede has designed an exhibit called, "Freedomland." Krumwiede has laid a grid over a fictitious land where all the things that we aspire to are met: local farming communes in harmony with urban living, but people can still go home to their single family homes.

As I am no longer in LA and unable to see the exhibit I'll let Nate Berg describe it,

"Each town is a square, three miles by three miles, subdivided into 36 square sections of 160 acres each, the entire landscape of which is bisected by primary roads at half-mile intervals. At the center of each town are four 160-acre infrastructural squares – an energy area with a field of solar panels, a water reservoir, a “ten-acre big box of community and commerce” market square, and “an ever-growing, manicured pyramid of refuse” in the waste square.

Each 160-acre square in the rest of the town is further subdivided into four 40-acre plots, one-quarter of which is used for housing, and the rest is preserved as open and agricultural space. The housing styles, the exhibition notes, are selected from “the country’s greatest builders” and represent the most popular designs in the country. Each housing plan and neighborhood layout is detailed. To facilitate crop rotation and the short lifespan of modern housing, each neighborhood is demolished every 20 years and rotated counterclockwise to the next 40-acre plot.

It’s a modern-day, tongue-in-cheek take on Thomas Jefferson’s ideas about a rural democratic society of citizen farmers."

Although many planners will rarely, if and or ever have the luxury of designing a town completely from scratch we need to be realistic. Trying to check off every single item on the town utopia of our fantasies doesn't create a fantastic bouillabaisse, it just creates a hot mess. This is not to say that we should not strive to create places that are equitable for all, but it's ridiculous to just throw whatever is at the wall and see what sticks. People already think that are cities are a hodge podge, let's not give them more evidence.

"Freedomland" is currently available for viewing at the Woodbury University Hollywood Gallery in Los Angeles.

source: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2012/02/most-absurd-community-one-tries-please-everyone/1273/

If You Could See It From My Perspective

I had a really interesting chat today with a friend of mine who is from Switzerland, and until recently was working at Pixar. We are relatively new friends, but from what I have gathered, he came to the US for undergrad at Northwestern in Chicago and now works here in Emeryville/greater San Francisco area. The reason why I provide this background this because I asked him if it was strange not seeing the cars that he was familiar with in Switzerland over here. He replied that where he was from not many people drove because gas is so expensive. Also, the public transport was very good. Transport was consistent so it was not a hardship to take public transit. Another comment that I thought was very interesting was that he said that he had a hard time understanding our bus routes. Where he came from the bus ran on a main road, not splitting off. Whenever people talk about public transit, not in that awed tone of "you read public transit!?" that one would reserve for occasions that your companion casually mention that they commute in on a flying unicorn, but in the blasé tone that one would describe the color of oatmeal I often think of Chicago and New York. These are both cities where public transit is woven so seamlessly into the urban fabric that it is truly integrated, not an anomaly like I is in, say, Los Angeles.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Last week I went back to LA after being away for a month and a half away to move out of my old apartment and see my friends.

Having lived in LA for two years I thought that I'd slip right back where I left off. It wasn't that long, right?

While all the sites looked relatively the same (they fiiiinally filled in the potholes on my streeet that were deep enough to throw a toddler in), it is true that you can't go home again. I no longer worked in the City of Angels. I don't buy all of my groceries at the local Smart and Final. I don't sleep in the 90007 zip code.

Having moved around so much I'm highly attuned to my "place" in a city. Am I a tourist? Am I a resident? A student? Just passing through? Do I slot into the middle? Or am I on the periphery?

I used to be a student/resident, but now I'm just passing through. Not here to stay.

I'll admit it's a weird sensation having gone from being the one that everyone would go to when they wanted to know what was going on to having no idea.

And it was great going to places that I love- like the Public Library in Santa Monica (and snagging a Christopher Buckley book!) and Senor Fish (potato tacos!) and trying out new places like Masa, where one can snag New Zealand green lip mussels for under $15! Less than $20 seafood!? I'm listening!

LA, I will always love you. But I have to strike out for new adventures. I will always love you.

Steal My Sunshine, Or Safety and Welfare are Overrated

Usually, I'm really excited about the work that I do for the Planning Department. But this time I have hit a wall.

Back in 2002 the fair city of LA banned murals courtesy of Ordinance 174517.

I had no idea until literally yesterday as there are murals all over LA, which I love! And there are often new ones. For a kid from the Midwest where the only murals were of the boring, history, civic variety to see murals of comical chickens, goddesses, and words so vibrant, it looks alive was mind-blowing. It

The thing that makes me the most angry is that it's even illegal on private property! This is why people think planning infringes on personal rights and is fascist. For once, I have to agree with them.

Apparently, murals endanger the safety and welfare of people, be they drivers or pedestrians. I sort of concede, as they are visually distracting.

Which is what is mandated against in Article 4.4 Regulations Section 14.4.1 Purpose A." That the design, construction, installation, repair and maintenance of signs will not interfere with traffic safety or otherwise endanger public safety." (if you're going to survive in planning, you have to be able to speak legalese fluently)

I'm trying to blow the system up from the inside out. But it's hard to circumvent the system when legal has you tied down. I'm trying to find ways for people to be able to put up murals on the side of their buildings, in the back, etc., But it's always a viewshed for someone.

It seems unfair that we have to squelch artistic expression just because people can't remember the basic tenant of driver's ed "eyes on the road!" But being so reliant on our cars is another symptom of what's wrong with society. Tho that's another post for another day :/

In the meantime, I am listening to my favorite 90s one hit wonders. This one seemed particularly appropriate, Len's "Steal My Sunshine"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1fzJ_AYajA

Flight from -the Suburbs?

As I've mentioned numerous times in this blog, post-World War II those that could moved out of the dirty, crowded, and sometimes dangerous cities into the clean, spacious, new, and crime-free suburbs. And a lot of people have stayed there, raised their children (my parents) there, who in turn raised their children there (ie my generation)

But part of the reason that people don't move to the cities is due to outdated paradigms as is pointed out in Aaron Renn for Urbanophile, cited in Streetsblog's March 7th, 2011 article, "Is Generational Turnover Necessary for the Return of Cities?"

http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/07/is-generational-turnover-necessary-for-the-return-of-cities/

"Gen-X and the Millennials have a much more optimistic and positive views of urban areas than baby boomers and previous generations. I think this results from the rupture that those earlier generations experienced when our urban cores declined. If you read a newspaper interview of someone in that age bracket, you always hear the stories about the wonderful things they did in the city when they were younger. It was the land of good factory jobs, the downtown department store where their mothers took them in white gloves for tea, of the tidy neighborhoods, the long standing institutions and rituals – now all lost, virtually all of it. Unsurprisingly, this has turned a lot of people bitter. Many people saw everything they held dear in their communities destroyed, and they were powerless to stop it.

For people about my age or younger, it’s a very different story. None of us knew any of those things. Our experience is totally different. We’ve basically never known a city that wasn’t lost. Gen-X, which Jim Russell views as the heartland of Rust Belt Chic, is a generation defined by alienation, so the alienated urban core suits our temperament perfectly. The Millennials of course have a very different attitude towards cities." -Aaron Renn,

http://www.urbanophile.com/2011/03/06/the-rupture/

Not all of my peers, even and especially in planning, want to settle down and/or raise their kids in the cities. And I don't blame them. The cities aren't for everyone. I always grew up with a backyard and if I have (don't get your hopes up Mom, this is merely a hypothetical exercise) kids, I'd like them to have one too. Meanwhile, my friend C was born and raised in Chicago and barely had a small plot of grass for her backyard. But she would rather (to paraphrase Arrested Development) be dead in the city, than alive in the suburbs (for trivia nuts, Lucille Bluth said that she'd "rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona" But the perceptions of "the city" need to be reexamined.

A prime example can be found in Newark, New Jersey. Scott Raab wrote an article for Esquire about Newark and its mayor, Cory Booker, for whom I have nothing but respect. Mayor Booker's picture is in the cited Streetsblog article

http://www.esquire.com/features/cory-booker-0708?click=main_sr

However, Mayor Booker wasn't entirely enthralled with the piece. See below for his rebuttal}

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/booker-letter

It brings to mind the demand to stop the fetishizing of places like Detroit with the so-called "ruin porn" as I'd mentioned my January 31st, 2011 post, "All We Are Saying is Give Detroit a Chance."

Yes, cities can be dirty, gritty, and loud. But they also have amazing food that you'll never encounter at the mall food court, venues that bring cultural events that only come to cities not suburbs, and a heart that is constantly pulsating with life unlike the static suburbs. And to be a bridge and tunnel person isn't the same when you can experience this rush every day. It may not be for everyone and it can be frustrating dealing with neighbors who play their music at all hours, getting bumped by people who don't apologize, and wondering if one could take a decontainment shower worthy of post-radiation exposure before stepping inside one's apartment at the end of a day. But I can all but guarantee you that if you come to the city you won't get shot, raped, or mugged- if you act like you know what you're doing. Come on in! the water's fine, and you'll miss out on a lot if you just stand on the sideline.

You Know More Than You Know

My friend is out of the country for spring break and I am taking care of his car for him. He let me use his car and I have been taking full advantage of that fact.

At first I was really nervous that I was going to get horribly lost- or worse- crash his car. So far, so good on both counts. I started out with a really easy route- taking the 10 (we refer to our highways, or freeways as they're known here, simply by their number) to Santa Monica for an informational interview.

But I used to hang out in Santa Monica a lot. And I was able to navigate based on prior experience.

This technique is using what Kevin Lynch, one of THE urban planners in our pantheon, would call a "mental map." A mental map is exactly what it sounds like- a visual map based on what you see, which often includes landmarks more than streets.

I've also been able to find my way to a friend's house that I've never been to, but was located on a main street. He also mentioned that he lived right next to a taxi stand, which was helpful.

And I was able to rely on past experience to find my way up to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale and downtown Pasadena (plus a heavy reliance on Google Maps).

Some people say that the only way to find your way around LA is to just get lost. I am not that confident in my abilities to find my way back. But it's good to know that I was able to draw on my past experience and be able to marry it with my current needs. If only I could know if I will be needing this experience in the future or if it will just be a useful tidbit.

Talkin Bout My Generation

I've been mulling over this whole state of affairs for a while. Not in the sub-prime mortgage meltdown sense of the world as I have in the past. But in the how the heck am I going to get a job!? ("call the recruiters" Yes Dad, thank you.), where am I going to live? What will my life be like post-graduation????

It used to be that you'd get an internship, if you did a good job and they liked you, they'd hire you when you graduate. You'd advance, save up for a down payment on a house, get a nicer car, etc., But now no one is in a position to hire, irregardless of how much they like you and we are stalled in terms of advancing up the prosperity ladder at a steady clip.

While this makes me rather upset, I'm more upset about all of the squandered potential that is occurring. I was at a birthday party for a fellow planner last week and another planner friend was talking about how he was applying for a job at Chase. The bank.

In the meantime, time continues on and we all get a little older and have to make our own concessions.

To cite one of my all-time favorite poems, the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—

I am ever-curious about the lifestyle habits of my peers and what does it say about our values?

As Scott Doyon noted in his post, "Settle Down Now, Is Community the New Frontier for Generation X?" March 4, 2011 "the youngest members [of Generation X] are now turning 30"

http://placeshakers.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/settle-down-now-is-community-the-new-frontier-for-generation-x/

Ten years ago, "settling down" would mean getting married, having kids, and often moving out to the burbs where the schools are "better." But recent studies have shown that people are getting married later than (some of) their parents. And the more education you pursue the longer it takes you to walk down the aisle. Not that they make the actual aisle longer, statistically those who pursue advanced degrees tend to marry later than their peers. Add that to the fact that having kids is an expensive undertaking and frankly rather "conventional" and an act that can be put off without too much repercussions in this age of fertility drugs, surrogates, and adoption.

But in non familial ways I have batting around the concept of Doyon calls, "the desire to sidestep authority in pursuit of a more appealing alternate system of their own creation. . . our instinct still tell us to sidestep power, to make things work on our own terms instead, . . ."

Doyon goes off on a different path of thought than the one that I am thinking. I am considering the potential for collectively pooling our resources, living with less, freecycling, and admitting our dependence on one another.

The last part of the above quote ends in "and nowhere is this [sidestepping the current system] more evident than in the rise of localism"

I'd talked earlier about the rise in "collaborative consumption" on my post "Sharing is Caring" on February 22nd, 2011. But I've been thinking about how would it work to live in a post-millennial commune, if you will. There is a ton of cheap real estate in underserved areas, such as Oakland, California, Detroit, or Hartford, Connecticut. How awesome would it be to hang out with my friends from planning school and form a loosely bound consulting agency while striving to fix the world's problems?

This would work, if it were say, 1970, and we weren't bound by our student loans (thanks inflation!) Ruth Reichel is one of my favorite authors/memoirists. And in her first memoir, Tender at the Bone she recounted her life in late 1960s/early 1970s Berkeley, CA where she lived in a huge house with a bunch of people in her early adulthood. It'd also be nice to be guaranteed a little private/personal time from my housemates so that if one wanted to bring a beau over, have family spend the night, just have a little peace and quiet one could get it and also give to others.

It's a lovely dream, but I'm not entirely sure that it can take root in reality.

As I try to make sense of an ever-changing world I leave you with a link to the recording of King George VI's , which was featured in the Oscar-winning (!) the King's Speech. Even though the quality is a little scratchy, the message still has the power to reverberate in the soul. Especially when you know the context in which this man spoke out against the darkness that threatened to engulf his nation (ie Hitler's march across Europe)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAhFW_auT20