Wednesday, March 23, 2005

New Urbanism = New Utopianism

The herd of COWS running the City of Madison are all true believers in the philosophical Principles of New Urbanism.

1. - Walkability
2. - Connectivity
3. - Mixed-Use & Diversity
4. - Mixed Housing
5. - Quality Architecture & Urban Design
6. - Traditional Neighborhood Structure
7. - Increased Density
8. - Smart Transportation
9. - Sustainablity
10. - Quality of Life

Taken together they form a utopian vision of human society that derives from a conceptual mix of fairytale nostalgia simpler times, a absolute conviction that pristine nature is more valuable than human use of the land, and a contempt for the freedom of mobility that has allowed average humans to optimize privacy by escaping crowding. All of the New Urbanism writing is loaded with immeasurable words, like healthy and smart, that sound good but are essentially expressions of desires rather than facts. If you sugar coat crap there will be people that will swallow it whole and believe themselves nourished.