RSS FeedMay 16 2009
The Tragedy of Suburbia
James Howard Kunstler is not a fan of suburbia. In fact, he pretty much considers it the tragedy of modern society.
He wrote his book, The Geography of Nowhere, “Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work.” He continues the discussion in Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century
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Below is an entertaining video presentation by Kunstler covering some of what he finds distasteful in modern civic design.
Additional information on Kunstler and his books can be found on his website.
James Howard Kunstler is not a fan of suburbia. In fact, he pretty much considers it the tragedy of modern society.
He wrote his book, The Geography of Nowhere, “Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work.” He continues the discussion in Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century
Below is an entertaining video presentation by Kunstler covering some of what he finds distasteful in modern civic design.
Additional information on Kunstler and his books can be found on his website.
His message is worthy of being heard, and I whole-heartily agree with, but between his poor delivery, and the the fact that the video is 19+ minutes….it lost me. That kind of amuses me, since he’s talking about as a society our own “poor delivery” of our living spaces.
The concept of tiny houses and small-sizing your footprint seems to be “concise” living. Which this guy (or whoever made this video) *got* that.
Thanks for this!
I just reserved both his books at the library…I’ve been looking for more resourses on making spaces more meaningful, this is a big help!
Mara, I suspect the TED lectures are expected to be a certain length. I actually found all of his examples interesting but appreciate hearing a different reaction to his presentation.
I’m a long time fan of JHK’s blog Clusterfuck Nation (http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/), where he gives weekly posts on the coming gas crisis. He’s been spot-on about so many aspects to date. I’m working my way through “The Long Emergency”, which is really his blog made into a book. Thanks for this link.