I really like how you pinpoint the connection between tech and isolation here. I think another example of this is air conditioning. AC is great, it's literally the first thing I installed when I bought my current house. But it allows you to stay inside when its hot. Compare that to the pre-AC era when you'd have people listening to the radio or watching TV in groups on the stoop. Or, in many old world cities, you have urban design that's built around controlling drafts and cooling streets — meaning people have a physical incentive to go outside. And the late night cultures of parts of southern Europe (eating dinner at 10 pm in Spain for example) is in part a response to heat. The list could go on and on. I was a Mormon missionary in Brazil at a time and place where most people I knew didn't have AC, and the result was a lot of group hanging out in the evenings in the courtyard. You basically couldn't stay inside by yourself.
I don't begrudge anyone putting in AC, and again I've done it myself. It's a boon in many ways. But the changes its has produced both in terms of behavior and place design I think contribute to isolation.
"Urbanism is a lifestyle choice for the well-off, but a necessity for the poor."
Particularly since becoming parents 5 years ago, my husband and I have noticed that all the (nice!) public and school playgrounds around us — at the risk of sounding *incredibly* self-important / judgemental / stuck-up — are overwhelmingly used by what appears to be lower-income families, latchkey kids, single parents, etc. It struck me that many more well-off families with littles might be able to afford nice playsets in their own backyards, thus not frequenting the local, public offerings. (Or maybe don't want to associate with The Poors? Or find other individualized, private activities to keep their young kids busy? I really am not sure.) This actually applies to the public library, as well, now that I think about it.
Just some unfinished thoughts to throw into the discussion!
Love that quote. So how do you get good design — design that fosters connection — to the big middle swath? Seems like we don't have an answer yet.
re: playgrounds, in the winter its cold where we live and so we often go to the indoor mall playground by our house, which I sort of hate (it's a mall!) but it's the only free place that's open in the evenings. And I have noticed the same thing there; there's a class dynamic going on in who uses public spaces.
Yes, I would love creative ideas about neighborhood togetherness WITHOUT ditching AC. Our neighborhood comes alive in the warmer months, but really is kind of dead during the winter.
I think that’s the trick. It requires individuals to build the habits/institutions that compensate for the fact that we no longer *have* to do things together. We have to *want* to do things together. And that’s harder when cities are dangerous, roads aren’t walkable, both parents are working 50 hr/wk jobs, etc. But we all know places where that sort of community building happens regularly, even with AC! The hard part is figuring out taking it from a select few to something more people can benefit from
I really like how you pinpoint the connection between tech and isolation here. I think another example of this is air conditioning. AC is great, it's literally the first thing I installed when I bought my current house. But it allows you to stay inside when its hot. Compare that to the pre-AC era when you'd have people listening to the radio or watching TV in groups on the stoop. Or, in many old world cities, you have urban design that's built around controlling drafts and cooling streets — meaning people have a physical incentive to go outside. And the late night cultures of parts of southern Europe (eating dinner at 10 pm in Spain for example) is in part a response to heat. The list could go on and on. I was a Mormon missionary in Brazil at a time and place where most people I knew didn't have AC, and the result was a lot of group hanging out in the evenings in the courtyard. You basically couldn't stay inside by yourself.
I don't begrudge anyone putting in AC, and again I've done it myself. It's a boon in many ways. But the changes its has produced both in terms of behavior and place design I think contribute to isolation.
That part on isolation also had me thinking about this essay, which lives in my head rent-free: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2021/1/5/the-vital-pleasure-of-existing-in-public
"Urbanism is a lifestyle choice for the well-off, but a necessity for the poor."
Particularly since becoming parents 5 years ago, my husband and I have noticed that all the (nice!) public and school playgrounds around us — at the risk of sounding *incredibly* self-important / judgemental / stuck-up — are overwhelmingly used by what appears to be lower-income families, latchkey kids, single parents, etc. It struck me that many more well-off families with littles might be able to afford nice playsets in their own backyards, thus not frequenting the local, public offerings. (Or maybe don't want to associate with The Poors? Or find other individualized, private activities to keep their young kids busy? I really am not sure.) This actually applies to the public library, as well, now that I think about it.
Just some unfinished thoughts to throw into the discussion!
Love that quote. So how do you get good design — design that fosters connection — to the big middle swath? Seems like we don't have an answer yet.
re: playgrounds, in the winter its cold where we live and so we often go to the indoor mall playground by our house, which I sort of hate (it's a mall!) but it's the only free place that's open in the evenings. And I have noticed the same thing there; there's a class dynamic going on in who uses public spaces.
Yes, I would love creative ideas about neighborhood togetherness WITHOUT ditching AC. Our neighborhood comes alive in the warmer months, but really is kind of dead during the winter.
I think that’s the trick. It requires individuals to build the habits/institutions that compensate for the fact that we no longer *have* to do things together. We have to *want* to do things together. And that’s harder when cities are dangerous, roads aren’t walkable, both parents are working 50 hr/wk jobs, etc. But we all know places where that sort of community building happens regularly, even with AC! The hard part is figuring out taking it from a select few to something more people can benefit from