I really like this talk by James Howard Kunstler. Granted, it was quite amusing but more importantly, his points about civic space and suburbs in the city really struck a note with me. I was born in Toronto and grew up in the metropolitan suburbs surrounding the downtown core. I found that I never liked the downtown area and I always yearned to be closer to wide open fields or lush forests. Unfortunately, employment is primarily in the urban core — thus I am working in the downtown core. I still live at home in the suburbs, but one of the worst aspects of my lifestyle is the fact that I have to commute for two hours everyday to work, and then commute for two hours back home. That in itself is a different issue.

Why do I put up with it? Because I still can’t see myself living downtown. I don’t like highrises and I can’t stand the overwhelming concrete jungle with very few parks to enjoy. There are people who enjoy living downtown and they love the lifestyle, and there those like myself who can’t wait to escape from the city every day of the week. Which type of person are you? Do you have places in the city you care about? I do in my neighbourhood, but not necessarily in the city.

However, Kunstler is right and I acknowledge the fact that I have to change my perspective on living in the city. The city also has to change the way it has been evolving for the past few decades. Real estate and economics play a large role in urban city planning but I think civic lifestyle should take precedence over land and property values.

I do wonder about Kunstler’s ideas and have thought of whether or not his idea on why we created the suburb has caused an increase in the number of cottages in the scenic or areas that are less developed. That said, my personal feelings for cottages are rather negative, but that’s another story! I also wonder if Kunstler’s ideas have any real correlation with how youth interact with one another. His point on how suburb-like areas can create anxiety and depression made me wonder if there was any truth to that statement with regards to the increase in violent crimes in schools. I realize there would definitely be quite a few more factors involved but nevertheless it made me wonder.

While it’s true that Kunstler’s talk focuses on America, and particularly small town USA, the ideas that he brought up and the reasoning for creating a sense of place for citizens of a city is probably very applicable to any city in North America with the continual expansion of big box shopping outlet malls.

The key outcome out of this for me was that I think I finally realize the dilemma involving cities and their surrounding suburb areas. It is as if there is a continual catch-22 cycle that needs to be slowed down to a halt if we are to preserve valuable farmland in and around cities, prevent urban sprawl (aka. National Automobile Slum), and maybe rethink how we live.