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City Renewal
Mapping the Middle of Nowhere Is suburban life sustainable? Are we destroying our landscape? James Howard Kunstler gives answers in his book The Geography of Nowhere. The Harlem Miracle How charter schools are doing phenomenally well in Harlem. "How the City Hurts Your Brain ... and What You Can Do About It" On quashing the mental noise of cities: "The city has always been an engine of intellectual life, from the 18th-century coffeehouses of London, where citizens gathered to discuss chemistry and radical politics, to the Left Bank bars of modern Paris, where Pablo Picasso held forth on modern art. Without the metropolis, we might not have had the great art of Shakespeare or James Joyce; even Einstein was inspired by commuter trains. "And yet, city life isn't easy. The same London cafes that stimulated Ben Franklin also helped spread cholera; Picasso eventually bought an estate in quiet Provence. While the modern city might be a haven for playwrights, poets, and physicists, it's also a deeply unnatural and overwhelming place ... "One of the main forces at work is a stark lack of nature, which is surprisingly beneficial for the brain. Studies have demonstrated, for instance, that hospital patients recover more quickly when they can see trees from their windows, and that women living in public housing are better able to focus when their apartment overlooks a grassy courtyard. Even these fleeting glimpses of nature improve brain performance, it seems, because they provide a mental break from the urban roil." Click here to read the entire article. Click here to respond to this article once you have read it. The City and Its Renewal This article explains how the cultural phenomenon of cities provides a unique opportunity for citizens, civic organizations, churches, businesses, and political leaders to make thoughtful, significant contributions to the flourishing of community life. The Case for Paleo-Urbanism Why Conservatives Should Care about Cities |
