exactly

Contrary to what another poster surmised, I don’t live in a cabin, but a large, modern open-concept house in the “exurbs”. I have space, privacy, peace-and-quiet, lots of land where i grow apples, pears, blueberries, and various vegetables, full internet access and about a 20 minute commute to work, which like many modern high-tech companies, is also in the exurbs.

One thing that many people in ths discussion don’t realize is that in many ancient cities people used to spen most of their time in their own neighborhoods, doing business with local merchants and shopkeepers and seeing many of the same faces all day long. Ancient cities tended to be divided or organized along ethnic or religious lines so people lived in the same quarter, ghetto, etc, as others like them.

I concur. I believe studies have been done to show that humans live most copacetically and productively in groups of not more than 150. That’s a miniscule number when you consider that a “small” city is 100,000 people. If we can’t migrate back to a small village/tribe society, perhaps we should be considering micro-neighborhoods, where all the basic needs are met by the members of the m-n: food production, etc.

Trying to live in a more integrated way with the earth’s natural environment might impel us back toward small communities.

Ben, thanks for the link. I’d never heard of Diane Lewis, but received an invitation to attend a lecture she was giving right after reading your note. Couldn’t make it, but I’ll seek her out in future.

I was looking up Mike Davis’ contact info when your comment came in. I’m researching Part II of this conversation: slums as cities of the future. I just read through the Pitch a Show Thread and I can’t find your water pitch. Perhaps you should resubmit it.

If you had a time machine, where would you take a visitor from the past? Would you offer the 2000-odd year old city of Rome as a vision of the city of the future? More likely you would offer as example a city that scarcely existed (or not at all) in your guest’s time.

Perhaps the title should be changed to “Existing City in the Future”?

When looking for the model “City of the Future”, you need to look where the cities are not … yet, but will be later.

New York was once the city of the future, as shaped by sea travel. Chicago was once the city of the future, as shaped by railroad travel. Los Angeles was once the city of the future, as shaped by the automobile. To find the next model “City of the Future” you want to look where the influence of the Interstates and the Internet finds it’s fullest expression.

To look past the immediate future, you need to look outside today’s old cities. You need to look at the spaces in between. Drive out of Los Angeles. Do not be fooled by the lack of a readily discernible center. the suburbs of today are greater engines of economic activity than major cities of the not-so-distant past.

Drive up Interstate 15. Note the tremendous growth surrounding Las Vegas. Drive a bit further and you hit rapidly growing St. George, Utah. Stop and pick up the real estate fliers as you travel down the interstate. Clearly something major is afoot.

Between the 1930′s and the 1960′s, something like 1/3 of the US population quietly moved from farms to cities and suburbs. Seems that we are in the middle of another big quiet change. This time folk are moving outward, away from crowds, crime. pollution, and overpriced real estate. The Internet and all those shiny-new trucks on the Interstates have further lessened the need to live in major cities and their suburbs.

What happens when the oil runs out? Will this all come tumbling down? The answer is found in the price of oil. As the price rises, the production of oil from alternate sources (shale, coal) becomes profitable, and the reserves suddenly increase. Also as the Internet allows folks to travel less (commuting, business trips) demand and pollution are both lessened.

To find the model “City of the Future”, you need to look outside the cities of yesterday.