Monday, March 31, 2008

Ideal Community

If you were going to create an ideal community what would you start with? How big would it be? What it would include/exclude? Pick and choose what you want to talk about.

Mine would have housing that was close in with lots of shops, but nonetheless not very large. I would want public transportation to take me everywhere. No Wal-Marts or any chains. My residents would burn them down and keep them out. There would be big park spaces where people could reflect, exercise, etc. intersecting the business and housing. Cars would not be allowed and people have to bike or walk into the city from the edge. Cars would have to park on the outskirts. Segways would even have their own lanes. People would meet at cafes and be very politically active. People would also bowl together, drink together, and have their children play together. Honestly I want a community where people are actually respectful toward one another and that only comes from being close to one another. I think I would wall the city and choose my residents carefully. Visitors would need passports badges. If you leave the community then you need to reapply for the town when you leave.

Am I crazy or would this work? What would? What wouldn't? What pisses you off? What makes you happy?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Your community is interesting and odd. There is one thing that is kind of off. Why should you have to reapply for the town when you leave? Like if you left the city limits you couldn't get back in? What about family and your property still in the city?

I would base my ideal community on a couple of simpler concepts: pursuit of knowledge based on reason, empathy with other people, and respect for each others rights. Everything else would work itself out. All the rest is details dependent on situation anyway.

Anonymous said...

Your ideal community reminds me of New Orleans:
-Close housing, lots of shops, very few large chain stores compared to other cities
-Trolleys
-Giant parks everywhere
-Very strong sense of community, more than anywhere else I've been
-Walled in (unless the levies break)

Of course, there are so many huge problems/differences with New Orleans, and my description fits the Uptown area near Tulane, not the poor areas, but I would definitely life in the idealized version of this.

Anonymous said...

Your city kind of sounds like the neighborhood I live in right now, Vauban.