Great post! Great thoughts on the source of the "instinctual rush to criticize" and a shift to encouragement.
It always bothers me when someone shoots down on an idea and advocates fixing existing. Why don't you do you and I do me? Like when they dismissed ocean cleanup ships and said we should fix rivers. Yeah, sure, why not both? Let people pursue the thing they think will work and not just shit all over it. Especially knowing that it is often surprising what ends up working. I've tried to reframe my own criticism into more like "I don't see how this will work, can you walk me through it?" Vs stating it like it's the truth that it will not work which is over confident.
Thanks! Agreed. As with many things, there is so much zero-sum thinking and/or narcissism about "my idea" being the best idea. We've got to dispense with the former and have some humility and curiosity about the latter.
Progress comes from small-scale experimentation. You never know what will work until you try it in the real world. So many Great Ideas fail miserably, and some Crazy Ideas are spectacular successes.
Our attitude as a nation sure has changed. Compare the reaction to this proposed new city with the energy that existed when America invented the skyscraper about a hundred years ago. Back then, our nation literally created a new type of city in less than a generation--and totally re-built its cities in a new innovative way. It could never happen now. We're no longer a nation of builders.
What a contrast to this quote written by one of the people who actually built the skyscrapers we admire, including the Empire State Building:
"Nations and civilizations may rise and fall and historians of the far distant future may say that we were not many things that we now think we are, but one thing is certain: they will of a surety say that we were a nation of builders, great builders, the greatest that the world had ever seen up to the era of our sudden greatness in construction. Yet a single lifetime can claim to have seen it all from its inception, through its development, and well matured in its accomplishment—distinctive from all other great world accomplishments in that it is, let me say again, essentially and completely American, so far surpassing anything ever before undertaken in its vastness, swiftness, utility, and economy that it epitomizes American life and American civilization, and, indeed, has become the cornerstone and abode of our national progress."
Starrett, Col. W. A. (2022-06-13T23:58:59). Skyscrapers and the Men Who Build Them . Barakaldo Books. Kindle Edition.
It is going to be interesting to see how this project works out. I am skeptical, but still rooting for them.
Though it does not have a very good recent record, I think that housing unaffordability has gotten so bad that we need to try establishing new cities on cheap land. I think we need to copy old ideas that succeeded but have been forgotten.
I'm very curious how it plays out, and whether their public outreach will be enough to overcome their early false start at election time. Winning that election itself would be a positive milestone for the culture. And then it would be up CF to execute--but I hope they succeed, even knowing there are lots of hurdles to overcome.
The level of concern amongst Yimbys is overstated. There are a few loud voices online, but most of the opposition is coming from folks coding anything paid for by "tech billionaires" as tautologically bad and from a certain flavor of environmentalist coding any greenfield development as sprawl.
Great post! Great thoughts on the source of the "instinctual rush to criticize" and a shift to encouragement.
It always bothers me when someone shoots down on an idea and advocates fixing existing. Why don't you do you and I do me? Like when they dismissed ocean cleanup ships and said we should fix rivers. Yeah, sure, why not both? Let people pursue the thing they think will work and not just shit all over it. Especially knowing that it is often surprising what ends up working. I've tried to reframe my own criticism into more like "I don't see how this will work, can you walk me through it?" Vs stating it like it's the truth that it will not work which is over confident.
Thanks! Agreed. As with many things, there is so much zero-sum thinking and/or narcissism about "my idea" being the best idea. We've got to dispense with the former and have some humility and curiosity about the latter.
Exactly my thought... Reform old cities and build new cities!
Por qué no los dos?
Agreed.
Progress comes from small-scale experimentation. You never know what will work until you try it in the real world. So many Great Ideas fail miserably, and some Crazy Ideas are spectacular successes.
Great essay, Ryan - love it!
Our attitude as a nation sure has changed. Compare the reaction to this proposed new city with the energy that existed when America invented the skyscraper about a hundred years ago. Back then, our nation literally created a new type of city in less than a generation--and totally re-built its cities in a new innovative way. It could never happen now. We're no longer a nation of builders.
What a contrast to this quote written by one of the people who actually built the skyscrapers we admire, including the Empire State Building:
"Nations and civilizations may rise and fall and historians of the far distant future may say that we were not many things that we now think we are, but one thing is certain: they will of a surety say that we were a nation of builders, great builders, the greatest that the world had ever seen up to the era of our sudden greatness in construction. Yet a single lifetime can claim to have seen it all from its inception, through its development, and well matured in its accomplishment—distinctive from all other great world accomplishments in that it is, let me say again, essentially and completely American, so far surpassing anything ever before undertaken in its vastness, swiftness, utility, and economy that it epitomizes American life and American civilization, and, indeed, has become the cornerstone and abode of our national progress."
Starrett, Col. W. A. (2022-06-13T23:58:59). Skyscrapers and the Men Who Build Them . Barakaldo Books. Kindle Edition.
Thank you, Heike! You're right: we have become the historians, not the builders of the future. It's well past time to change that!
It is going to be interesting to see how this project works out. I am skeptical, but still rooting for them.
Though it does not have a very good recent record, I think that housing unaffordability has gotten so bad that we need to try establishing new cities on cheap land. I think we need to copy old ideas that succeeded but have been forgotten.
My latest post is about this topic:
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/a-new-homestead-act
I'm very curious how it plays out, and whether their public outreach will be enough to overcome their early false start at election time. Winning that election itself would be a positive milestone for the culture. And then it would be up CF to execute--but I hope they succeed, even knowing there are lots of hurdles to overcome.
I'll take a look at your post!
I had not heard of this project, great points made - MW
The level of concern amongst Yimbys is overstated. There are a few loud voices online, but most of the opposition is coming from folks coding anything paid for by "tech billionaires" as tautologically bad and from a certain flavor of environmentalist coding any greenfield development as sprawl.