Sprawl vs Conservatism

Sometimes, when I read articles like this, I think that in an alternate universe wherein this was normal conservative writing, I could be a conservative... In that universe, conservatives are truly building strong communities, not just strong corporations, strong families of all types, not just families that fit a 1950s norm, strong transit infrastructure, not just more and more lanes of highways, etc..

...the rise of this hyper-ideological movement conservatism has many roots, but one important and oft-overlooked one is this modern American landscape of sprawl and steel, of suburbs and hour-long commutes, of strip-malls and vast concrete scissures. The distance created by sprawl is both a material and spiritual one. Something is lost when we tear apart the natural, organic community and replace it with long lines of indistinct houses, well-groomed lawns, and endless stretches of highway. The very wrong sort of ‘individualism’ which so infests the modern American left and right is spawned from such distances...
...
Conservatism itself is rooted more in the community and especially in the fertile soil of tradition than in the individual. In a land of strip malls and ten-lane freeways, of rampant materialism and unending competition, tradition and community become irrelevant – become skeletal ghosts on display behind panes of glass....
...
Sprawl is a result of massive statist interventions into our culture and society, and its symptoms are equally enormous. Everything that conservatism has historically stood for is undermined by sprawl. It is not only the physical manifestation of our decline, it is a poison which continues to contribute to that decline. Its repercussions can be felt in our discourse, in our speech, in our way of thinking. This is not merely a matter of aesthetically pleasing communities, but of communities which allow individuals to be a part of the whole. I doubt this is sustainable, this suburban maze – in any way: fiscally, socially, spiritually... - Trueslant

National Bike Summit Quote

Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized. -Ray LaHood

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Some People Love Their Work

Some examples I experienced this past week:

Mayberry. The guy who runs this little restaurant loves food. You can tell when you meet him and when you taste what he makes. He is someone who loves fat and butter, and is not ashamed.

Craig Kopp on WNKU. It seems that he really likes the music he plays. And in this day of pre-programmed music stations, that is refreshing.

Ed Moss. Playing piano is like breathing for this man. Enough said.

Pokey Lafarge. We accidentally saw this guy playing at the Southgate House, in the front parlor Saturday, and found him to be authentic. Again, he seems to be born (not so long ago either) to sing in small clubs:

Soda Bread Recipe

 

It tastes better than it looks...

8 c flour
2 tb baking powder
1 tb soda
3/4 c sugar
1 tb salt
2 tb caraway seeds
mix dry ingredients

3/4 c shortening or butter - rub this into flour with hands

then add:
2.5 c currants
1 qt buttermilk

form into 6 one-pound loaves
Bake at 350F about 30 mins

Let cool, then slice and serve with with butter or with stew.

If you do not want to make loaves to hand out to all your Irish friends: halve or quarter this recipe.

Why Beauty Matters

Beauty is assailed by two directions, by the cult of ugliness in the arts and by the cult of utility in everyday life. These two cults come together in the world of modern architecture -Roger Scrutton, in part 2 at 6:45

"Form follows function" - Louis Sullivan

This returns me to Oscar Wilde's remark that all art is useless. Put usefulness first and you lose it. Put beauty first and what you do will be useful forever. It turns out that nothing is more useful than the useless..

Part 2
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Proximity Breeds Contempt or Sympathy?

A common theme of anonymous comments on the Enquirer news stories is that downtown residents are bums. A typical comment would be ones like this after Margy Waller's editorial last month:

My area tour of that area involved trying not to step in spit and hoping I did not get robbed and of course being asked for any spare change by different drunks. -gailannmoe

If you walk down your neighborhood shopping street (assuming you have one), how many people would say greet you as you pass?

I ask because, in my neighborhood, it is a lot of people.

And how many of them are different than you in class status, accent, or color?

Yesterday, while making my way in the rain, with my hands full and keeping track of kids, some guy was hassling me for money. And it was no big deal but it bothered me a bit and I was rude in return. I regretted that because I didn't want the kids to see that, but it occurred to me that this was the most disturbed I have been on the sidewalk in a while. For the most part, everyone I meet treats me civilly if not kindly.

The people on the street could fill every classification on a census form. And sometimes, when you see the same person many times you begin to have an acquaintance. Its not like we become close friends or anything, but it is good to have acquaintances, and we will say hi and maybe comment on the weather or sports.

We've had situations wherein we become close to someone who was an acquaintance. It can be something that grows slowly over time, or it can be sudden, when we are thrust together in some emergency or a community event. And it is great to get to know people more intimately, even if we will never become close friends. Once in a while a closer relationship will emerge.

These people fill my consciousness and sometimes my dreams. Some people's faces say a lot without speaking, others come with names and family histories and more. Through this casual proximity, I have a growing sense of sympathy and concern for my neighbors. It is the open nature of the sidewalk and the public daily places that make it possible to have many many acquaintances without having to get too close to them...unless we choose to. And making an acquaintance into a friend must be a choice.

St Patrick's Parade

 

The Simplicity of Saying Nothing

My new method of raising children: "say as little as possible". Leave them to their thoughts. They have adults talking at them all day. Give them some peace.

CPS Schools Competitive

Recently I posted some anectdotal information about people moving to Cincinnati specifically so that they could send their children to Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). I thought I would follow that up with some sampling comparing selected CPS schools to other nearby public schools. I chose the schools that everyone says are the best: Sycamore, Indian Hill and Lakota, and I threw in Colerain for comparison, because I know that district pretty well. Then I chose what people say are the best of the CPS schools. I kept the information limited and simple focusing on the NCLB number (No Child Left Behind mandatory testing), a sampling or two of minority numbers, percentages of those receiving free lunch, and number of teachers with advanced degrees:

Some thoughts about this:

We are not exactly comparing apples to apples because Schiel is only to 4th grade and some go to 6th while others go to 8th. It is harder to get the high scores in the upper grades.

I think Montessori schools have more teachers with advanced degrees because it is required to teach the method.

Some people love the Montessori method but believe their scores may be artificially low because they do not teach to the test as much as in a standard classroom. I tend to agree with this claim.

The "% poor" is shorthand for students that qualify for free lunches. This is not necessarily poverty, but is just a general indicator of degree of affluence.

I included %Asian and %Black just as a general indicator. Several other categories are tracked, including White, Hispanic and or course a growing number are checking the mixed race box.

The really high and really low numbers are worth noting:

- only 59% of teachers in Indian Hill (our richest neighborhood) have advanced degrees and 41% at Colerain Middle School?

- There are relatively high percentage of Asians in Sycamore Township.

- Sayler Park has so many economically disadvantaged families? Higher than even Schiel and Winton Montessori?

- Sayler Park, Indian Hill and Sycamore have very few black students.

Schools with strong academics combined with diversity of student population:
North Avondale, Dater, Sands, Fairview, and Kilgour. GO CPS!!!

Statistics from the 08-09 year found here: reportcard.ohio.gov

Maybe I’ll do some high school comparisons next.

It Doesn't Need to be This Way

To our considerable misfortune, the pleasures of the city have been largely reduced to consumerism. We don't much enjoy our cities because they're not very enjoyable. The mode of urban life that has become our principal cause of illness resembles a pressure cooker without its essential safety valve. Our urban environment is like an engine that runs hot because it was designed without a cooling system. -Ray Oldenberg, The Great Good Place, 1989, page 10