The Borders of Things

Sprawl and Sufficiency

The last week of school calls me, but I allowed myself to be distracted by this article in praise of suburbabn sprawl by Robert Bruegmann. I will grant him certain points: I think people do have more choices in "horizontal living" and I also think that often the biggest opponents of things like suburbia and wal-mart are cultural elites who can afford to be in opposition.

But those two factors, along with the others Bruegmann cites, are based on a fundamental logic of "consumption and comfort=happinness." As a result, the overconsumption inspired by private automobile commutes and giant cheap retaillers is praised (Bruegmann keeps saying "there are problems with suburban living" but doesn't really give any examples that don't turn out to be better, to him, than the alternatives.) Two words which barely get mentioned, if at all, in the article are "community" (not just geographic but sociological, cultural, etc.) and "environment" (cars are great since they get us where we want to go faster. . . if that includes an earth without icecaps, than you're right on.)

I could say more about this, but I want to point to a book a friend recently recommended which seems to be a compelling alternative to the proconsumption argument (it's on my to-read list, which never ceases to expand): The Logic of Sufficiency.