Utopian dreams aside, the suburbs are here to stay
Vancouver architect’s futurist vision ignores population projections
Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Ah me. Suburbanites . . . we can’t get no respect.
That the deep thinkers in the inner city characterize the suburbs as sterile wastelands of wife-swapping, Hummer-driving environmental criminals is something I can live with. I don’t drive a Hummer.
That the Death of Suburbia is so accepted a fact among urbanistas that a whole literature has grown up around it I can also abide. Like Twain, I believe the reports of that death to be exaggerated, if not wishful thinking.
Summary
As usual, poorly researched commentary froths from the mouth of the cynical. Commiting the usual fraud of lumping an entire area of expertise and nuanced analysis into a condescending label of a “gloomy bunch…that believe when the tank runs dry the wheels stop turning and things get ugly — starvation, mass migration, economic collapse, fire raining down from heaven, cats and dogs living together, etc., etc.” Pigeonholed statements like, “They ignore factors like the effects of technological change, and they take a dim and pessimistic view of human nature” indicate a lack of depth and understanding of the research that has been put into the topic. Is it too much to ask to have some informed and nuanced commentary? Mr. McMartin fails to understand the distinction between long term vision/planning that may be necessary in “The new normal” and the untenable proposition of cobbling along with business as usual. Of course, if Rick had merely attempted to paint a picture of the current quagmire then he would have been criticized as an alarmist and chastised for not offering any solutions. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. My hat goes off to Rick Balfour for his tireless work all the while being compensated only by the knowledge that “its the right thing to do.”
