Category: Cities
Responses to Why We Need Small Towns
One of the frustrations of a short-form essay is that you don’t get to say all the things you’d like to say about the topic. This in turn leads to responses which actually end up saying many of the things...
On the Height of the Buildings in Heaven
Ever wonder about the buildings in heaven? And the block sizes? Two articles sparked similar thinking the other day. The first is in the most recent Atlantic, from Harvard economist and polymath Edward Glaeser. It’s about how skyscrapers promote human...
Political Correctness…, I mean Religious Correctness
[This post is lengthy; be forewarned] As I expected would happen, the readers of Mere-O have responded both with class, sensitivity, and elegance to my original post, in which I provoked conversation about the Mosque Controversy in New York City....
Discussing a Delicate Issue
Of late, one of the current topics I’ve spent the most time thinking about has been the debate surrounding the plan to build a Mosque near Ground Zero. Below is a video which has garnered significant attention on YouTube. I...
On Land and Its Marks
Cross posted at Notes from a Small Place. This fall, I’m hoping to receive a visit from my good friend Mashley. (I wrote about their wedding earlier this week.) I’m hoping they’ll come up here for a Broken Social Scene...
Old and Relevant: Plato's Anthropological Principle
Perhaps the most famous dialogue penned by Plato is his far-reaching Republic. In this work he addresses the popular philosophy of his day—a philosophy that was promulgated by a group of teachers known to us as Sophists. The Sophists were...
Summer in the City?
I’m from a small town. My life began in Southern California suburbs and as I grew older, my family moved further and further from city life every chance we had, until we finally settled in the antithesis of a booming...
Urban Planning 101: Love and Study Actual Cities
This summer I interned at the field office of Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti. I spent the days taking calls from constituents, working to build support for a program that has reduced graffiti in the area by 82%...