Quote:
Originally Posted by sammo
cuz you see kool, the 'street widths, lot sizes, etc. (skyline...)' speak of the community, the people and activities (&their needs, attitudes, etc.) the buildings & infrastructure were built for -yes, "human interaction". there is that subtle connection a 'drunken uncley guy' may have forgotten to mention. it's not merely the triumph of shapes or silhouette on the horizon. and people weren't forced at gun point to flock to mississauaga -they continue to choose to live and/or work there unlike some other stylish 'have been' cities we know -and apologize for -like... buffalo!
but ok, we can resume our
"big, pointy skyline - good, suburban skyline - bad.
ice cream - good, fire - bad" dialectic.
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now, see, you might be surprised to hear this, but i tend to follow your posts and pay attention to what you say. why? because i have this suspicion that it takes a certain amount of intellectual bravery for your average "classical liberal" to step out and go against the grain of the watery, ambient centre-leftism that canadians tend to feel is the only political option available to thinking people.
that said, i think the above derives from an unfortunate strain that has developed in modern conservatism. to me it was always kind of a lefty thing to go against traditional practices (and traditional urbanism is just that) and speak instead of the masses and their hazy, barely-defined desires, and of how they should be granted what they wish against all available evidence.
conservatives of the old sort were always the cool-eyed, studied sort who sat back ("athwart history" etc.) and said no, in fact you can't really have
that... and here's why. conservatism is inherently elitist, as limited governent etc. is an environment in which the talented rise above the rest.
this new thing, this bizarre elevation of the average man and his preferences is demagogic, is rabble-rousing. there are specific reasons why traditional urbanism is superior to the mid-century radicalism that is suburban planning, and it had nothing to do with effete espresso snobs being better than jocular timbit dads. like affirmative action and indefinite welfare expansion, suburban urbanism is a drastic overreaction against a perceived problem (1930s slum overcrowding and poverty), and the result is the same cultural alienation, bitterness and angst that all such overswings produce.
traditional urbanism is not a yuppie fetish but an ancient cultural practice that should be defended against radical change. conservatives should applaud it and champion it.
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An interesting thread would be, Largest Home in your City. 
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