Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
My family always criticizes me because I'm not a picky eater. I like eating. I'll pretty much eat almost everything.
And I'm sort of coming to that conclusion about built environments.
I LOVE urbanism. Narrow lots, walkability, limiting parking, density, etc. I hate when auto-oriented projects interrupt a cohesive urban environment.
But when I drive around in sprawl, I find it somewhat less pleasing, but I still enjoy it for being the completely different world that it is. So many people live out here, and it's kind of a feat of engineering in and of itself. Lots of freedom of mobility, you tend to travel at higher speeds, and you can get to such a varying number of destinations of all different types and typologies.
Is it strange that I appreciate both environments? I like them as two separate entities, and I do not want to see them mixed. Does anybody else see it this way?
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I find I am always longing for change, appreciate variety and grow weary of the same thing all the time - even if it's fundamentally good or even awesome. (Like how I just love summer and an eager to see it start but by the time late August rolls around if it's been really hot and humid,
slightly cooler weather isn't unwelcome.)
In terms of my physical surroundings, what that means is that after spending lots of time in auto-dependent suburbia, I often long for a dense walkable urban setting. It's so convenient to have everything nearby plus the vibrancy is really cool.
But after a while I miss the convenience and ease of driving everywhere in the suburbs.
And then the cycle just repeats itself.
(Of course, we're talking about decently functional urban and suburban environments here. There are shitty urban and shitty suburban environments out there.)
I think there are different personalities out there too. Many people are like me (and TUP I assume) whereas others are 100% content with what they like and will drink only the same brand of beer every single day as it's what they think is the best.