Fall 1996 - Issue Number 37
On a recent autumn day, nationally-acclaimed author James Kunstler lectured at NMC on the findings of his best selling book, The Geography of Nowhere. Kunstler was passionately blunt in issuing his wake-up call.
His main thesis is this: America the beautiful has been on a binge for the past 50 years beginning with the rise of the automobile. Kunstler asserts that our love affair with the auto has led to the decline of many cities as millions have fled to suburbia. Consequently, development trends are increasingly automobile-friendly at the expense of aesthetics, pedestrian needs, and civic values.
The litany of problems is not very flattering for a nation so young and with so much promise. Suburban sprawl has been consuming land from sea to shining sea at a dizzying rate. Giant parking lots, neon signs, and big box retail outlets dominate the once rural landscapes. Sprawling residential developments of bedroom communities force residents to drive great distances for a gallon of milk.
The list goes on but what is even more frightening are the social ramifications that Kunstler, in part, links to our dysfunctional land use trends: the rise of crime, drugs, helplessness, apathy, and fear. The loss of civic pride and traditional values. Worse yet is the loss of our very identity as Americans as we shift from a nation where a majority of peoples' lives are tied to the land, to one where most are increasingly alienated from our landscape (Kunstler's comment: "How many of us will think of the Walmart parking lot as we prepare to meet our maker?").
Ah yes, pretty scary stuff, but isn't he talking about somewhere else (after all he is from the East Coast)? Leaving the Oleson Center with my head spinning and relieved to see trees again, I asked myself the following question: is northern Michigan, a place where people come to escape these ills, preventmg or allowing these same problems? To be honest, the answer is mixed. Yes, we have our strip mall shopping meccas, billboards, and new cookie-cutter suburbs. However, there is much happening right now to counter these trends. And it's not too late. I would even submit that the future does look bright if we consider examples such as the Chamber of Commerce's "New Designs for Growth" project. Increasingly, business leaders in our community understand that we cannot afford to destroy our scenic and natural beauty. So what are they doing? For starters, they made a substantial, multi-year financial commitment to supporting growth management initiatives throughout the Grand Traverse Bay region. Moreover, they have helped to create a forum and dialogue on looking at alternative approaches to development and issues such as where it is going to take place, what it is going to look like, and how we protect natural resources at the same time.
The current debate about major transportation issues such as the Hammond-Hartman Bridge proposal and road improvement plans for Traverse City are other examples. People realize that it is no longer acceptable to think that building more roads will solve our transportation problems (take a drive downstate if you are unconvinced). And we realize that if we do not plan, transportation decisions will dictate land use planning rather than the other way around. Clearly, we need to improve existing roads and take a comprehensive look at our needs. But we also need to be skeptical of adopting approaches that have failed miserably elsewhere. Considering the incredible natural resource base this region is blessed with, we can and must do better.
I am also heartened by landowners who express a sense of responsibility to the next generation. For example, the two sisters who donated land in the Jordan River Valley rejected the notion that land should be viewed as a commodity with a goal of achieving the highest economic gain. In fact, one of the sisters who also lives on the East Coast pointed out that she was tired of seeing "all the land" paved over with concrete and couldn't bear to see it happen up here.
Neither can we. In this season of change punctuated by brilliant fall colors, let us renew our dedication to making sure that our home will always be a "Geography of Somewhere"...a place with small towns surrounded by beautiful orchards, crystal clear lakes, and people who care.
-- Glen Chown is the Director of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, Traverse City, MI. This article first appeared in their publication "Landscript", Vol. 13, Fall/Winter 1996.
Return to the Index of Synapse 37, Fall 1996