Sidewalk Sid

Public Committee Meetings

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:54:00 +0000

I was listening to the MAPS 3 Streetcar Citizen Advisory Board Subcommittee meeting that was recently recorded and uploaded to Soundcloud by Jeff Bezdek of Modern Transit Project OKC. I went ahead and embedded it below because I know several people that read this blog are from Oklahoma City and I encourage them to listen to it.

It is the first time, to my knowledge, that one of these MAPS 3 subcommittees have been recorded and posted online. As silly as it sounds, this is huge. Why? Because, although the information discussed at the meetings is critical to the development process, not much of it ever gets disseminated to the general public. That's essentially because these discussions are not taking place in a council chamber -- they just don't get reported on very well. And that is too bad.

Michael Bates from Batelines.com just recently wrote a post about why it is critical to record and broadcast these types of board/committee meetings.

Much of the substantial discussion about a city decision takes place in the recommending body, with the decision maker (City Council or Mayor or both) often deferring to the recommending body's judgment without comment or discussion. For this reason, video recordings of Tulsa's authorities, boards, and commissions are central to the public understanding of the official actions of city government.

It is 2012 and we should no longer be debating about if we should be providing this information to the public. In fact, we should be so far past that, it's rather inexcusable that the vast majority of cities still do virtually no recording and publishing. If you are serious as a city about providing information to the public that makes them more informed citizens, then recording and posting those recordings online is a fantastic first step. The tools are available and with smart-phones, you can actually do the whole setup for free now by simply using your phone as a recording device. Rudimentary, but it is at least a start.

Naptown to Super City - A story of the Sports City, Indianapolis [Video]

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:05:00 +0000

Conversation with an Engineer [Video]

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:04:00 +0000

Historian, journalist, and my good friend Steve Lackmeyer posted an xtranormal video on his blog. The video is a conversation between an architect and a contractor. Pretty funny stuff.

My favorite xtranormal video to date is one done by Strong Towns. "Conversation with an Engineer" has had over a hundred thousand views and is one of those funny, daft, and yet educational. The truth always has a funny side and when we start discussing projects like widening streets, we say things that are funnier than we might think.

Enjoy the video after the jump.

Room Please

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:08:00 +0000

It is unmistakable. The feeling you get when you notice you are not just walking along a sidewalk, but the space you are inhabiting is in fact an outdoor room. A room designed just for you and for many, many others. It is room to move, to breathe, to succeed, to fail, to stop and go and to simply watch the world go by. Outdoor rooms are rare these days. Sidewalks as we know them are a pittance of the opportunity afforded to generations long gone. Today, our broken rivers of concrete are narrow hallways that line places once valued simply because they were connected to this room. Today we treat this relationship like a burden or an afterthought of connectivity. We need these outdoor rooms. They are the public spaces that our nation's ideas were debated on and quite literally fought over. We need them now more than ever.

Walk Friendly Communities Deadline Approaches

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Every year cities battle for status in the Walk Friendly Communities contest.

"Walk Friendly Communities is a national recognition program developed to encourage towns and cities across the U.S. to establish or recommit to a high priority for supporting safer walking environments. The WFC program will recognize communities that are working to improve a wide range of conditions related to walking, including safety, mobility, access, and comfort." walkfriendly.org

The deadline is approaching fast but there is still time. Register by January 19th by going here. It cost nothing and could be a fantastic way to get your neighborhood thinking about pedestrian projects for the new year. If you are submitting an application, let us know. We will want to follow your progress through the year.

Understanding where you should not be walking

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:46:00 +0000

Microsoft recently secured a patent on a "Pedestrian route production" tool. VentureBeat

The idea is simple. The walking navigation tool will direct you around areas you wouldn't want to walk. These could be areas that are unsafe because they have high crime rates or they could be areas that simply lack proper pedestrian facilities. The concept, especially as it relates to pedestrian accommodations, could prove to be very useful. More and more I am starting to use the "walking" navigation option built into my Google Maps. Sometimes it is just easier to glance down from time to time and see myself creeping along that blue line than to try to memorize street names and routes. However, if you walk as much as I do, you have no doubt, at some point, found yourself walking down a sidewalk that you wished hadn't been on your route --for one reason or another.

I am, in fact, a little sad that this patent went to Microsoft. I think it might prove to be valuable as a navigation tool, but I actually see more value in the concept as a community/neighborhood tool. Imagine being able to see pedestrian trouble spots. If Bing doesn't think that the adjoining avenue to your neighborhood would make for a pleasant walk, then you could arm yourself with this new information and seek to correct the problems. Homeowner associations could quickly see where they need to focus next year's big dig project.

Of course, you don't need a computer to tell you the obvious. If you lack a sidewalk, well, you need one. Which is why I wish this patent went to a company like Walk Score. Walk Score is a company that provides millions of people with basic data about neighborhood walkability. Specifically it provides an address with a Walk Score, or a rating of how walkable that particular area is. For example, a place with a high walk score will likely have plenty of places to eat, shop, recreate, and get healthcare nearby and ideally, all without having to jump in a car. Lower-scored areas generally are lacking at least some of these basic amenities. I wish Walk Score had this patent because I think that this kind of walking route logic will be most valuable to citizens and neighborhoods when viewed holistically with other neighborhood information --like a Walk Score. I also want the data to be publicly available and I have my doubts that Microsoft will open up all of this data.

Most importantly, if Microsoft turns this into a feature on Bing Maps, my hope is that pedestrians will not only get value out of it but that community leadership will use it as a tool for finding and addressing problem areas. Let's make sure we use technology to help us address the problems and not simply go around them.

[Image via vancity197]

Public Space Banking and Thoughts of Flexible Street Uses

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:50:00 +0000

Streets are tricky things. I was reading Car Parking vs. parks vs. restaurant patios, over on Richard Layman's blog, Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space. It is a short but good article that made me think about why we don't allow more uses of on-street "parking spaces". The strip of street running parallel to the curb is a public space, but generally isn't viewed as anything more than a place to park cars. Communities could create so much more value in the places they already have by exploring alternative uses for parking spaces. So here is my urban, multi-use plan for on-street parking...

If a business wants to install outdoor seating on what used to be a parking space, then we could ofset the lost "public space" by charging a fee that can be used to reclaim or preserve public space elsewhere. Call it a Public Space Bank. As businesses come and go, they can choose whether that public space that is currently being rented by a car would be more valuable to them as seating.

Such an idea might require the defining of a "citizen to public space" ratio. And perhaps that gets too technical. But the idea isn't that complicated. It also probably sounds more fair to the "I pay taxes to the center of the road" crowd. Our public spaces on our streets have been taken over by cars for a long time. Theoretically, we are getting paid for this invasion. Let's disrupt things a bit and let uses other than cars have a chance.

If you want to avoid the complexity of a so-called "Public Space Bank" then simply charge the requesting business the same amount a car would pay to literally sit there and call it good.

Let's keep the math simple. If you pay $1 per hour to park your car, then a business would have the ability to use the space for $24 per day. It could be that simple. They could even use the parking meter to pay for it if you have meters that accept payment forms like credit cards.

This would turn this area into "flex space" essentially. During busy times of the year, a business could use the added seating. Parking garages would fill up faster and sidewalks would benefit from added outdoor activity. I can even see areas being designated as "flex districts" where the city has actually installed receiver slots for the metal poles that could act as temporary barriers during non-auto uses. Making a street-long transformation a quick process that would fundamentally change the use of a street.

The notion of flexible public space instead of "parking space" also helps us better understand the true value of that space. By allowing for more uses, we can better understand the demand side of our commodity.

I always have believed that when you allow for more mixed uses, you generally get a better result. By essentially condemning this space as "parking" (whether used or not), you will never be surprised by all the great place-making possibilities it holds.

What Do You Think About Places You Have Never Been?

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:29:00 +0000

In the article, Do Rankings Affect Our Opinions of Cities?, Samuel Arbesman tries to find out what a group of random people thought about the 50 different major metros of the nation.

The results are interesting and conclusive, in that they tell us what a sample of people think. What Arbesman was trying to do was to tap into popular beliefs of a city. Do people really think of Oklahoma City so poorly? Despite the statistical advantages it has over some of the better ranked metros (low cost of living, lots of new projects, lowest unemployment in the nation) , there is a clear ~~bias~~ prejudice against it.

Is this a trained ~~bias~~ prejudice? Did it come from reading too many articles about Sally Kern? Is it merely the "Oklahoma" in the Oklahoma City then? Or does Oklahoma City rank lower in people's minds simply because it doesn't rank higher. Meaning, did it just slide down the list because it wasn't a lot of people's early choice. It is a small city compared to most of these others, so this latter theory I think should have some validity to it. People just simple don't know much about it. They do know that Seattle is beautiful though. Everyone says that. Of course, about 10 million people visit Seattle every year so it is easy to propagate positive notions about the place. I had a hard time finding visitor information on Oklahoma City (or my Google was just broke at the time) but I found something perhaps more telling. An About.com article titled, Readers Respond: Do You Love Or Hate Living in Oklahoma City?. Well over 50% were what I would call negative or very negative.

So before my friends back home in Oklahoma City think that just because I moved means I am opening a can of haterade up on OKC, I am in stark disagreement with the negative bias. In fact, I was one of those people who moved to OKC fully expecting hate it. Oklahoma City is certainly one of those places where you can make wonderful home there and there is always stuff to do, especially if you enjoy walking. Sure, lots of room for improvement, but the same could be said for all of these metros, right?

But this predjudice is (apparently) real and I am curious what others think can/should be done about it?

So, of these 50 metros, would you rank higher the cities you have been to or not? I suspect we would rank them more honestly. Personally, the more times I go to Houston, or Dallas, the less I like those cities. If you graphed my desire to visit or live there over time, it would look something like this.

City officials shouldn't underestimate the influence of this perception. Nor should the rush to spend their way into the minds of Americans. You might just start with doing your own, more focused Amazon Turk surveys to try to better understand what people are thinking.

1959 ULI Video Warns About Increasing "Sprawl"

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 23:17:00 +0000

Do Not Be A Change Agent

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:35:00 +0000

Some people are just not cut out for it. Or probably better put, we are not always the best person for the job. Recently the interior, public spaces in our condo building got a "refresh". New paint, carpet, lights, etc. When we were notified the changes were going to be made, the new look that these areas were going to take on were described as "fresh" and "contemporary". I was invited to take a peek at color samples and such but since I am not an interior designer, I opted to pass. Plus, I don't own a unit in the building (we rent) so I really didn't have a dog in the fight. The irony is that as the paint and carpet went in, it was apparent to my wife and I that the changes made were very familiar and hardly contemporary --or at least in the way we think of that style. Being a young couple, I feel we have a pretty good feel for what the going trends in design at least look like, even if I couldn't recreate it. The final result is a older dated look was replaced with another older dated look. Honestly, it doesn't bother us, but it gave me reason to pause and ponder something.

Why wasn't the place "updated" or why wasn't the transformation successful? Sometimes taking initiative and stepping up isn't enough. We see this everywhere in our communities. Change, for the sake of change, wont necessarily create a renewed energy. People wont suddenly look at their neighborhood differently. Over at Strong Towns they would even go so far as to tell you not to spend a dime unless you are really, really sure the result will be productive.

Don't be a change agent unless you are willing and knowledgeable enough to make the necessary changes. And that is perfectly fine if you are not that person. Make it your goal to find someone that is better suited for the task and put them in a position of power. Hand them the keys and let their creative juices drive you somewhere you never would have thought of or were too scared to go. I wont be naive and say that you should hire a bunch of young people. A lot of companies have successfully used that model but it isn't the only solution. The key is to be able to reflect upon your own strengths and weaknesses and be confident in them enough that you can see where you could use the help. Now go hire or promote someone who can help you make the changes you have always wanted to make but never could seem to put together.

Google Currents fix for adding Google Reader error

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:56:00 +0000

I am not usually one to write a "how-to" post but I was getting an error in Google Currents that I think a lot of people are having and I found a solution.

Problem: Select the + "add more" button, scroll to Google Reader on the left and select Google Reader. If you are getting the error message "An unknown error occurred when searching for editions.", then most likely you have an unnamed feed in your Google Reader.

To fix this, go to your Google Reader, open up your Subscriptions and find that unnamed or Untitled Subscription feed. You can either delete that feed or rename it.

Open up Google Currents and try it again. It should work for you just fine.

I posted the fix also on in the Help Center for Google Reader:

Unable to add Google Reader to Google Currents

Happy reading!

Momentum Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:01:00 +0000

When was the last time your broke ground on a project? One of the challenges that small towns face is they are often spending more time fixing leaks than pouring new sidewalks or sweeping streets. You can't ignore the leaks, but you can't afford to ignore the power of momentum in your community.

One piece of advice that I have given over and over is that if you haven't poured a sidewalk lately, go pour one. If you haven't trimmed a tree this season, go trim one. Citizens thrive on progress. It is part of what gives them hope. Small towns live and die by the energy you get from the people that live there. For those that have lived or still live in a small town, you know what I am talking about. Will our town 'survive'?

Just like after a hard fall, sometimes the best thing you can do is get up and walk it out. Make 2012 the year you don't stop walking. Pace yourself, and keep focused on moving forward one small step at a time.

Just saying

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 08:24:00 +0000

If anyone wanted to purchase SidCity.com for me for Christmas ($3,688), it would be the nicest gift I have ever received.

Kidding aside...

Happy holidays my friends.

+ $1

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:10:00 +0000

Social giving is on the rise. I love seeing websites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo take off. There is another thing I love (well, mostly) -- Google.

So in honor of the new +1 button, I am suggesting a new kind of +1. The kind of +1 that might do more to help bloggers and journalists. I was reading the GOOD article, How $5 Changed The Way I Read The Internet, and was again encouraged to hear about another micro-giving movement, Five Dollar Friday. The concept is pretty cool. The idea is simple, give $5 every Friday to someone who creates content you liked. Jon Schwarz of A Tiny Revolution has outlined the idea here.

The concept of micro giving certainly isn't new. And payment processing isn't new to Google either. I have been using Google Checkout since 2007 (according to my fresh new Google Wallet dashboard). And with Google Wallet looking downright awesome and the emergence of +1 buttons all over the web, I think a simple, one (or two really) click way to give a buck using your Google Account is ripe for the taking.

The key is it needs to show you if people in your circles have given and how many total have given. Just like +1's do right now. Just a thought. I know there are start-ups like Flattr that want to own this space, and are doing a great job of pushing more people to open up their wallets to reward content creators, but I think that a seamless integration into Google+ (your Google Profile) and Google Wallet would have far more wide-spread participation. Google is probably already thinking about how to make Google Wallet more social using Google+, so I doubt that the above example is a new idea to the engineers at Google. However, I feel it is important to voice my support for bringing these great products into the fray of social, micro giving --and the sooner the better. I am ready to starting sending little thank yous to the awesome writers I read using the tools I love.

Happy Birthday to Me

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:17:00 +0000

Today is my 30th birthday and today I have given myself something I have been wanting for a while. Nearly 100% disconnect from all things social online. So starting at around midnight I began systematically deleting all my profiles, pages, and posts and I am making good progress.

This isn't a new trend in my life really. Starting last year I dramatically trimmed my email. I deleted tens of thousands of emails. Wiped out thousands of contacts --people I really didn't know and whose information I was never really going to need. I have also been on Twitter a whole lot less. It is funny. When Google+ came out I immediately was there. But for all of it's coolness, it has failed to prove to me that it is useful in replacing Facebook. In fact, Facebook got noticeably better this year, in my opinion. So with three (four if you count LinkedIn) major social networks now vying for my attention, it didn't take long for me to get disinterested in all three of them. I am just not interested enough to try to make that balancing act work.

In no formal way, I also started a journey through the happy and peaceful world of minimalism a couple years ago. I love it. Ever since I started tossing out junk and cutting back on just about every expense category we have, I have noticed a proportional increase in the peace and happiness of our home. I love having less.

But online, the world that I have made a big part of my career the last several years, has never been really tackled --much to my chagrin. So I decided a couple months ago that I was going to start mentally prepping myself for the day. I woke up this morning and immediately smiled at the idea of not getting another notification email or that silly red "1" from Google Plus isn't going to be telling me that someone from India has added me to their circle (for the 3,000th time). No more notifications on my phone telling me that I got another spam tweet.

I will keep my blog. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to try jumping out of social networking sites is I want to see if it will help me get back to blogging. I do enjoy writing and I always regret not doing enough of it.

Happy holidays.

Partisanship is Killing Our Neighborhoods

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:09:00 +0000

My dear friend, Chuck Marohn, was on a radio show in Wisconsin this week called Koeping with Government. First let me say this. I think while Chuck has no doubt done some great things for the communities he has worked for, his greatest achievements -- his contributions to this great country -- are only now beginning to be unveiled. Before I make this sound like an eulogy, I will quickly quip that some of the greatest minds of this country have been people who forced us, through simple articulation of a critical but often ignored perspective, to think differently. Chuck will always make you stop and think, no matter your belief system.

The show was recorded and I hope you will listen to it. I want you to hear it for two reasons. First, his message is important. Our cities have been mortgaged for the faux mantras of economic development and "mobility". Instead, they are becoming places laden with debt and hampered by immobility. We are literally being lied to and are lying to ourselves about what we can afford in roads and infrastructure.

Secondly, the hidden message -- one I wish was spoken more loudly more often -- is that our politics is killing our neighborhoods. It is killing them because we are being convinced by politicians that we can't get along. That our differences are too great. What you will recognize if you listen to this podcast is that two very different ideologies can and must learn to recognize our common burden. All politics isn't local. Just turn on the TV. What perhaps is more true is that all politics should be rooted locally. We should determine what is best for our country by what is best for our neighborhoods.

I have all but given up on the populist political movements of today for this reason alone. They are far too concerned with DC, thereby -- in my opinion -- giving all the power to DC. We need strong, local political and social movements. We need stronger towns. Strong towns make for better public safety. Better public health. More freedom for the markets to pick and choose winners and losers. Again, we are being divided on issues that are national and are then being prepped to import the partisanship back into our communities where the issues are much more practical. You can hear it clearly during the interview. We actually want to argue -- not because we actually know more, but because we have been taught that certain people with certain ideas are wrong and always wrong -- about everything. The political system of today is framing the argument all wrong. It is being framed in a way that makes it easy for campaign managers and pollsters to spin into money. Don't buy it. Focus on what is generating productivity and wealth in your own life and the life of your neighborhood and it will be a lot easier to formulate knowledgeable positions on topics like The Fair Tax or transportation.

I don't want to end with you assuming fatalism should be embraced and we should simply just opt-out of the political party system we have. Please vote. But don't vote based on party lines. Vote for the man or woman with the most character and for whom you believe will fight to bring the power back to our neighborhoods. Vote for stronger towns and we will have a stronger America.

Click here to listen
Visit Strong Towns

Meaningful layers

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:46:00 +0000

There is a lot of talk about creating new technology. A leap frog in innovation. But layers matter. In fact, for the most part, technology is just a bucket. It brings us information and doesn't create it. We can only hope that the way it does this, is inspiring to us.

I think technology should be an inspirational layer. An effortless carrier of wonderfulness in our lives. Should technology have a deeper meaning than that?

Sidewalks

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:31:00 +0000

I could honestly talk about sidewalks all day long. I love them. To me, they are the key to a city's soul. Cities without a solid sidewalk grid almost always lack depth, character, and beauty.

I will begin our discussions of what will probably be many on the subject of sidewalks by asking one simple question. Do you have a plan to maintain and improve your sidewalk grid? If not, a make a plan today that includes fixing 50 feet of sidewalks this year. Then add to your calendar to fix 100 feet next year. Start small if you need to, but start. So many people rely on being able to walk to where they need to go. Requiring that citizens own a car in your community is just plain un-American. People should be free to move about without having to pay a "car tax".

Gov sensors

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Citizens make great sensors. Reporting potholes, graffiti, street lights that are out. The reality is municipal workers make great sensors too. According to one call center I talked to recently, the average lifetime of a ticket is just under 14 days. That means if I report a pothole, on average it will be fixed in within the next two weeks.
But that made me think. The next time I was on the bus I noticed we hit a pothole every day in the same location. In fact, today that pothole is still there. For the last several months I have noticed graffiti, burnt out street lights - all going unfixed week after week.
So we have a couple issues here. Why are these bus drivers not reporting potholes? Why don't the police report all graffiti? It is a crime right? I suspect most officers wouldn't drive on past a car with a broken out window.
This isn't about ganging up on one group of municipal employees. This is about asking of them the same we ask of citizens. Sure, if every single burnt out street light was reported tomorrow then the 14 day average would probably change dramatically. But that is okay. Because then we have a better way to understand how to fix our community. To get it to some kind of standard.
I suspect a lot of employees do report these types of issues but the shear scale of the problems can sometimes cause one to lose focus on our ability to make a difference. If this is you, start anew today. Recognize your opportunity to make a difference. Report what you see and let those responsible figure out how to get them all fixed.
Baselines are critical to have when we are assessing our health and those of you that are keeping us safe, driving us to work, or inspecting our restaurants are just as vital to getting that baseline - if not more so.

Partisan

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

While I was a councilman, I always said that I never met a Republican water line or a Democrat park. But I have seen both that need time, energy, and money to get them fixed.

The key in local government is not to avoid the partisan discussions but to just make sure that after you have them you still fix the water line and park. The next generation is counting on our ability to do that.

More on paying attention

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Consumers pay for what they buy in a very direct way. You walk up to the cash register with a gallon of milk and hand them the money. Citizens are removed from the actual transaction of purchasing items, like a new road. We elect people who then turn around and hire people who then turn around delegate that task of purchasing that road.

The buck stops with you. When a town makes poor choices, it does so in part because citizens made poor choices somewhere. You elect poor leadership and they hire the wrong guy. Right? All excuses aside, it does come down to our responsibility. In turn, the citizens should of course hold those they put in power responsible. Like a parent who has to pick up the tab for a broken window. But you still have to pay.

Don't let our representative form of government keep you from ensuring that your town is making good decisions on how it spends your money.

Tomorrow I am going to turn the coin over and shift the focus on responsibility.

Hunger

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

We all think starvation in the world is a tragedy. But what can we do about it? Well, a lot really. If everyone gave a couple of dollars a month, it would quickly disappear from the globe.

There are thousands of cracks, graffiti marks, dead trees, crumbling sidewalks, and poorly designed parks in our cities. The solution is not to focus on the size of the problem, but rather the size of one single solution. We don't give up on feeding the needy just because there are not enough people doing something about it to actually end it. We feed as many mouths as we can.

If you are wondering how you can make a difference in your community, figure out something very small you can do often and don't ever stop. You might not ever finish the task, but you will always be proud you tried.

Activity: Start an automatic monthly donation of a few dollars to a charity and then go pick up a few pieces of trash.
World Food Programme

A Place For April

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Re-post from my old blog. Was originally an essay I wrote several years back.

We each go through life expecting to be moved and impassioned by the experiences and changes we endure. It’s as if we anticipate meaning where there isn’t any and purpose where there is none. However, during our existences, we do occasionally happen upon a truly defining moment. These fits of complex thought and heightened awareness of all that is provoking, usually arrive just often enough as to ensure we don’t go all-out crazy. I say crazy because the strange conclusions and new-found paradoxes of such a moment can be maddening in a hurry. We find ourselves drawn toward a new purpose and a desire to do something other than what we were doing just before.

For me, one instance of hyper-awareness came on an inconspicuous spring morning in eastern Oklahoma. It was April, and rightly so, because my first daughter April Joy was about to greet her new family. That cool morning signified a paradigm shift for me that was so profound it has kept me energized, hopeful, and prayerful ever since. I began to look at the world differently. Though, this wasn't the first time my view of the world had changed. It had already begun to look diversely to me. I spent a year in Iraq which had caused me to rethink most of what I believe about our American version of community and our commitment (or lack thereof) to it. I found myself returning to many of my traditional conclusions but there were a few that I certainly found perplexing. April, my first child, brought perspective to my questions and purpose to my melancholy outlook. She has caused me realize that we care little in America for her future; that we don’t understand what is wrong with what we will be leaving her, and we somehow refuse to accept that it is not too late to create a better place now.

Wal-Mart, a grand highway, a plastic option, and sidewalks that lead nowhere just because they can . . . To me, they all share commonality in that they display through their subtle existence a reason to celebrate today – not tomorrow. We are a growing population yet we grow nothing we really want to eat. We are a creative people yet we create little worth keeping. We are an imaginative country however we lack imaginative vision for the future. In America, apparently we are all racing to the bottom to see who can get there first. Our communities lack taste, virtue, reason, meaning, culture, and most importantly the ability to survive. The weaker weight of life itself is too much for most of our roads, parks, and public spaces. They simply cave corrode under the pressures of time.

The consequence is alarming. We care not for the future therefore we care not to consider what we have today. We drive by on our 12-lane highways assuming that happiness must be just off one of these exits. We run (mostly drive) through life expecting to see reasons for hope but are disappointed because the last group that was here forgot to care too. Instead of crying out at the injustice of our predecessors, we marginalize and oftentimes romanticize our sub-par existence. Just a spoonful of sugar makes all of our lousy places see a tad more bearable, especially if you can get that in Cookies & Cream. While we were busy trying to not notice the world around us, time is creeping ever so predictably toward her future. Soon it will be her time to take notice. Soon it will be her time to judge us by our offering.

The end. Or so it seems sometimes. When I talk to people about how we plan to leave this world for our children, the response is… A blank stare would suffice, but most people chatter on about goals and dreams that they never intend to realize. Reality has a funny way of coming true. The trick is to learn that we get to tell the story. As far as I can tell, humans haven’t been beat at this game of life yet. Sure we have stumbled along the way, but a child knows about the pyramids in Egypt, the great roads of antiquity still lead to Rome, and our ability to love, protect, and cherish the life of another is still as vibrant as it has ever been. So why the disconnect? Why do we struggle to grasp our potential to do better? My theory - the one I want to believe- is simple but not entirely accurate. For me to sleep well at night, I have to believe that most people are simply not up to the challenge of working on a project for decades. But the truth is, no one ever is. Humanity without a passion for betterment is surly doomed to failure. My passion to do better is derived from my children.

It is my hope and dream that I live a life that is respectful of their existence – that I leave this world a lot better than I found it. We each have to let our experiences define us but we mustn’t let our failures define us too. My children taught me that it wasn’t going to be enough to just enjoy life. I know now that I am going to get to enjoy life by making theirs better. I feel like the luckiest person alive at times. Having the power to love someone is inspiring, but being given the passion to change their world for the better is awesome. I will be around fixing this place up for the little ones. If you see me, feel free to stop and say hi. I always try to carry an extra paint brush and trash bag.

Out of touch

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Strong Towns, one of my favorite blogs on the web, does a great job explaining how we are out of touch as a nation with the way we build our cities.

This podcast is 10 minutes of medicine we all need to take.

Listen

Perception of cities

noreply@blogger.com (Sid Burgess) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:10:00 +0000

I was recently visiting a neighborhood in a major US metro. It was a nice neighborhood. Had neat shops, entertainment options, and parks. However, the more I walked around it, the more a specific perception of this neighborhood began to take over in my mind -- one that might not show up on a neighborhood search website or one that city planners might not give it. I started to sense it was lacking something and for me, that something was starting to redefine this neighborhood all over again. Personally, I felt like it lacked some cohesion or perhaps even a healthy dose of civic pride. The more the details I observed, the more I began to recognize this theme.

In this case, I created a perception that became as intimate and powerful as any reality.

Defining a city as active, accessible, and inexpensive might be a good description. But perception is about sense, realization, and comprehension. People are perceiving your city not necessarily based on what they initially see, touch, or smell, but what they eventually come to discern. Those experiences are going to communicate a perception that you will want to understand.

You see this clearly in towns where it is hard to find a fan of their own community. Or conversely in a city that is full of cheerleaders. Those emotions are the patchwork of experiences and comprehension.

The next time you ask your citizens to describe your city, cut right to the important stuff and ask them to give you a thoughtful comment on how they actually perceive your city. After all, it is more likely that they are making essential personal decisions about work, family, and recreation based on that intuition and not what is in your marketing materials.

Describe your city. Then tell me how you perceive it. Which is more useful if you are trying to improve your community?