James Kunstler: How bad architecture wrecked cities

Surveillance may contribute to destroying "community" and "neighborhood" but another factors is architecture, in particular in the U.S., as pointed out by this famous TED talk by James Kunstler: ▶ this video Fewer pavements to walk and to arrange cafes alongside of, a lack of a market square to meet, more locked doors, more guns, more surveillance, more distrust - all contribute to the distruction of the community.

Reminds me of this [1] old TED talk about horrible architecture that I still find relevant as ever. [1]: ▶ this video

That Peter Eisenman building looks like it'd be a killer skate park. Say what you will about James Howard Kunstler, his TED talk on Architecture seems to be in the right direction. ▶ this video

It’s possible we sold out some cultural knowledge in the process We've lost most of our knowledge about how to create civic spaces of value. ▶ this video The bulk of our old growth culture we just slaughtered on arrival. A lot of it was transformed.

I'm seeing a lot of resistance to the idea of narrower city streets on this thread. The advantages of narrower city streets (and hence, crossings) goes far beyond safety. It actually enhances quality of life in a significant way. A wide, four lane highway running across your town basically says humans must come encased inside an automobile. Pedestrians and cyclists become second class citizens. It's a design driven for the convenience of cars and to the detriment of humans. Here's a far more engaging critique of car-first design by James Kunstler: ▶ this video

I see there is another Kunstler fan on HN! An upvote for you, sir. For anyone else interested in this line of argument, there is a great introduction that Kunstler did for his TED Talk. ▶ this video