What Is Livability?
Other than a far too prosaic word to describe our aspirations in city building, that is. Well, the DJC solicited 50-word answers to that question, and they were published today. Here’s mine:
We thrive when we are connected — to people and place; to work and play; to past, present and future. A good city fosters connections. Diversity, local ownership, the public realm and environmental stewardship are all profound connectors. But above all, to achieve its full potential for cultivating connections, a city must be a place where people walk.
Read the rest here.
The ease with with intelligent people who are creative can make connections is what makes a city resilient, like NYC. If you are surrounded in abundance by smart creative people there’s more you can accomplish.
“Livibility” is so much more than a beautiful cityscape, it’s what you do in life that brings you happiness. The ability for creative people to come together and accomplish things is the greatest investment any city can make.
Cities where you have to get in your car and drive and park and then walk into a building are difficult. You end up in a city of 5 million people and the only way of connecting is through craigslist. This is happening right now and people’s life’s are being flushed down the toilet as we speak.
I’ve inherited a sad life because of the mistakes of the past where I live. For a long while I was trapped in a consumer spending frenzy in a sad attempt at happiness. No more, as I sit here and watch corporations suffer it brings a smile to my face as I save up my money and hope for a better future.
I actually made a documentary film about car-centric development and the lack of social capitol in many cities:
it’s on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Development/dp/B0012SCZFC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1238513220&sr=8-3
[...] [Source: Hugeasscity] New York City – the epitome of livability [...]