Columns
Practical Developers, Idealistic Planners, and Their Disagreements (Some of the Time)
|
The tension between acting in accordance with one’s ethical or moral principles versus contenting oneself with pragmatic efficiency and “realism” is one of the oldest tensions in the whole history of philosophy. It’s an old and abiding tension in part because one can experience it everywhere. Here in Wichita, KS, I’ve lately been thinking about primarily in connection with an intersection a little over a mile from my house, where the major arterial streets Central and Ridge meet. (Allow me a digression here; I’ll get back to my main point presently.)
Central and Ridge, in west Wichita, on the southwest corner, looking northeast
North of Central and Ridge, on the west side of Ridge, looking south
It is not, by any possible stretch of the imagination, a pleasantly walkable intersection, nor a location of any kind of real artistic activity or civic engagement. It’s a stretch of two stroads, to use a Strong Towns term.