Places Journal

Strangely enough, the mountaintops change quite often due to erosion and plate tectonics. They shrink [1] or even gain in height like the Everest did recently [2]. We get to know it only because we are extremely interested in mountaintops.

My question on how to format the data on changing landscapes was a serious one. It is so complicated, just to measure the signals of life processes in even one small region. There's so much data. There are now Critical Zone Observatories being built, in order to monitor these processes to the fullest extent on a local scale.[3]

I visited one such observatory in Aubure, France. There are dozens of people working there, just to monitor the vitals of a small watershed. They do a great job, but even they don't capture the data on living beings, animals, insects that are arguably also part of the landscape, or of a force that shapes the landscape through pollination, consumption, destruction or regulation of other living beings that have an effect on the landscape.

As hard as is it to define the borders and contents of a landscape, even harder question seems to me of how to represent changes. How to talk about changes on a global scale. Sure, the animation used in the article [4] shows quite clearly the change of planting zones over time, but this is just one data point. And a very abstract one, since one sees it, says 'yes, wow, it's changing' and then goes on to make a coffee and forget about it. The closer to the global scale we go, the…

I greatly disagree with the idea that big cities are becoming "increasingly unlivable."

American cities, especially downtowns, are in the middle of doing the exact opposite of becoming unlivable. I'm not talking opinions here, I'm talking about factual changes in the context of American history.

American city downtowns started as, essentially, the entire city, with a diverse mix of residents, commerce, and industry. As the industrialization progressed, those downtowns morphed into commercial-only zones as most other uses migrated outward. [1]

Residential living was very rare in city centers in America, with only slum living left. Since then, however, American cities are re-introducing residential life to city centers and redesigning them around mixed use and essentially revitalizing them. [1]

So this idea that big cities are "increasingly unlivable" is more of a cynical opinion rather than a matter of historical fact.

Also, in terms of sustainability, cities still win out. Suburban and rural development fragments animal habitats and uses more land per person. More time and miles are needed in your car burning oil to get around. City dwellers who walk and take transit are more carbon efficient than suburban and rural drivers.

Counter-intuitively, water quality is better in cities where more people are connected to a treated municipal water source. Sewage is also better managed in cities. [2]

Now, on to what's my actual opinion...regarding asynchronous work: it's…

This article is a lighthearted and doesn't talk about the underlying models behind simcity. Would recommend also reading:

https://logicmag.io/06-model-metropolis/ - which talks about simcity's inspiration from Jay Forrester's 'Urban Dynamics" and it's flaws.

Also, https://placesjournal.org/article/a-city-is-not-a-computer/ , which is something I've been meaning to read & contrast alongside Geoffrey West's works ( https://www.ted.com/talks/geoffrey_west_the_surprising_math_of_cities_and_corporations ).

There's also a recent interview between an urban planner in portland (the citybeautiful youtube channel) and a developer at cities:skylines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c5pSCgbZ84

They do actually have relationships with these institutions, and are in some cases likely stuck between friendly relations with their funding source xor showing solidarity with their readers, authors, and editors. https://placesjournal.org/academic-partners/

I get that you'd rather never hear about the war again--probably doesn't affect you materially, after all--but this isn't an "awkward injection of political opinions into [an] unrelated space." They're embedded in it. The extra effort of closing a dialog box doesn't seem like too much of a cost for you to bear in exchange for reading their article.

Trying to place the blame for this on Republicans is dishonest. Shantytowns have existed for years, and Democrats haven't done much to help. For example:

> In December 2014, the city of San Jose shut down what was then America’s largest homeless camp — a shantytown that stretched for sixty-eight acres along Coyote Creek where a few hundred men and women were living in tents, shacks, treehouses, and adobe dugouts.

https://placesjournal.org/article/tent-city-america/