Seaside Continues

Article recommended by The Older Brother:
New Urbanist Seaside Paradise Celebrates 25 Years, by James Kunstler

If you haven't read the book Suburban Nation, written by the architects largely responsible for Seaside's overall design, you owe it to yourself to do so in the near future.  Everyone's rushing around wondering what the hell's wrong with America these days.  Maybe if we weren't so distracted by an hour commute in one direction followed by a 45 minute drive to the new strip mall on the far edge of town, we'd have time to sort these things out.  Maybe if we had places to sit and talk with friends – without having to drive a half-hour to get there, meaning that it never quite seems to happen – we'd be able to get past some of our differences and put the "civil" back into our civilization.

Remember, Seaside was built on the cheap on what was essentially wasteland.  It only later became expensive as a reflection of its underlying value.  Value to human beings who were looking for a sane place to live.