I think a key draw of these big projects is that whoever pitches them is able to create a new vision and narrative from scratch for people to get behind. When trying to improve something that already exists, any idea has to fit into an untold number of people's own opinions of the way things are and were, their own visions for the area, the narrative of the area that they're attached to, and their gripes with the people who are or aren't involved. And all of those feelings trend toward an inertia or outright opposition that big shiny plans of creating something entirely novel don't run into, or at least the momentum and deep financial interests of massive development projects are strong enough to overcome it.
That's a good point. Housing and bike lanes tend to suffer from from clear and direct costs to nearby neighbors while having diffuse benefits to everybody else. Sometimes it takes advocates to elevate systemic issues into big and inspiring proposals, like Neighbors for More Neighbors in Minneapolis.
Other urbanist shiny objects are sports stadiums and convention centers.
Totally!
The Upzoned podcast brought me here.
No way! I haven't listened to the new episode yet. Happy to hear this.
I think a key draw of these big projects is that whoever pitches them is able to create a new vision and narrative from scratch for people to get behind. When trying to improve something that already exists, any idea has to fit into an untold number of people's own opinions of the way things are and were, their own visions for the area, the narrative of the area that they're attached to, and their gripes with the people who are or aren't involved. And all of those feelings trend toward an inertia or outright opposition that big shiny plans of creating something entirely novel don't run into, or at least the momentum and deep financial interests of massive development projects are strong enough to overcome it.
That's a good point. Housing and bike lanes tend to suffer from from clear and direct costs to nearby neighbors while having diffuse benefits to everybody else. Sometimes it takes advocates to elevate systemic issues into big and inspiring proposals, like Neighbors for More Neighbors in Minneapolis.