Snow in the City, Mirages in the Exurbs
Yesterday we had our first big snow storm in Minneapolis. Saturday night we had nearly a foot dumped onto the city. It was the sight of buried cars, stuck busses, neighbors meeting and helping each other. Neighbors helping each other.
In the morning I dug out my car and headed into the Fremont/Gerard alleyway. Snow was everywhere! In our 2 acre block with 16 houses, 16 garages and many more cars, there was no room for a foot of snow. There was plenty of room for neighborhood connections.
My housemate Chris in his Prius found that mileage suffers when spinning tires and traveling 2 inches a minute. Any one of us alone would have been completely stuck no where to move and no where to put the snow!
What communally evolved was a choreographed musical cars and in less then an hour we had 4 driveways clear of snow. John came right over and snowblew our driveway, others lent gas to resurrect ancient snow blowers (I know, a 20yr old snow blower is terrible to the environment! Cough, cough, but let’s focus on the kindness). We grabbed our shovels and did our best to clear sidewalks. Living close together naturally bonded and connected people all working for the common benefit.
In our relatively dense city block there are dozens of families living in harmony and peace in each acre. We have freedom. There are no “homeowners associations” to regulate our homes. There are no “accepted styles of the neighborhood.” There are city codes, which can be a pain in the ass but are designed to be unobtrusive and keep people safe.
We can take down our fence, we can plant a vegetable garden, we can convert our garage into a greenhouse, we can share our space with those around us. We can live without a car. We can travel to new worlds with just a stroll down the street. We can walk to beautiful communal parks protected for enjoyment by all. We can to live life how we want.
How Ironic is the flight of families to the exurbs. Escaping from it all, longing to live free to respect the guidelines and procedures of the homeowners association. Human are living in isolation, on an acre of perfectly manicured toxic exotic green monoculture. No stimulus, no inspiration, no connection to the natural world, no connection to each other.
And don’t let your grass grow more then 5″ for that is a $20 fine on the second offence.
The March National geographic profiles the exurbs in an article highlighting Orlando, Florida…. Post to be continued……
