"Home from Nowhere"

Lately, I've been reading and hearing lectures on topics I know nothing about. I enjoy reading and hearing smart people explain what it is they spend time thinking about.

I stumbled on "Home from Nowhere: Remaking our Everyday World for the 21st Century" by Howard Kunstler. It was referenced in a guidebook on home building. I checked it out from the library and it was nothing like I thought it would be. The original reference leading me to the book had to do with how horizontal windows are not flattering to a house because they break an inherent code in our humanity. From the outside looking in, the horizontal window harkens to the image of a prone body. Prone bodies only happen in situations not meant for the public eye; sleeping, sex, and death, as examples.

The rest of the book dealt with how we design homes and towns; what is wrong with strip malls, what is wrong with mega-mansions, and what is wrong with our zoning codes that allow these monstrous abominations. And, the best part was, he wasn't an environmentalist. He broke down all the reasons why we are uncomfortable with development today. He spoke of humanness and the soul of civic life. And he spoke of how we are losing it.

It made tangible for me things I feel when I travel through the American human-constructed landscape. It put the problems and solutions into words I understand.

I found it fascinating and inspiring. I think all City and County Planners should read it. And you should too.