Urban developments these days always seem to be of this "contemporary" community ideal. Developers buy tracts of land and don't just put up retail space or housing, they create the conglomerated nightmare hybrids that ape the true feel of well worn neighborhoods. These burbclaves are popping up everywhere, especially in the underdeveloped outskirts of urban centers. I live near one in Austin called the Triangle that isn't so bad, but I also work in one further north called the Domain that's simply soul-sucking. These developments are nothing but outdoor malls with housing, complete with directories, security, and sometimes even it's own internal transportation.
It's not the development itself that bothers me though, it's the nature of what's being developed. Normal urban development happens over time where residential and commercial zones crop up and feed off of and into each other. The resulting interconnectivity becomes a neighborhood, the key being that the development is completely organic and evolves naturally. These burbclaves don't develop organically at all, they're cut from whole cloth and plopped down as a fully realized prefab neighborhood and despite the convenience, there is zero sincerity in this type of space.
I don't like being corralled or over sold, I like to choose my life experience organically. I don't want the packaged goods, I want the freedom to pick and choose. I may still end up with 99% of the same experience as someone else, but that remaining 1% is unique and of my choosing.
Austin is a developing area and I fear the future is locked within these burbclaves. My fear is that, as independent as this city is, that people won't associate the concept of "keep Austin weird" and supporting local business with the construction and use of these burbclaves. Even if the businesses within are all local, these are still packaged experiences meant to provide and inadvertently breed uniformity of thought and action. I want the world I choose, not the world that's given to me and I fear that the future may abscond with this freedom of choice before anyone even notices.
Sent from my iPhone @ Epoch Coffee
It's not the development itself that bothers me though, it's the nature of what's being developed. Normal urban development happens over time where residential and commercial zones crop up and feed off of and into each other. The resulting interconnectivity becomes a neighborhood, the key being that the development is completely organic and evolves naturally. These burbclaves don't develop organically at all, they're cut from whole cloth and plopped down as a fully realized prefab neighborhood and despite the convenience, there is zero sincerity in this type of space.
I don't like being corralled or over sold, I like to choose my life experience organically. I don't want the packaged goods, I want the freedom to pick and choose. I may still end up with 99% of the same experience as someone else, but that remaining 1% is unique and of my choosing.
Austin is a developing area and I fear the future is locked within these burbclaves. My fear is that, as independent as this city is, that people won't associate the concept of "keep Austin weird" and supporting local business with the construction and use of these burbclaves. Even if the businesses within are all local, these are still packaged experiences meant to provide and inadvertently breed uniformity of thought and action. I want the world I choose, not the world that's given to me and I fear that the future may abscond with this freedom of choice before anyone even notices.
Sent from my iPhone @ Epoch Coffee
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