Originally Posted by
prairiepedaler
An excerpt on quality of life from Leopold Kohr's ”The Breakdown of Nations"
Frankly, this was IMO a lazyman's post...a picture of a text of an excessively long paragraph that would have to be re-typed in order to excerpt portions to agree or refute various points; and then posted without commentary.
Anyways, I probably live such a seemingly limited lifestyle, considered restrictive by many.
The good:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I often tout Boston as the epitome of LCF/LCL in America, not to brag, but illustrate the possibilities. When I take visitors on a 4-5 mile walking tour of downtown Boston, I introduce it with this explanation:
Several years ago, the architectural critic of the Boston Globe, Robert Campbell, was visiting Southfield, Michigan, a town I know well, and described it as the “City of Towers and Cars” (including “busy highways and vast parking lots" [and tall office buildings, and sprawling office and retail parks]).
In his article, he contrasted that that to the “City of Outdoor Rooms” (Boston) which is visited as one would visit a person’s home, passing through the various portals, from room to room, admiring the furnishings within.
That’s the motif I use on my tours as we start in the Back Bay, and pass through the Public Garden, Boston Common, Washington St and Quincy Market, the North End, Beacon Hill and back to Back Bay. The walk becomes the destination.
The "bad":
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...By choice I haven’t flown since 1988, and fortunately I can pleasantly live my life within 1,000 miles of Boston, by car, train and bike [or more down the East Coast to Florida].
Airline travel seem so harassing that I don’t miss it, and the other modalities allow me to transport more, including the assembled bike [in car], to make the trip more enjoyable, and more at
my convenience.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...In any case, though,
Regarding travel, In retirement, I could extend my perimeter.
Nonetheless perhaps the OP could explain how modern transportation modalities have led to the "breakdown of nations." My take on the conclusion of the piece is well-expressed by the Introduction to the Road Cycling Forum
Originally Posted by Ernest Hemingway
“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.”