Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

* How do Americans really feel about the small towns they claim to revere?

* Giles found Christopher Alexander's "The Timeless Way of Building" to be a life-changing work. A lot of people have reacted that way to Alexander's books.

* The Ottawa Citizen visits with Sarah "Not So Big House" Susanka. Michael Blowhard heartily endorses Susanka's helpful and beautiful books and websites, which are very much in the Christopher Alexander tradition, and which offer tons of useful ideas and tips.

* Roger Scruton blogs! Sort of. But still! If you didn't know: Scruton isn't just a philosopher, he's one of the most substantial and provocative writers about architecture around.

* Are English towns and cities designed more for men than they are for women? Englishwomen's main complaint: not enough public loos. (Link thanks to Dave Lull.)

* MBlowhard Rewind: Our federal government used to commission and create beautiful buildings. Why does it now sponsor such awful and repellant work?

Best,

Michael

I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but ... that "towns designed for men" article misses an important point with respect to crime safety. Women may fear crime more than men do, but the fact remains that men are far more likely to be victims of violent crime. It's men, not women, who should be complaining about ill-lighted sidewalks and blind corners and so forth.

Posted by: Peter on November 4, 2008 11:15 AM

Alexander helped me recover my belief in God by describing God in such a way as to elicit not faith but rather the "shock of recognition", viz. the "quality without a name".

That's a life-changing effect to have on someone, that's for sure!

Posted by: PatrickH on November 4, 2008 12:39 PM

Thanks for bringing the Scruton blog to our attention. I hadn't seen it. BTW, I live in Small Town America -- just cast my sad, futile vote in a polling place on a hill over lovely cornfields. Took some of the sting out of it.

Posted by: Lester Hunt on November 4, 2008 1:08 PM

Small towns are great - as long as they aren't too far from big ones!

Posted by: Reid Farmer on November 5, 2008 1:44 PM






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