I’ve been reading up about how cities are planned, comparing the zoning plans of some of my favorite areas (i.e. Beacon Hill in Boston) with newer cities like Los Angeles. It took a very sharp pencil to draw the plans for Beacon Hill: dense housing, side by side with shops and walkways, sprinkled with human-scaled public gathering spaces. L.A.‘s plan, on the other hand, was drawn with a fat marker: wide lines for interstates, large shaded areas for the “zones:” shopping, living, working… none of which really touch. It’s probably easier to write plans with a fat pen; no need for pesky details, like how long a suburbanite will sit in traffic if they have to run to the store for tomorrow morning’s milk.
It goes further than zoning plans. It seems to me that America is becoming a society of Fat Pens: quick fixes to lose-30-pounds-in-30 days, election cycle fiscal policy, say-anything-to-spike-ratings TV hosts. I’ve seen the enemy, and it is Americans’ lazy, there-must-be-a-quick-and-easy-solution to problems ethos. We prefer fat pens to sharp pencils. It’s easier to believe a sound bite than to chew on facts. Simpler to hold others accountable than to make conscious choices ourselves. Easier to sit stone-faced in front of our televisions during “prime time” than haul ass to a city council meeting and participate in our democracy.
