It is indeed "charming" -- though it's not so much an idea that has been lost to Americans so much as regulated out of them/us. The intense and immutable zoning laws that have been effected legally prevent people from coming to some of the same shared-space solutions that are commonly in effect in Japan. It is sad that we have lost much of our ability to walk to the store for a bag of groceries, a box of tacks, or a loaf of fresh-baked bread, all so that American communities can be divided more handily and absolutely into residential/commercial (though maybe I am pleased about the distance from industrial zones).
Unfortunately, I think whether there exists zoning laws or not, Americans are bound to diverge from that sort of shared space solution because the necessity is not there. Americans sense of personal and usable space is just vastly different from their asian and european counterparts. Zoning laws are arguably an extension of the population's desire for separation of residential and commercial zones, at least from what I understand from popular opinion and preference.
That being said, there are areas of resurgence where live/work environments have taken hold again. I know here in Los Angeles in its historic downtown core there are many urban live/work sections being converted, and my own neighborhood has many ethnic-run stores that carry the same spirit as the small business posted above. So in reality, when I say Americans, I'm referring mostly to the ever increasing suburban, subdivision development lifestyle. If even given the chance, most Americans don't even want that opportunity to walk to the store...they want to drive their auto three blocks for that loaf of bread to a shopping center because it "seems" more convenient than a walk down the street. Don't discount the amazing aversion Americans now have for physical exertion. The idea of a town square has been relegated to outdoor shopping mall developments that mimic the old style community city planning...a theme park :(
I agree that Americans have vastly different sense of personal and usable space. My in-laws live in an identical apartment next-door to us, having moved from Tokyo to Osaka, whereas we moved from San Jose to Osaka. Their impression is that they've moved into a very large apartment, while I at first felt like Gulliver in a Lilliputian hive.
However I tend to think that America has only recently turned the outlying, non-urban spaces into discrete living and working areas. My crackpot theory is that this was largely due to lobbying by oil and car manufacturers, who wanted the government to create roads so that their product would be more widely consumed, but that could just be the mothership getting through the tinfoil again.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Charming!
Date: 2004-09-17 02:39 am (UTC)Re: Charming!
Date: 2004-09-17 10:07 am (UTC)That being said, there are areas of resurgence where live/work environments have taken hold again. I know here in Los Angeles in its historic downtown core there are many urban live/work sections being converted, and my own neighborhood has many ethnic-run stores that carry the same spirit as the small business posted above. So in reality, when I say Americans, I'm referring mostly to the ever increasing suburban, subdivision development lifestyle. If even given the chance, most Americans don't even want that opportunity to walk to the store...they want to drive their auto three blocks for that loaf of bread to a shopping center because it "seems" more convenient than a walk down the street. Don't discount the amazing aversion Americans now have for physical exertion. The idea of a town square has been relegated to outdoor shopping mall developments that mimic the old style community city planning...a theme park :(
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 09:19 pm (UTC)However I tend to think that America has only recently turned the outlying, non-urban spaces into discrete living and working areas. My crackpot theory is that this was largely due to lobbying by oil and car manufacturers, who wanted the government to create roads so that their product would be more widely consumed, but that could just be the mothership getting through the tinfoil again.