June 9, 2026
my work recently sent me back to houston; along the way, i made a brief stop in dallas to see my family. both of these places are sprawling texan metropolises in which people live their entire lives and some have built fulfilling ones at that. when people say poor things regarding cleveland or baltimore, i feel a spark of irritation that i know people who thrive in these rusty cities – the person making fun of the city as a whole cannot know that some are satisfied by them! and some defensiveness erupts. though, even if these cities contain those who have paved out lives and found subcultures, driving through endless identical strip malls and developments, one cannot help but think that these texan cities (and other sun-belt suburbs) are wonderful places to stagnate and consume.
all of america depends on consumption; these newly-developed cities differ in that their construction was a means to facilitate consumption rather than the act of consumption being an outgrowth of the natural needs of people. in newer cities, ease and efficiency of access to goods are the primary design goals; human comfort and scale secondary. between home and work are restaurants, shopping, and entertainment, both temporal and spatial. roads laid out such that one may drive to locations as fast as possible. older cities do have shopping districts as well, but are on a smaller scale (strips and corner stores used by those who live closest to them) and are concentrated for the community’s convenience. this may not be the most efficient distribution of shops - goods may be farther than one would like - but it is on the scale of the human rather than the car.
the experience of driving on katy freeway is passing strip malls and car lots in various states of mold, all of which facilitate the same identical day as one travels between home and work. there is human interaction here, but it is hidden from view in isolated moments. furthermore, it is displaced by consumption as the default activity. this transforms the citizen as a participant in society into a consumer. if one were convinced that consumption is the highest form of executing one’s desire this would be optimal. i do not believe this.
an observer may draw a line between the above criticism of need-fulfillment in the sun belt and those incredibly long lines photographed at new york shops, rightfully pointing out that these are both essentially consumptive! they are! many places in new york act as desire centers as well, though i find them equally as distasteful in a walkable city. no city should become a playground to spend money. when i speak of the value of cities, imagine fifty people on the street in harlem listening to the knicks radio together completely unplanned; the thousands outside madison square gardens; the groups who walk down west side highway together; friends on blankets in parks. these human-scale areas allow for more frequent, random, and satisfying connections that these sun-belt wastelands ignore. cities for people first, then consumption.
that cities become need-fulfillment machines enables an ease to life which allows one to avoid difficult, more meaningful, connection. left to their own devices, people will act on the easiest path for their character; junk over vegetables, the ersatz over all. when this is tallied at the end of the day, these fake experiences will add to nothing (or so i believe). i cannot justify the value of the real experience which these cities deny, but believe in it regardless. living like this is as if one were already dead.