Songs and stories
July 29th, 2008 — Church and theology, City and culture
Wondering when all those farmers markets around the area are open and what they might have? And realizing that they’re not listed in the phone book?
The author of a new blog, The Crumb Trail, has as its stated purpose:
Sources for locally grown produce, meat, and dairy in Allen and surrounding counties in IN.
Find out about new and favorite farm markets by keeping to the Crumb Trail.
– Photo from The Crumb Trail
July 29th, 2008 — Church and theology, City and culture
How much is your happiness dependent on what country you live in?
That’s tough to say, but by and large, Americans are pretty happy; in fact, we’re ranked 16th in the world. From Science Daily:
Denmark tops the list of surveyed nations, along with Puerto Rico and Colombia. A dozen other countries, including Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden also rank above the United States, which maintains about the same relative position as it did in WVS’s 2000 survey.
“Though by no means the happiest country in the world, from a global perspective the U.S. looks pretty good,” says Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the university, who directs the study. “The country is not only prosperous; it ranks relatively high in gender equality, tolerance of ethnic and social diversity and has high levels of political freedom.”
And Richard Florida correctly points out the money quote, by Inglehart: “Ultimately, the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives.”
Read the article here. HT: Richard Florida
September 15th, 2007 — Church and theology, City and culture
It’s time to unveil my new project that I mentioned a few weeks ago.
Welcome to The Good City, a web site Scott Greider and I hope to develop into a resource for caring citydwellers, all from a Christian perspective.
The goal, as we say on the web site:
Calling Christians to consider the city and calling the city to consider Christ.
Scott and I love our city and want to see it succeed as a good city. Join us over at The Good City and comment.
August 2nd, 2007 — City and culture
Is a city-supported downtown baseball stadium and retail complex a good idea for Fort Wayne? Discussion about the proposed Harrison Square may be a moot point, with papers being drawn up and demolition in full swing, but still, the sides remain at loggerheads.
Opponents have been painted as cranky old conservatives. Supporters are portrayed as young optimistic professionals.
But the youngsters have a seemingly unlikely opponent in Richard Florida.
Florida is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the author of “The Rise of the Creative Class,” a best-selling book that studies the 38 million Americans he calls creatives: artists, scientists, musicians, architects and other such people. If anyone is in favor of attracting young creative professionals to cities, it’d be Prof Florida.
In his book, he’s critical of most cities’ efforts:
It’s not that these cities do not want to grow or encourage high-tech industries. In most cases, their leaders are doing everything they think they can to spur innovation and high-tech growth. But most of the time, they either can’t or won’t do the things required to create an environment or habitat that is attractive to the Creative Class.
Sounds like something any young creative person in Fort Wayne might say. But then Florida goes in a somewhat unexpected direction:
They pay lip service to the need to attract talent, but continue to pour resources into underwriting big-box retailers, subsidizing downtown malls, recruiting call centers and squandering precious taxpayer dollars on extravagant stadium complexes. (emphasis mine)
Plus:
The most recent studies show that stadiums do not generate economic wealth and actually reduce local incomes.
Now, before I get flamed in the comments, I realize the differences in Harrison Square’s tax structure and private investment. But we can set that aside, because one big argument for building this stadium is supposed to be to attract and retain the young professional.
Florida begs to differ:
Not once during any of my focus groups and interviews did any member of the Creative Class mention professional sports as playing a role of any sort in their choice of where to live and work.
So why try to build stadiums?
The answer is simple. These cities are stuck in the past.
So Florida may very well call Harrison Square a step into the past, not the future.
I hope for great success for Harrison Square, despite Florida’s gloominess. But it is disingenous of Harrison Square supporters to be so cocky and dismissive of opponents as old stuck-in-the-muds. The very inventor of the term “creative class” may be the biggest critic of all.
June 29th, 2007 — City and culture, Story and design
Well, the guys at AB417 were kind enough to let me join their societal think tank, so of course I had to pony up a 2,000-word essay for the new newsletter.
The essay, In Defense of Fake Authenticity, is now live on the AB417 web site.
My essay is a response of sorts to a post on Scott Greider’s blog in which he criticizes a local Uno’s Pizzaria for looking like an old urban building but actually being a new suburban building.
I agree with Scott’s concerns, but offer a different perspective:
But I contend there is something real behind this fake authenticity, something that I’d say is good and decent. And those who want to preserve and recapture our city’s downtown as a place of destination and a true city center should look to this fake authenticity as a source of hope.
June 16th, 2007 — Church and theology, City and culture, Story and design
Ever since I read a review of “Heaven Is Not My Home” over at The Jolly Blogger, I’ve been hoping our local library would stock a copy.
But since I had in my possession an Anchor Room gift certificate, I thought it was a dandy time to pick up a copy.
As David Wayne says in his review that captured my attention:
The view that many Christians have is that, after this life, our souls go to heaven and we walk streets of gold, wearing white robes and singing hymns for eternity. What Marshall does is show that our eternal destiny may in fact look a bit more like our current earthly existence than we realize.
Marshall correctly brings out the biblical teaching that the created order is basically good, and therefore it can be embraced. Sin is not the essence of the creation, sin is an imposter.
Because many Christians have wrongly interpreted Biblical passages on the world and worldliness we have adopted an attitude that sees this world as something evil at worst, or unnecessary at best. Either way, this world and this earth and this creation are to be avoided or endured until the time when we will be freed from all of it.
I’m looking forward to reading it — once I get done with “The Rise of the Creative Class.”
June 10th, 2007 — City and culture
Go to my Flickr page to see all kinds of cool photos of town and family.
Go to the Flickr page and see more photos!
June 4th, 2007 — City and culture
Here are a couple of cool photos Mary took on the way home from Van Wert today. Other states have mountains; Indiana has clouds.
The above was taken on Indiana 930 in New Haven, looking west toward Fort Wayne.
This is looking southwest while driving west on Indiana 930 at the Fort Wayne-New Haven line. Look at the rain coming down.
Mary took this while holding the camera out her open passenger window. Now that’s a Hail Mary shot!
June 3rd, 2007 — City and culture
This is my favorite photo from last month. I got this shot partly because I took about 20 photos of this peacock and this was just the best one!
Go to My Flickr and browse through many, many more of our photos.
May 31st, 2007 — City and culture
Just two houses down at 1906 Bequette Street is this house, evidently abandoned to the elements. The yard has been mowed once this year, a couple of months ago.
I called Neighborhood Code today to send in a report. In general, I consider myself pretty lenient on keeping a yard in tiptop shape, but this was becoming a real concern in the neighborhood, and it looked as though it would only get worse.
The woman with the city said Neighborhood Code has been getting 300 calls a day for out-of-control weeds. But the city can place only about 100 signs a day. So, they’re about three weeks behind.
In any case, if we could figure out who actual owns the property now, I’m sure my boys would mow that yard for a reasonable fee.
