edsg25
December 29th, 2004, 01:54 PM
Silverlake: stop. think.
most of us wouldn't want our cities to blow away "the competition"; we prefer win/win situations.
most of us are happy about what our city is, rather than what other cities aren't (or what we hope they aren't)
most of us know that our city's greatness comes, in large part, from the networking it does with other great cities.
most of us know that qualities of "greatness" nationally or globally are fleeting qualities; that it is more important for the health of our cities to see how we measure up to what we can and should be than to what other cities can and should be. In other words: the trick for Paris is to be the best Paris, Rome to be the best Rome, London to be the best London. And not worry about being the other guy. That's what makes us successful.
most of us are happy that there are great cities out there other than our own, enriching our lives, wonderful places to visit, to know about, to develop ideas and thoughts different from our own than add so much to our lives. we celebrate the differences and diversity of other cities and have no desire to see them homogenized, cloned....or to have any single one of them be the model for the future.
most of us know that off of the skyscraper board and our discussions here, most people aren't thinking about any other city but their own....not our of false pride, but because we're all separate little worlds, our own environments, the real and tangible world we see and feel everyday (and if you cut past Skyscrapercity BS here, most of us know we don't know very much about other cities, even ones we've visited numerous times, because we don't live there)
most of us know that the US would not be the great country it is without a whole bunch of great cities....
....and that our own city would be greatly diminished in importance if it were the only great one in a country pushing 300 million people.
most of us don't like be reminded by others that they live in a bigger house, drive a nicer car, cheer for a better baseball team, have more accomplished children, have a better job, make more money, and live in the best city. those feelings we have are called "human nature"
and finally, most (many? some?) of us realize that such competitive thinking about our cities is the same kind of competitive thinking about our country, the good old USA, that issolates us from others and makes us think we have all the answers, when, truthfully, each of us (individual, city, nation) has only one small small piece of a much bigger puzzle.
Most of us know that in most of life's situatiions, cooperation is a higher goal than competition.
Silverlake: stop. think.
most of us wouldn't want our cities to blow away "the competition"; we prefer win/win situations.
most of us are happy about what our city is, rather than what other cities aren't (or what we hope they aren't)
most of us know that our city's greatness comes, in large part, from the networking it does with other great cities.
most of us know that qualities of "greatness" nationally or globally are fleeting qualities; that it is more important for the health of our cities to see how we measure up to what we can and should be than to what other cities can and should be. In other words: the trick for Paris is to be the best Paris, Rome to be the best Rome, London to be the best London. And not worry about being the other guy. That's what makes us successful.
most of us are happy that there are great cities out there other than our own, enriching our lives, wonderful places to visit, to know about, to develop ideas and thoughts different from our own than add so much to our lives. we celebrate the differences and diversity of other cities and have no desire to see them homogenized, cloned....or to have any single one of them be the model for the future.
most of us know that off of the skyscraper board and our discussions here, most people aren't thinking about any other city but their own....not our of false pride, but because we're all separate little worlds, our own environments, the real and tangible world we see and feel everyday (and if you cut past Skyscrapercity BS here, most of us know we don't know very much about other cities, even ones we've visited numerous times, because we don't live there)
most of us know that the US would not be the great country it is without a whole bunch of great cities....
....and that our own city would be greatly diminished in importance if it were the only great one in a country pushing 300 million people.
most of us don't like be reminded by others that they live in a bigger house, drive a nicer car, cheer for a better baseball team, have more accomplished children, have a better job, make more money, and live in the best city. those feelings we have are called "human nature"
and finally, most (many? some?) of us realize that such competitive thinking about our cities is the same kind of competitive thinking about our country, the good old USA, that issolates us from others and makes us think we have all the answers, when, truthfully, each of us (individual, city, nation) has only one small small piece of a much bigger puzzle.
Most of us know that in most of life's situatiions, cooperation is a higher goal than competition.
Silverlake: stop. think.