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You could be forgiven for thinking that @mcmansionhell is all about dunking on McMansions (for obvious reasons), but Wagner is a multiple threat. Here she is explaining why coronavirus doesn't prove that apartment buildings are bad.
https://www.curbed.com/2020/4/22/21224935/coronavirus-density-debate-mcmansion-hell-kate-wagner
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https://www.curbed.com/2020/4/22/21224935/coronavirus-density-debate-mcmansion-hell-kate-wagner
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The pandemic has brought out a slew of idiotic criticisms on the lines of "See, this proves that every city should be a sprawling, low-density car-commuter paradise and everyone should have a standalone house with a tiny private park to exercise in."
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As Wagner points out, this NIMBY opportunism is incredibly bad faith: Apartment buildings are inanimate objects. They didn't cause the shortage of medical supplies. They didn't make Donald Trump procure bum tests. They didn't prompt weeks of catastrophic denial and inaction.
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It's true that badly maintained apartment buildings - lacking regular cleaning and maintenance - represent a public health crisis accellerant. But to blame the structure - and not the slumlord who chose to skimp on maintenance - is obviously wrong.
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What's more: the pandemic has spread in the suburbs just as readily as it has spread in the built-up cities. Irrespective of the density of your neighborhood, you still have to go grocery shopping, visit your pharmacy, etc.
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And if you get sick in a city, you have a better chance of getting care, because high-density living can sustain higher densities of both medical facilities and medical experts.
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The pandemic is a runup for the waves of (far deadlier) emergencies we will face due to the climate crisis. Cities - which sustain public transit, and free up land for habitat and agriculture - are the only way we'll weather those storms.
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Regressing to sprawl in the name of fighting future pandemics is incredibly shortsighted. Think of the crises visited upon our unplanned, sprawling places - the Houston floods, say - and imagine trying to socially distance and treat the sick during one of those disasters.
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