Read on Twitter
THREAD: I probably shouldn& #39;t be giving this garbage oxygen and clicks but, sorry, I can& #39;t help myself, this is the most entertainingly stupid anti-urbanist op-ed I& #39;ve seen this side of @JoelKotkin, apparently written by a Chicagoland resident.
https://intpolicydigest.org/2020/09/27/new-urbanism-is-dead-what-just-killed-it">https://intpolicydigest.org/2020/09/2...
https://intpolicydigest.org/2020/09/27/new-urbanism-is-dead-what-just-killed-it">https://intpolicydigest.org/2020/09/2...
Starting with this passage: "New urbanism is dead. It& #39;s been killed. And it might even be mortally wounded."
OK, the first sentence of this graf doesn& #39;t actually make any sense, but you get the gist. The author is arguing that due to recent looting in fancy downtown shopping districts like Chicago& #39;s Magnificent Mile, many people are never going to want to work in urban CBDs again.
Jesus this is dumb. People aren& #39;t telecommuting because they& #39;re afraid of looting, they& #39;ve done so because pandemic orders closed offices, and it& #39;s still not ideal to have lots of people working together in enclosed spaces. More points off for unnecessary use of scare quotes.
I dunno, maybe a guy who apparently lives in the Chicago region and doesn& #39;t even know how to punctuate @Metra isn& #39;t an expert on transit?
And Lord knows where he got the numbers that
"& #39;lost ridership& #39;" [more scare quotes] may be as high as thirty to forty percent."
![I dunno, maybe a guy who apparently lives in the Chicago region and doesn& #39;t even know how to punctuate @Metra isn& #39;t an expert on transit?And Lord knows where he got the numbers that "& #39;lost ridership& #39;" [more scare quotes] may be as high as thirty to forty percent."](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjAxG4LXkAcxQN8.png "I dunno, maybe a guy who apparently lives in the Chicago region and doesn& #39;t even know how to punctuate @Metra isn& #39;t an expert on transit?And Lord knows where he got the numbers that \"& #39;lost ridership& #39;\" [more scare quotes] may be as high as thirty to forty percent.\"")
And Lord knows where he got the numbers that
"& #39;lost ridership& #39;" [more scare quotes] may be as high as thirty to forty percent."
So what& #39;s the expert prescription on what Metra should do, from this guy who doesn& #39;t even know how to punctuate Metra, in response to the inevitable temporary ridership losses because white-collar workers currently aren& #39;t commuting? Gut the Metra system.
So other than slashing transit service, what constructive advice does this forward-thinking gentleman have for addressing current pandemic transportation challenges? Build more downtown parking garages and make them cheaper. 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ€Ł" title="Lachend auf dem Boden rollen" aria-label="Emoji: Lachend auf dem Boden rollen">
" title="So other than slashing transit service, what constructive advice does this forward-thinking gentleman have for addressing current pandemic transportation challenges? Build more downtown parking garages and make them cheaper. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ€Ł" title="Lachend auf dem Boden rollen" aria-label="Emoji: Lachend auf dem Boden rollen">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
To give you an idea of where Mr. Carlini is coming from, his Twitter banner image is a photo of a fancy car parked on a downtown sidewalk.
Like Joel Kotkin, Carlini is projecting his personal preferences: Since they& #39;d rather live in bland, homogenous suburbs where it& #39;s easy & necessary to drive everywhere, rather than vibrant, diverse, sustainable cities, they assume that& #39;s the wave of the future for everyone else.
As Seinfeld noted, places like NYC & Chicago will bounce back from the challenges of COVID & civil unrest because people crave in-person interactions in vibrant big cities. And as he eloquently stated, arguing otherwise makes you a "putz." End of thread. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/opinion/jerry-seinfeld-new-york-coronavirus.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/2...
