 arcanumdeepsecrets.wordpress.com "Community, Identity, Stability." --from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, ch.1, pg. 1. Creating an "ideal" world, city, etc. can certainly be a slippery slope, as seen in numerous novels about such places (like the Brave New World envisioned by Mr. Huxley). But if we're going to live in a better world, the first step in that is by imagining what it might look like. I have never been very adept at video games but my husband and daughters are great at them. They used to play one called SIM City, where you plan and build your own city in hopes that it will be successful so that you can "win" the game. So, what is the perfect city? To my mind, it begins by being well thought out, entirely "green", and prosperous (although prosperity is not always defined by using a monetary yardstick). If I were the one responsible for building it, the first thing I'd do is consult a field of experts i.e. engineers, city planners, waste management experts, sociologists, psychologists and builders who are cutting edge with "green" building. I'd want the city center to be the Business District. The next ring out would be devoted to small businesses, condos & apartments and recreational facilities. The final, outer ring would contain homes and communities, i.e. an urban area, as well as a Harbor District. Ideally, beyond this ring would be a river, deep and wide, that almost completely surrounded the city (I know, sounds a bit like a moat, doesn't it? But I was thinking more of the Harbor areas you can find at major cities built butt-up against a large body of water.). All buildings would be built using recycled materials or green materials and 100% powered by clean energy. No personal vehicles would be allowed in the Business District, only emergency vehicles and all who worked in the downtown area would be required to park and walk into their jobs, ride a bike, or ride the light rail for a small yearly fee (that would go towards maintenance). Recreational parks would be dispersed throughout all parts of the city and would include botanical sections, as well as food growing sections (imagine going into a park that contains apple trees and vendors who sell things created with those apples, i.e. a warm apple fritter to eat on your lunch break at work). How is this different from what can be found in cities around the world today? Besides being a completely green environment, this city would be completely self-sustaining and all of its occupants encouraged to invest, not financially, per se, but emotionally, i.e. this is your community to live in, grow in, and care for. And if you're wondering how the city would be completely powered by non-fossil fuel clean energy, I encourage you to read about the innovative ideas that are out there right now, including those of Nikola Tesla nearly a hundred years ago (Why have we sat on THAT all this time????). Not only is it possible for "us" to do much better, but it has been so for a LONG time! What are we waiting for? 
Future City Image @ www.futureforall.org
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I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter. Archives
November 2018
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