A few months ago, I applied for a job with a company that’s doing some cool things in the urbanism space.
I’ll leave their name out of this as not to sound like I have an issue with them. It’s a great company. But in the course of the application process, I was asked a question that I’ll paraphrase as, “How urbanist is your lifestyle?”
It was a bit of a gut check for me. And that gut check quickly turned into imposter syndrome.
I started to feel guilty about living in suburbia, taking most of my trips by car, and not even owning an e-bike. What a bad urbanist, right?
Have you felt this way before? An overwhelming sense of guilt or insecurity putting the car in drive? Complicity in bad design as you go through the drive-thru?
This morning, my goal is to help you lift that weight and feel reenergized like I have.
Something I’ve tried to stress in my last several writings is the idea that good urbanism looks different in different contexts. What might be progress in one city could be a setback in another.
I learned this through writing out my answer to that interview question. It shifted my definition of urbanism; one with less legalism, more grace, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Your “urbanist credentials” are not defined by your surface-level habits. You’re not wrong for using your car on the 45 MPH road in front of your house instead of risking your life on a bike.
The reality is that in most of the United States, even less intensive versions of the “urbanist lifestyle” are functionally impossible. That’s how we got in this mess.
The solution to this problem is not all of us packing our bags and moving to Ljubljana or Utrecht. It’s rooting ourselves in places where we can fight for change while giving ourselves the grace to navigate our immediate circumstances in the meantime.
That may not lend itself to inspiring Instagram pictures in great parklets or Facebook stories showcasing your daily bike commutes. That’s ok. Because giving yourself this kind of grace will also give you the security you need to take heart, get rooted, and fight to make your section of Everytown, USA a little more equipped to promote human flourishing.
And friend, we need that far more than we need another urbanist in Portland.
One Thing to Get Excited About:
Paris is in the process of removing cars from the areas surrounding 168 schools in the city.
Instilling car-free and car-light culture in younger generations is a much more effective tool for change than seeking to change the habits of those who have lived in car-centric culture for decades.
As we seek to reduce car dependency across the U.S and the West as a whole, schools are a great place to start.
One Action to Get You Started :
This week, just give yourself grace.
Be intentional as you’re scrolling through social media not to get caught up in the comparison trap, specifically as it pertains to your own “urbanism habits.”
Remind yourself of your context and what you’re trying to accomplish in your own city, and keep moving.
One Resource to Check Out:
Princeton University has a great digital resource called The Eviction Lab that is tracking and mapping eviction data in cities across the United States.
Based on Matthew Desmond’s acclaimed book Evicted, the lab is also a hub for eviction policy analysis and other resources to help you think well about such a difficult topic.