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April 26, 2006
Jane Jacobs Has Left Us
She will be sorely missed. If any of our alleged "cultural critics" could be said to have any value at all, then Jane Jacobs would surely exemplify the best of that small subset. I don't have a single unkind thing to say about her. The woman had a marvelous way of looking at things, a slightly skewed approach to life that generated truly useful insights. I would happily read anything she wrote. Here's an introduction to her, courtesy of 2 Blowhards. Contrary to the author's modest protestations, I found it neither half-assed nor scattershot. For what it is, it's just right... When the post-war years came along, America went into pave-the-country-over hyperdrive. Sorry to say this about the Greatest Generation -- all due honor paid to them, of course -- but: What in God's name were they thinking of?... I hate grandiose theorists. I truly do. Humble empiricists are far more useful, and much easier to be around as well. Back to the blowhards... If any one thing characterizes Jacobs' work -- and I'm not sure any one thing does, but I'm gonna try anyway -- it's her aversion to theory and dogmatism. Take it case-by-case; be skeptical of general rules. Government usually screws things up and makes life more of a burden then it needs to be, but some of what it does seems to help. Amen, brother. Amen. My own introduction to Jane Jacobs' work came via Systems of Survival, so I was at first quite unaware of her contribution to urban design "theory" and the battle over urban renewal. It was a modest and pleasant little book, thought-provoking, chock full of odd little facts and pleasing anecdotes. Did you know that Kalahari bushmen had a homicide rate comparable to inner city Detroit's? I didn't know that. Eskimos too, by god. You get into a hot quarrel with a hunting buddy and then, oops, you spear him. Simple, no? The anthropologists were all very disappointed. Appalled even. Farewell naive preconceptions! Amusingly, the blowhards link to an interview with her from back in 2000, conducted by none other than James Howard Kunstler. Try spotting the incipient madness. JHK: Well the million flowers are now blooming mostly in China. I don’t know about you—every product I pick up is made in China. I’m not against the Chinese. Except when their commerce raiders attack our western coast. But it makes you wonder how long we go on having an advanced civilization without making anything anymore. Can we? Today is a sad day.
posted by Justin on 04.26.06 at 12:59 PM
Comments
Jane Jacobs' death made the front page of today's Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/14428106.htm She had a legendary feud with Edmund Bacon. Excerpt: During a tour of Philadelphia in 1962, the year after her book turned her into a celebrity, she pronounced the working class neighborhood around 10th and Tasker Streets "healthier" than those in Society Hill. Not surprisingly, the Philadelphia planner Edmund Bacon was her ideological opposite, and his ideas for urban renewal made him one of the chief villains in her book.While Edmund Bacon (Kevin Bacon's father, BTW) is responsible for some of Philly's worst architectural atrocities, he died recently, and Jane Jacobs will continue to prevail wherever she is. Eric Scheie · April 26, 2006 06:15 PM She's only two degrees removed from Kevin Bacon, bless her. Sean · April 26, 2006 06:23 PM |
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I'd never heard of the lady before today. Althouse is also in mourning. I'll have to check her out.