This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Books Tonight at Powell's: David Owen
Posted by Alison Hallett on Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 5:36 PM
New Yorker writer David Owen's new book Green Metropolis posits that density is the single most important factor in determining how "green" a city is. By that measure, Manhattan has Portland and other so-called eco-friendly cities beat—a fact Owen cheerfully points out in the book's introduction. And while the "in yo' FACE, Portland!" drum-beating of the book's intro feels like overkill for what is fundamentally a very straightforward premise (more density=fewer cars=less reliance on dwindling fossil fuel reserves), the bulk of Green Metropolis is a methodical argument for why lobbying for dense, mixed-used neighborhoods is a better use of one's time than devising solutions like solar panels and electric cars:
"The real problem with cars is not that they don't get enough miles to the gallon. It's that they make it too easy for people to spread out, encouraging forms of development that are inherently wasteful and damaging. Most so-called environmental initiatives concerning automobiles are actually counterproductive, because their effect is to make driving less expensive (by reducing the need for fuel) and to make car travel more agreeable (by eliminating congestion). What we really need, from the point of view of both energy conservation and environmental protection, is to make driving costlier and less pleasant."
Owen seems to take some satisfaction in tipping the sacred cows of the environmental movement—telling us to in effect get over the idea that any car-based lifestyle is an environmentally responsible one. Driving all the way out to Sauvie to buy local peaches? Owen would tell you to save the gas and go to Fred Meyer. (And hippies who flee the city to live in the country only drag sprawl along with them, he says.) He's also a big fan of providing disincentives to drivers, arguing that it's better to have fewer cars idling in traffic jams than to add an extra lane and encourage more commuters to drive.
Tonight Owen appears at Powell's City of Books, at 7:30 pm, in conversation with Ethan Seltzer, director of PSU's School of Urban Studies and Planning (the event is co-sponsored by Portland Spaces and the City Club of Portland). I'm looking forward to it—I found Owen's book very persuasive, but I'm hoping to hear some different perspectives tonight.
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Beyond the awkwardness of the staging, it was immediately apparent that there was nothing of interest to say on the essentially contrived Portland vs. Manhattan question, but Setzer and Owen kept circling it anyway, because, well, what else were they there to talk about? The event was structured as a dialogue, but it sure didn't feel like one (better to let Owen STAND UP and give a presentation about his book, then let Seltzer moderate the Q&A). Were we talking about Portland? If so, some discussion of the tradeoff between livability and density would've been appropriate—should Portland strive to be denser? If so, how, without sacrificing the "character" of our neighborhoods? I was hoping for a meaningful challenge to the idea that living in Portland, riding a bike, and composting represents the height of environmental forward-thinking, but I sure didn't get it. And if this wasn't about Portland (Owen was quick to applaud the city's urban growth boundary), then what can be done to increase density in places where sprawl has already settled, like Atlanta? "Bulldoze Atlanta" is glib, but it's not a solution. I liked Owen's book. It's clear, it's thoughtful, and it's persuasive. Last night's event was none of those things.
Portland Spaces and the City Club are co-presenting a similar event on October 15, with Anthony Flint, author of a book about Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs (whose ideas about urban living were oft-cited in Owen's book). Again, interesting subject. I hope they take a critical look at the ways in which last night's event didn't work (the full room had thinned considerably by the end of the evening), and adjust their format accordingly in the future.
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