We usually think of our suburban living with tree lined streets and grass yards as a sign of comfortable living but low-density housing actually has four times the carbon footprint of a densely packed city such as New York. One reason is because in a city people are more likely to either walk or use mass transit.
In our Mid-Atlantic and Northeast towns with sprawling developments, it’s not really possible to walk anywhere except up and down the street or in our own back yards. Everywhere else we drive. And, to shop for even the basic supplies for our lives, we have to drive to a sprawling shopping center, usually more than one shopping center.
Even our so-called high density housing, usually found in gated communities, have no real amenities beyond a so-called community center with its swimming pool. Lowering our carbon footprint is essential to tackling climate change. We need to reimagine our future.
Prayer for the Day
You know us, O God, our thoughts and our actions,
What we choose to do and do not choose to do;
Your hand is upon us; your Spirit seeks to speak through us.
We may search for way to avoid what it is we should do.
May your Spirit help us to reimagine the future of all your people,
For we are often so limited in our vision.
In the name of the One who gives us vision,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Americans may have the finest private realm in the developed world, but our public realm is brutal.
Andrés Duany, Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl
Housing is a human right. There can be no fairness or justice in a society in which some live in homelessness, or in the shadow of that risk, while others cannot even imagine it.
Jordan Flaherty, Floodlines: Community and Resistance
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain;
Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
Eating the bread of anxious toil, for God gives sleep to the beloved.
Psalm 127: 1-2