I have a confession to make.
I watched one of those made for TV Christmas movies last night.
I forget the name. It’s the one where a young woman from the big city has to go to a small town for the Christmas season. There, she discovers that the town embodies the true spirit of Christmas, meets a romantic partner, abandons the urban lifestyle, and settles down in this idyllic small town.
That narrows it down… right!
What I found interesting, is the big city is portrayed as alienating, materialistic and careerist – you know all that stuff that is the opposite of the so-called “Christmas spirit.” And all this urban negativity is in contrast to the friendliness, strong social ties, slower pace, and overwhelming Christmas decorations of the small town (the local café is always handing out free cookies and hot chocolate).
What I find fascinating, is that the appeal of the small town is very urban. The town portrayed in this and other Christmas movies possess the...
The popularity of the world created by made for TV Christmas movies suggests that many people really want to live in walkable communities where they can stroll along bustling main streets to buy things from locally-owned stores, cross paths with their neighbours at work and at leisure, and congregate together in public spaces for civic activities. They long for that world and they live it vicariously through these movies. But we don’t really know how to achieve it in a society that is so structured around the car, and that has largely lost the memory of how to develop a community that is integrated.
We know what we want when it comes to how our towns and neighbourhoods work, but we’re still trying to figure out how to achieve it in real life rather than on the set of an imaginary drama made for television. And it is a lot easier to watch a movie than it is to work toward change and to change our lifestyle decisions.
I watched one of those made for TV Christmas movies last night.
I forget the name. It’s the one where a young woman from the big city has to go to a small town for the Christmas season. There, she discovers that the town embodies the true spirit of Christmas, meets a romantic partner, abandons the urban lifestyle, and settles down in this idyllic small town.
That narrows it down… right!
What I found interesting, is the big city is portrayed as alienating, materialistic and careerist – you know all that stuff that is the opposite of the so-called “Christmas spirit.” And all this urban negativity is in contrast to the friendliness, strong social ties, slower pace, and overwhelming Christmas decorations of the small town (the local café is always handing out free cookies and hot chocolate).
What I find fascinating, is that the appeal of the small town is very urban. The town portrayed in this and other Christmas movies possess the...
- walkability,
- active public spaces,
- low motor vehicle presence that urbanists strive for.
- They have thriving, walkable main streets full of independent retail shops tightly packed together.
- Every building faces on to the street
- Everyone strolls along the sidewalks and interacts with each other in person.
- There is always a car-free public square at the centre of town that is the focus of attention and the site of a Christmas festival, like turning on the Christmas tree lights, that brings the whole community together.
- And everyone is always crossing the street safely mid-block despite not looking both ways because vehicle traffic is always somehow limited and slow.
The popularity of the world created by made for TV Christmas movies suggests that many people really want to live in walkable communities where they can stroll along bustling main streets to buy things from locally-owned stores, cross paths with their neighbours at work and at leisure, and congregate together in public spaces for civic activities. They long for that world and they live it vicariously through these movies. But we don’t really know how to achieve it in a society that is so structured around the car, and that has largely lost the memory of how to develop a community that is integrated.
We know what we want when it comes to how our towns and neighbourhoods work, but we’re still trying to figure out how to achieve it in real life rather than on the set of an imaginary drama made for television. And it is a lot easier to watch a movie than it is to work toward change and to change our lifestyle decisions.
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