Change of Mind: Cities with Personality

Look out your window, open your eyes and what do you see? Do you see anything special, anything that catches your attention? When I look out my window, really observing what sits outside, I see plain suburban houses, a couple trees here and there. Once I close my eyes I imagine seeing some splash of color, a paint that is not beige, white, black or grey. I want to see something out of the ordinary, something that makes Glenview unique. But is that possible?

Glenview is exactly the kind of town that James Kunstler was describing. The town that has nothing really special to it, where every day you hope that something interesting happens to liven up your day. Everything is the same in our town. It contains big suburban houses and great landscaping. Although Glenview is a great safe town, it is very bland.  Every place you go to sends a message to the people so what kind of message does Glenview give? A very ordinary boring town. In  my opinion, towns like Evanston give a message of open mindedness. Even though Evanston is still a suburb, it has a city feel to it, they have pretty streets and personality. The students and people that live there add to the city’s qualities.

After watching James Kunstler’s TED talk, I thought about how dull some places are and how easily beautiful they could be if there were some changes. Whenever I go to downtown Chicago I love looking at the beautiful architecture, the history that each building contains. I enjoy sitting in grant park and looking at the sculptures and artwork that lies on the green grass. I would rather spend my day in a beautiful city than a simple town. I know that Glenview is pretty compared to most towns, but if we added more personality, art, things that really catch people’s attention, Glenview could and would be more enjoyable.  Turning a plain city into a colorful town is possible. At the end of his talk Kunstler mentions how we should stop calling ourselves consumers, and I agree with statement. I think we should all add to our city instead of just “taking” from it. If we did add our own ideas, art work, etc. we could all make our cities into pleasant towns, and a “town worth saving.”