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A century later, many Americans followed a similar path. A massive migration from the nation's cities into the surrounding woods and countryside began when WWII ended. The flood of city refugees transferred wealth and power to suburbs rising on urban edges, and left a common pattern of decay or neglect in city centers. And suburban life spawned another set of problems, those most frequently associated with the environmental impacts of sprawl - traffic congestion, air and water pollution, and appropriate use of farm and wild lands.
Now, some observers suggest that perhaps the only way to fix these problems is by developing a new city ethic; one that promotes living in the city as a means of saving the countryside. This past April, the state land use group One Thousand Friends of Wisconsin sponsored a conference focused on this theme. The gathering brought together state environmental leaders, academic and resource professionals, and media reps.
"There's a real correlation between the decisions we make on where we are going to live and their pollution impacts," says Dave Cieslewicz, the executive director for One Thousand Friends. Outside of how many children people choose to have, he calls it the most important decision people make. Pointing at the urban flight to the country, Cieslewicz says "we must realize that environmentalism isn't just about improving our own personal environment. "
Lifestyle issues can be tricky, holding many potential political pitfalls. Cieslewicz acknowledges that his organization has "been tiptoeing" around them for the past three years. But, he adds, "I don't think we can dodge this issue about the ethics of where we choose to live. There are some costs there."
Making the city more livable is essential to any hope of developing a new city ethic, according to Welford Sanders, a UW-Milwaukee adjunct professor in Architecture and Urban Planning. While downtown Milwaukee has recently experienced housing and commercial redevelopment, Sanders says "we really haven't had that same success in our neighborhoods."
Several conference participants mentioned the need to direct more attention and resources towards neighborhoods and city needs. The Sierra Club's Brett Hulsey, a Madison resident and coordinator of the group's anti-sprawl campaign, believes this will require tinkering with political and economic policies.
"We are giving millions of dollars in corporate welfare to move out [of the city]," Hulsey says. These practices must be stopped, he says. "We need real policies that address the economic imbalance."
Says Sanders: "If neighborhoods get better, people will want to live in the city."
Cities already have attractions that lure people to the urban landscape, including diverse food and restaurant choices, cultural venues, and entertainment options like arts, music and sporting events. But one aspect rarely, if ever considered, is nature. Yet nature, according to several conference participants, can offer another draw for life in the city.
One Thousand Friends sought to encourage this view. The group asked state students for essays describing natural wonders in urban communities for possible inclusion as a part of their forthcoming book on Wisconsin city life. The response was disappointing, if not shocking. Nearly all of the student essays chronicled a visit to the country or a wilderness experience, despite clear instructions soliciting accounts from the urban world.
Some cities already emphasize their natural attractions. Chicago has brought together dozens of organizations in an effort to identify and promote the city's wilderness and wild environs. In Madison, the city has a 21 mile long loop known as the "E-way." The corridor, which begins at the UW, has an urban and rural mix with portions of it crossing by State Street and the Convention Center and then towards the Beltline, Nine Springs, Fish Hatchery, Fitchburg, Dunn's Marsh and the Arboretum before returning to the campus.
Phil Lewis was intimately involved with the creation of Madison's E-way. Lewis is a landscape architect, former UW professor and current director of the Marshall Erdman Academy of Sustainable Design. He says 40 museums or institutions can be found along or near the E-way's path. These "jewels on the necklace," as Lewis calls them, provide a wide range of cultural and educational opportunities.
Lewis advises those considering a new city ethic to "link the urban resources with the rural resources." Urban problems and rural problems can't be separated, he believes. Instead, Lewis says, "it's got to be an integrated approach."
The lack of connection between urban life, the suburbs and the rural/natural world was brought up several times at the gathering. Cieslewicz displayed slides of car ads for SUVs with one showing a shiny new vehicle straddling a pristine wilderness stream. Noting that car manufacturers must have market research indicating the buyer's hunger for the outdoors, he observed that simply driving the SUV into the heart of the stream would destroy its environment.
The fanciful car ad is only one of many commercial images bombarding Americans on a daily basis that help shape, or warp, attitudes and thoughts about human relationships with the natural world. Other factors also shape that view, particularly in cities, such as the lack of understanding by children about where food comes from or where waste goes when a toilet is flushed.
Nina Leopold, daughter of famed Wisconsin naturalist Aldo Leopold, puts it simply: "We must make urban society realize they are dependent on natural systems."
Another problem wrestled with by conference participants was the public's negative view towards "density." Many people share a disdain for the classic high-rise housing units which are seen as the apex of dense city living. But similarly high densities are possible in neighborhoods that have an attractive mix of older homes and four- and eight-plex units.
Perhaps fittingly, the location of the Thousand Friends conference was the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine. Wingspread was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright who himself promoted the urban exodus of Americans during the last half of the 20th century with calls for the "broad acre city of tomorrow" (each home on an acre of land). Wright's work also conceptualized cookie-cutter style ranch homes for the new suburbia.
Yet from Wingspread, 1000 Friends hopes it has launched a new vision for cities that will revitalize them and leave the surrounding countryside healthier. Andrea Dearlove, the director of the organization's Land Use Institute, thinks they're onto something. She realized it while planning the gathering and hearing the response from potential participants. "A lot of us," she says, "had lightbulbs go off over our heads and we thought, 'wow, this is a good idea.'"
"All of this by nature is longhaul," Dearlove says. She hopes it will grow into something that is not only "discussed in environmental circles but will be talked about across kitchen tables."
To that end, an effort in the works from 1000 Friends of Wisconsin will occur this fall and focus on southeastern Wisconsin. The group will host a conference examining the impact of sprawl of city cores and bring together religious, civic and community leaders and educators to explore policy options.