Another short, one-finger post. Here I sit in Bentonville, Arkansas, watching dawn race to spray light over the motel parking lot outside my window. Last night’s presentation by Alice Walton et al was interesting and informative, but I am ready to hit the road home. As much as I would like to spend time exploring Bentonville and environs, I have work to do in HSV. I want to shed the obligations sooner rather than later, so I must get back to it. But a short visit was enough to remind me that I could be quite comfortable here…an urban environment not yet made offensive by inevitable urban density, sprawl, and intolerable traffic. The problem with places like this is that they attract crowds who value what such places have to offer but who either are unable or unwilling to create them on their own. Instead, they flock to attractive places, making those spots unattractive in the process.
This lovely setting will be intolerable in short order. Development and the crowding it brings will suffocate the beauty of the place. The easily walkable environment will be choked by traffic, already ruining what once was an idyllic setting. Coffee shops and restaurants will be overrun by useless boutiques and convenience stores and densely-packed commercial office space. Developers could have allowed ideal density to set limits to growth, spurring developers to move on.
Okay, I’m now sitting in FierstWatch, waiting for avocado toast. Then, on the road home.
My mood could use some repair. The sound of the road will cure me. I have confidence.
There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.
~ Jack Kerouac ~
