There is no feeling quite so comforting as having grown up in a small town. Familiarity does not, as the saying goes, breed contempt, but fosters cooperation. The big city, on the other hand, is the greatest paradox of all; the more people you have per square mile, the less they seem to know each other and the lonelier they become. As big towns and cities grow bigger, small towns generally stay small. Since the dawn of the industrial age, a nefarious myth has been perpetuated by big city folk; that somehow a rural life of simplicity was not only undesirable, but unfulfilling. There was a necessity to the perpetuation of the myth -- big cities need a regular influx of people to work there, to shop there and to move there, if they are to become bigger. For the past 200 years there has been a regular exodus from the countryside to the city. This exodus continues today. His Holiness the Dalai Lama cited this exodus as his greatest worry about our planet as we enter the next millennium. If the rewards of breathing fresh air, hearing the sounds of nature, and being surrounded by family and friends are not enough to fulfill the needs of humans in the third millennium, then we are much more lost than we may fear. There is a move afoot to get back to the country. Families in the cities and suburbs are trying to find meaning through a simpler life, living with less in the country. Other big cities are taking a small town approach to making their cities more livable. Portland, Oregon is one of a handful of cities that is controlling its growth, reusing its existing urban space and re-creating neighborhoods in the image of a small town. This trend in urban development has been termed "smart growth." For more information on Smart Growth and other trends in urban development, visit the Urban Land Institute's web site at www.uli.org. For information on the millennium edition of the Whole Earth Catalog and living a simpler life, check out www.well.net/mwec/community/.   | Home | Cultural | Environmental | Musical | Ordinary | | Contact Us | About the Authors | © Copyright 2007 fiftythings