I do not always find myself in agreement with what James Smith writes, but his essay on the Comment website, “Loving our neighbour(hood)s: The architecture of altruism,” hits the mark. Smith wonders:

What if our built environment were less sequestering and insulated? What if we dwelt in houses with front porches on the sidewalk—and actually spent time there, chatting with neighbours who strolled by? What if we began our day not by jumping alone into the Camry in a dark garage, but by walking a few blocks to catch the bus, which we rode with others, gradually building up familiarity and even friendship with a cross-section of the city we could never see from inside our automobiles? We would then inhabit a built environment that would give the neighbour a chance to appear. Fostering such environments would be a way to love our neighbours. Disciples of Jesus could commit themselves to an architecture of altruism as a way of loving God.

This is one of the greatest benefits of commuting by bike. Over weeks and months, the nods of acknowledgment to passers-by become friendly waves and eventually “Good morning!” These are indeed moments that will rarely happen in a car.

I’m sure that some may take Dr. Smith’s essay as an indictment of the suburban, and, in a sense, I suppose it is. If real community exists, often it is in spite of architecture and civil planning, not because of it. And, of course, there are plenty of urban neighborhoods were sidewalks and porches do little to foster the sort of attitude that Smith outlines, but that’s not say we shouldn’t pursue such a vision. Interestingly, such a vision spans political boundaries, from the socialism of Ruskin to the front porch anarchism of Bill Kauffman. This is no coincidence, I think.

Posted on 3 August 2007