Urbanizing The Mojave [Las Vegas]
"Las Vegas contains many landscapes of failure, where the spatial and physical manifestations of earlier social, cultural, and economic practices have been swept aside by newer practices without regard to the loss of memory and identity, or to the disruption of viable social and cultural networks." Nicole Huber & Ralph Stern
Is it totally sick that I find myself slightly nostalgic for a road trip home?
Whoa, thanks for the link to that photo essay. It sounds very Jane Jacobs in the best possible way. The photos are incredible.
ReplyDeleteseriously. what a&l said. "the death and life of great american cities" needs a new chapter. (did you know she was canadian?)
ReplyDeleteand no, it's not sick to get nostalgic for it...i get homesick for nasty old new joisy allll the time.
and have you ever done the drive from jtree to vegas the back way, through the mojave nat'l preserve? i'm sure you have, but if not, you will seriously faREAK out if you do it; it is so beautiful. and it's unreal to emerge from the pristine desert only to be affronted by the the roar of the 15 and the silhouette of primm on the horizon.
i'm the same way about the pastel stucco of orange county (a place that in many ways is as amnesiac as las vegas - the holes simply fill up more quickly because the land is more scarce). there's blight, but it's mine.
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