Nero the Pict and Inspector Ratchet have recently been contributing articles on small cities that seem to be going the violent way of mid-sized cities like Baltimore. A third reader, with roots in Baltimore like Nero, had something to add to this discussion which I thought our readers would enjoy.
Reading Nero the Pict, it sounds hopeful that you may be looking to move to a saner place. While I enjoy the work you produce, that is a direct result of your day to day experiences in a dysfunctional area. We are not getting younger...
The last line of your article is why I'm writing: "Dozens of pint-sized Harm Cities dotting the idyllic landscape!" As soon as I read that I thought of James Howard Kunstler:
link › kunstler.com
To sum up Kunstler: peak oil will necessitate a new living arrangement on the North American continent with "happy motoring" and tall skyscrapers too expensive to maintain. He decries the loss of passenger rail service, etc. But where he is relevant to your statement is that his writing covers "entropy made visible" across the American landscape. Industry is gone, productive work in many places is gone, entropy is also visible in your average grown male dressing like a clown, etc. & etc. While peak oil is taking its merry time to arrive, I do find resonance in a lot of what he talks about. My summation is a demoralized (in many cases on purpose) society run by grifters.
I stopped reading a while back because the peak oil bit was getting old, but lot's of depressing but thoughtful stuff (after all entropy is increasing without any oil shortage).
