"appropriate, but mutually exclusive"

October 30, 2022 5:43 AM

"I’m always looking for tangible examples of how our towns and cities go through long slow cycles. Our places as well as our institutions have a lifespan." Johnny Sanphillippo at Granola Shotgun (previously) writes about the death of an elderly neighbor, sorting through her belongings, San Francisco infrastructure that's well-maintained or not, and related topics, illustrating his post with many photos (heads-up in case you're on a low-bandwidth connection). In case you enjoy his work, check out the Granola Shotgun archives, including 2014-2020 material on his old WordPress site.
posted by brainwane (13 comments total)

In the US, at least, we've been underfunding (and inefficiently funding thanks to layers of outsourcing and subcontracts and consultants and middle managers) critical physical infrastructure for decades. Keep kicking the can down the road and it'll be someone else's problem, and meanwhile we can put the money somewhere else instead and nobody will notice as long as things don't fail. Discussions of the risks of computerized systems often reference "technical debt", where this is "infrastructure debt", I guess. Mefi's Own Annalee Newitz had a book out recently, "Four Lost Cities," that looks at the rise and fall of several cities over the history of city-dwelling humanity - Sanphillippo's piece seems to be taking a close-up relatively short term view of similar territory.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:21 AM on October 30, 2022 [3 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. It is well written and I enjoyed it.

It all rang true and reminded me of the aftermath of my father's death. So much deferred maintenance, sorting through all the belongings and making so many decisions. With his death it became apparent all the places where his life kept things together. Once he was gone so many things that seemed to be givens were either uncertain or just gone, and the living had to decide what to keep with which burdens to shoulder.

I like how the piece tied this to society as a whole. Inevitably things will change and what was important at one point is no longer a priority, like the crumbling pier and the bridge. Further, it feels like we're at an inflection point with climate change, and perhaps many things that were important will no longer be, as sea levels rise and the world warms. Somethings will be destroyed and/or underwater, and new things will be built that work in the new environment.

My children's world will be very different than what I grew up with. I wonder what they'll decide to keep and what they'll need to throw away?
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 8:15 AM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Agreed, this was a lovely read (and the photos help underscore the points in the story.)

Infrastructure is not flashy. It doesn't have the zing of a $2 billion sports stadium (two billion dollars... and they excluded infrastructure, OOPSIE) or widening a road from 4 lanes to 8 lanes. But it is essential, and as rmd1023 said, in the US we typically postpone it for... ever.

The story about the pier in this post was really thoughtful, because it's one of those things that on paper, in a spreadsheet may be a loss. But the real value may be qualitative, an attribute that gets overlooked as governments sometimes work more and more like corporations.
posted by hijinx at 8:27 AM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thanks for sharing this! What an interesting blog. Lots of excellent and thought-provoking writing. You don't expect to just stumble across a website like this in 2022.
posted by potrzebie at 11:19 AM on October 30, 2022

My parents had that Calder book. I think it is gently moldering on my own bookshelves now, not quite valuable enough to sell, not quite boring enough to donate. I have been in that place: grief and the different approaches and the collections of mid 20th century things that might be valuable and might not. When I worked in a used bookstore I could always tell roughly how old someone had been by the books they were donating. We think we are all so individual but we're not, really. My aunt had a daybed like that; copies of the I Ching and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance came rolling in from people in their 80s now; I'm not the only 50 something with scratched new wave vinyl and the collected works of Patrick O'Brian. This was a lovely read, well done.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:07 PM on October 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

"Each new generation asks if a place is worth preserving. It often boils down to productivity".

Bill Bryson has a rant about how none of the things(*), which make Britain a place suitable for living, pass muster when put under an accountant's glass.
* tea and crumpets, foggy winter evenings, red telephone boxes, Marmite; a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy; place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowells; people who said ‘Mustn’t grumble’, and ‘Ooh lovely’ at the sight of a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits; and Gardeners’ Question Time.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:20 PM on October 30, 2022 [3 favorites]

A couple months ago I helped my mom put an A/C unit in her bedroom window. She still lives in my childhood home, last renovated sometime in the 1970’s. The window sill was spongey with termite damage, and I sighed as I thought about how she keeps telling me I don’t have to worry about retirement because I’ll have the house. Not at this rate I won’t, but getting the place tented scares her so I’ll have to push hard to make her do it and who knows what else needs work. *sigh*
posted by cali at 1:02 PM on October 30, 2022

and they excluded infrastructure, OOPSIE) or widening a road from 4 lanes to 8 lanes. But it is essential

Infrastructure is essential, widening a road induces demand. Build it and they will come. We don't need more demand for motor vehicles. Allow me to introduce you to the road diet. You can also use the search term "complete street." These folks have some good articles for further reading.
posted by aniola at 11:38 PM on October 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

Lovely, thank you.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:01 AM on October 31, 2022

Not Just Bikes did a series of videos on building strong towns and episode 7 concentrates on how the dense parts of cities pay for everything and suburbia never pays for the infrastructure they consume. This means that cities that are car suburb centred (ie practacally all in the US and Canada) invariably accumulate infrastructure maintenance debt that comes due 50-70 years later that cities attempt to grow their ways out of with car suburbs which just kicks it down the road for a few decades with bonus additional debts.
posted by Mitheral at 1:40 PM on October 31, 2022

I read the article I think that video is based on, but the video is quite a lot of fun.
posted by aniola at 2:39 PM on October 31, 2022

This is a great article. And relevant to my professional situation, where the need for constant ongoing maintenance in a coastal environment nearly always loses out against flashy new construction. There are in fact incentives in favor of deferring maintenance, because the project manager responsible for a $2M complete replacement gets a ton more career boost than the maintenance guy who kept the old structure operating through regular small inputs of time and materials.
posted by suelac at 3:23 PM on October 31, 2022

I have explained to people that this is *exactly* why software tends to suck in the way that it does. Launching a new product or a new feature gets you glory and kudos and bigger stock grants and promotions. Keeping things running and fixing bugs typically does not, and the difference between those two, over a career, can be the difference between "early retirement" and "still gotta work for a few more years."
posted by rmd1023 at 4:10 PM on October 31, 2022 [1 favorite]