Jumble of Thoughts

Over recent days I've received some criticism from my readers (my brother, will) commenting that all these posts have the same tone and make the same points. This is something that kind of worries me, so I thought I'd try to clarify the goal of this blog and my stance on development-related issues.

First, I'm a student, and I'm treating this blog as an educational resource. A place where I can share my writing and photos with whomever chooses to view them (once again, my brother will). As many blogs are, it's a journal of ideas and reactions. As such, at times I will post things that seem illogical, stupid, and rash. I'll post things one day that I'll adamantly disagree with the next day. I'm really just using this as a wall to throw all my ideas against, which I can then view on a pretty webpage.

Second, I hate to think that I'm starting to sound like the folks at gowanuslounge and curbed. I love these sites and check them out everyday, but often times they seem completely anti-development (see: http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/02/12/184_kent_update_now_its_an_ice_palace.php). Every new construction they seem to label a luxury tower by a mega-developer. I think curbed tries to be non-partisan about these issues, but it's eternally sarcastic tone belies this attempt. I don't want to give the impression that I'm completely anti-development. Sure, sometimes I'll get frustrated by a pugly design for a new building, but I try to look at both the good and bad as thoroughly as possible.

Maybe it's because I don't live in the neighborhood that I blog about (cb1, Brooklyn) that I'm able to be more objective in my posts, but I don't think this is the case. The issue of development in NYC is a constant source of confusion and uncertainty for me. I hate all of the new ugly architecture that development in Wburg is bringing. I ally with many residents that feel the low-scale quality of Wburg's upland is being destroyed. I think that the same few developers and architects really are making this neighborhood ugly and unaffordable. Nonetheless, I can look past some of the illogical, nimby-protests that curbed and gowanus make. I think that some of the old manufacturing in the area should be torn down. It's stupid and selfish to want to keep an ugly brick plant intact when it's no longer in use. Most of the time it's hypocritical to advocate affordable housing and advocate the preservation of an empty box-making warehouse that'd be used by junkies if the neighborhood were in worse shape. It's hypocritical to be try to bar mcdonalds from opening a franchise in a neighborhood and still advocate affordable housing. Anyway, these thoughts are jumbled. I'm trying to say that I'm not strictly pro-preservation, nor am I strictly anti-development. I'm trying to approach each complex issue I face with an open mind and with only a bit of cynicism.