Can contrived societies have culture?

I think I might be the last St. Louis blogger to touch on this subject, but after having been through New Town a few times now I felt compelled to talk a bit about it.

I don't think there is any question in anyone's mind as to whether or not New Town is urban. It is very plainly the most urban neighborhood built in the greater St. Louis area within the last few decades. It follows nearly all of the principles set forth by the Congress for the New Urbanism and in terms of pure construction and design it is highly urban. It's the first "traditional neighborhood" we've seen built in a half century.

But I've noticed a lot of debate between city and county people about whether or not contrived communities (as opposed to those that spring up spontaneously in response to growing commerce and population) can have culture. Many proud city dwellers claim that a contrived urban community can have no diversity or culture. Many suburbanites (I'd be willing to wager the vast majority of county dwellers) don't argue the opposite but typically state that they have decided that the perceived (note: perceived) risk of living in the city combined with a perceived (and in many cases real) difference in the quality of public education outweighs any interest in "diversity and culture." The detail they often fail to see is that dependency on the automobile can be an equal if not greater danger to their families, as auto accidents are the leading cause of death among those under the age of 30, but that's another entry.

To begin, culture, outside of the anthropological meaning, is described by the Oxford American Dictionary's as: The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement. The anthropological meaning of "culture" might be more accurately described as the customs, arts, social institutions of a particular nation, people, or other social group which to some degree will exist and evolve from the very inception of New Town. I will refer to them as Culture A (the arts) and Culture B (anthropological) respectively.

I think when most people say "culture" within the context of their own society they refer to a combination of the two (Culture A-B). They mean the kind of "culture (a)" that results from a body of individuals with diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural (b) backgrounds. But this is primarily an "American melting pot" definition of culture, which I would cumulatively define as Culture and Cultural Diversity (culture ab).

So can contrived communities develop culture? Well... my guess is maybe. I think it depends on a number of factors. These factors would include (but not be limited to) the ratio of actual community to perceived community, the willingness of the residents to accept art in their communities, the type of nightlife that develops (if any), which could depend heavily on the diversity of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds and the presence or absence of highly puritanical values. I think it has less to do with the initial "diversity" of the residents as much as a diversity of interests, while I do suspect that a greater diversity of ethnic and economic backgrounds would foster "culture" with a greater degree of certainty.

There are plenty of instances of what we'd refer to as historical culture (a) that did not arise from diverse ethnic, religious and cultural (b) backgrounds, it often arose out of group of progressive thinkers within a relatively homogenous society. While these societies may not have had the type of ethno-cultural diversity we are accustomed to in modern American and European cities, what they did typically have was a dense and vibrant community and a sense of social or national pride.

On a psychological/social and cultural level I'd describe New Town as the greatest social experiment (to my knowledge) that Missouri has seen since the creation of the suburbs in the mid 1900's or the disastrous Pruitt-Igoe public housing project. This could really go either way.

In my first entry I mentioned what I called the "suburban mentality", which I would describe roughly as a sort of social/psychological disposition that arises as a natural reaction to the built environment... as does the "urban mentality". Without getting too heavily into the differences between those right now, I think there is a certain sort of unidentified frustration inherent in the suburban mentality (that state of mind that develops from the suburban built-environment). This, I think, is primarily that there is often a desire for a sense of community that conflicts with an (often stronger) mild to extreme irrational sense of fear, nervousness or panic that results in an exaggerated desire for privacy. As much as they lure people in with the false promise of "community", that sense of community is virtually impossible for most people due to the sparse, low-density nature of the 'burbs combined with the dependency on the automobile, which furthers the sense of isolation and frustration.

I think what New Town presents for most people is a compromise. It is alluring to those suburbanites and geo-urbanites who's desire for community is stronger than the need for privacy. And while, of course, I'd rather see 4000 people move into the city, I think New Town is an important step toward a greater sense well-being for St. Louis county. As much as we as urbanists may dream about greater density and well-being for the city... until it's economically impossible to live in the suburbs (and even after) there will always be people living in the county.

I sincerely do not intend this to offend anyone, however one of the major roadblocks I see towards "culture ab" in New Town is that it currently has only one religious organization. Maybe this will change, but the current Church is of the "Disciples of Christ" denomination which, while generally accepting of other denominations, still maintains a fairly protestant leaning. For anyone else who feels their religious tradition to be a serious part of their daily lives, be they Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or anything other than one of the multitude of denominations that sprang from the Protestant reformation... New Town lacks an important element. On the upside, it is likely that being in a religious minority already (Catholics aside), they are accustomed to driving a fair distance to their place of communion as it is and so long as the community seems welcoming it would not be too great a deterance. But depending on the level of conservatism of the Disciples of Christ members, it is very possible that a singular religious mindset could foster a NIMBY-like (not in my backyard) reaction to any mildly controversial form of art (as almost all art is) be it visual, literary, or performance art. It has historically been that many of the more unincorporated denominations have tended to have a highly conservative leaning. But this is only speculative and it's effect on the community could very well be the exact opposite or none at all.

What New Town does have is the type of density and walkability required to create a real community. And from that community can spring "culture". The make-up of the residents and their reaction to the introduction of "culture (a)" is what will determine whether or not New Town will be a diverse cultural community. As I haven't interviewed a good number of residents, I can't really make a judgement on that at this point, but I certainly won't rule out New Town's potential for "culture (ab)". But culture and city-vs-county aside I think New Town should serve as a model for all future suburban developments. I have little doubt that the buzz and success of New Town will get developers thinking. But sadly what it ultimately comes down to (even in the face of the impending global oil peak) is the ratio of cost to gain.

My personal feeling is that it will be difficult for New Town to develop "culture (ab)", but that's not to say it won't overcome that difficulty. However, people moving to New Town should not be moving there for "Culture" anyway, as it's impossible for a city less than a year old to have that. They should be moving there because they want the kind of community they can't get in the rest of the suburbs as well as to become less dependent on the car for daily needs (and because they haven't yet overcome the fear of the city). If you want "Culture" to be a part of your daily life, you'll have to live in the city. I ultimately think whether or not New Town has or will develop "culture" is irrelevant other than for the pure sake of argument. While I personally wouldn't want to live there for a number of reasons (that do include "culture"), there will always be counties of St. Louis and what matters is that this is the way they should be. Now they just need good local jobs.