Preface
The village has been an enduring human habitat. I suspect that human society began with a village, a small collection of people living in close proximity, with shared social, economic, political, and belief systems.
But things are changing. The new “global village,” for example, is held together by electronic sight and sound, while the village, as I’ve known it, is held together by flesh and blood.
Housing developers advertise “villages.” Their villages are composed of houses that are fronted by garages rather than porches, by living spaces that are isolated from neighbors, in neighborhoods that may offer structured activities but no common goals.
The new, marketed editions of the village illustrate how far we’ve come from the villages and villas of yesteryear. I live in a village, and I can see that the village of the past is slipping away, vanishing.
Traditionally, village issues have been dealt with in ways that are personal. In the urban environment, issues are dealt with in ways that are impersonal, distant, out of touch. Unfortunately urban encroachment and urban control are changing the village.
The difference between village and urban environments can be seen in the issues they share. The table of contents outlines the issues treated in this book.
The issues are as important in a village as they are in New York City. But my village has addressed them differently than they are addressed in megalopolis. As often as not, I think we have handled them better.
I’d like to tell you about my village.