A number of news outlets are reporting on an April 2010 nationally representative survey from Pew Research of roughly 1,500 Americans that included questions about the future. Some of the findings are summarized in these two tables:
The titles of each table point out some of the differences. Education, a trait that is linked to social class, income, places where people live, occupations, and more, makes a difference in views of the future and even more so in looking for Jesus’ return.
A social psychologist stumbles upon an article about an incompetent bank robber:
As Dunning read through the article, a thought washed over him, an epiphany. If Wheeler was too stupid to be a bank robber, perhaps he was also too stupid to know that he was too stupid to be a bank robber — that is, his stupidity protected him from an awareness of his own stupidity.
An interesting discussion with this professor, who developed the “Dunning-Kruger Effect.”
Bonus: talk about the usefulness of Donald Rumsfeld’s “unknown unknowns”!
In an interesting anecdote on the perennial nature vs. nurture debate, a father lets his 4-year-old son play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, to rather surprising results.
Amid tough financial times and many retail vacancies, the story of a project aiming to turn Randhurst Mall in Mount Prospect, IL into “Main Street.”
A quick blurb from Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin:
“Today, in an act of radical design surgery, Randhurst is being remade into an open-air, mixed-use development that will have many features of a traditional downtown, including shops, movie theaters, offices and a hotel. The dome and core of the mall have been demolished, and next year a developer plans to open an old-fashioned Main Street lined with Prairie Style-influenced buildings in their place (above). There will even be angled parking spaces that promise to let you drive right up to a shop, though chances are you’ll really be parking in a vast field of asphalt much farther away.
The revamped mall already has been given a quaint variation of its original name: Randhurst Village.
The catchphrase for this promising — and provocative — type of remake is “retrofitting suburbia.” From Cape Cod to California, its advocates aim not simply to remake dead malls, strip centers and big boxes, but to alter suburbia itself, making it more dense, more walkable, and sustainable — in short, more urban.”
These sorts of plans are not uncommon in recent decades. A number of architects and planners, often following New Urbanist principles, have tried to create traditional atmospheres among suburban amenities. This story mentions original plans to include roughly 200 residential units but this component was scratched. From a more cynical perspective, this sort of planning is just dressing up suburban big box stores – think of the name change from “Randhurst Mall” to “Randhurst Village.” From a more positive side, changing the design might make malls more palatable to more shoppers and most importantly, more profitable.
(Some interesting pictures in this story highlight the history of this particular mall and the proposed changes.)
A news story today from the Chicago Tribune detailing Wal-Mart’s latest offer to build a store in Chicago (it currently has 0 within city limits). Some of the players in the long saga:
1. Wal-Mart. Its latest offer is starting all workers at $8.75 an hour, $0.50 above current minimum wage standards in Chicago. Has been exploring several sites on the South Side for years.
2. Unions. Don’t want Wal-Mart as the company does not allow its workers to unionize. Worried about lower wages.
3. The City. Has primarily been against Wal-Mart because of the wage issue.
4. Those who want cheaper and/or accessible groceries. Several of the neighborhoods Wal-Mart has looked at might be considered “food deserts” (neighborhoods where relatively cheap, nutritious food is not available). Many other companies are not willing to move in while Wal-Mart has expressed interest.
There might be a path to resolution soon – several aldermen now seem willing to support the stories in their wards. This may be particularly timely as Wal-Mart says it would add 12,000 jobs to the city for the next five years if they could build where they want.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE 6/23/10 at 11:10 PM
From the Chicago Tribune: Mayor Daley of Chicago makes “an emotional pitch” for Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart releases a list of benefits for the community, and demonstrators who support Wal-Mart add the vuvuzela to their arsenal.
I finished watching the last season of The Wire over the weekend. Quick observations before I provide some links to academics and sociologists commenting on the show, one that several critics have deemed “the best TV show ever.”
1. The City of Baltimore is truly part of the story. Unlike many shows that use a “bland big city” for the background, this show digs deeper into the place.
2. Multi-faceted view of the situation and complicated stories. Each season attempts a slightly different angle including children and the media (seasons 4 and 5). There are consistent characters through all the seasons but each season keeps adding a little more as a new perspective is developed. Not a fast-moving show.
3. Some fascinating characters. Jimmy McNulty – a detective that perhaps only loves his cases. Stringer Bell – a gang leader who is also taking business classes at night to improve his skills. Officer Daniels (who moves up the ranks during the show) unwilling to “juke the stats” to please his bosses. Many more to name.
4. The police are just as deep into the drugs and violence as the gangs. From consistent violence to “Hamsterdam” to cover-ups to “juking the stats” to impressive detective work, the police are not simply geniuses or people who can shoot better. In fact, the police rarely shoot – a problem with many cop shows since most real-life police rarely or never fire a gun in the line of duty.
4a. The politicians are similarly involved. The goal: get as much positive credit for change while minimizing negatives that happen when you are in charge.
5. Somewhat hopeless ending – new people on both sides, the gangs and police, come in, take the place of those before, and similar battles are fought. Some of the kids get out and many do not. A good number of the police are ruined. The politicians try to use whatever they can to get ahead. Money and power are what people want and just their means of pursuing them are different.
6. Sociologically, a lot of the show seemed similar to Sudhir Venkatesh’s books on life on the South side of Chicago: American Project, Off the Books, Gang Leader for a Day.
Some commentary from other sociologists:
1. Sudhir Venkatesh talking about the show with “real thugs”.
2. A short collection of reviews from Racism Review.
3. The Guardian UK summarizes an academic conference on The Wire.
4. Slate.com writing about academic courses on the TV show, including noted sociologist William Julius Wilson teaching such a course at Harvard.
5. Two sociologists comment in Dissent in 2008 (and participate in a broader discussion) and then expand on their thoughts in City and Community.
I’m sure there is more out there. It is rare to find any media creation that receives praise from so many in providing a realistic portrayal of city life.
This recent article from the Chicago Tribune discusses Naperville’s efforts to provide affordable housing. The opening paragraph sets up the issue:
“Naperville officials are grappling with how best to achieve two goals that sometimes are in direct conflict: adding more affordable housing for low- and moderate-income senior citizens and residents with disabilities while not costing the cash-strapped city budget anything extra.”
This is not a unique issue to many suburbs, particularly those with little or no remaining land for greenfield development. However, the position of Naperville is instructive of the issue in suburbia: Naperville leaders are most interested in providing affordable housing for a different group than many may think when they hear the term “affordable housing.” Rather than looking to build housing for low to middle income workers who can’t buy into Naperville’s relatively expensive market, the city wants housing for the elderly and the disabled.
In both cases, these two groups primarily already live in Naperville – and affordable housing would help them stay there. This is an issue particularly for the elderly: once retired, high property taxes often make it difficult to remain in a suburban home. Downsizing within one’s long-time community would often be desirable rather than having to move away after retirement. A suburban community that consistently loses its older residents may lose touch with its past and become known as a more transient place.
The rest of the article also describes critiques of Naperville’s planning from a local housing group, DuPage United.
In the most recent election in Port Chester, NY, a federal judge allowed each local voter to cast up to 6 votes. This was a system put into place to help Latino candidates: this is a New York City suburb with a 50% Latino population (though only 25% of the local voters) that has never elected a Latino trustee. With the new system, the election results did change: a Peruvian immigrant came in fourth in the voting and will become a trustee (and the first black trustee was also elected).
It remains to be seen if this method will spread to other suburbs. There are many suburban municipalities that now have large minority populations and likely a good number that also have not elected many minority local officials.
Some relevant material from The Washington Post:
“The 2010 Census is expected to show large increases in Latino populations and lawsuits alleging discrimination are likely to increase, said Rob Richie, executive director of FairVote, a nonprofit election research and reform group.
“The country’s been changing in a lot of places, with minority growth in exurbs and commuter cities, and there will be a realization that those minorities can’t elect candidates of choice,” Richie said.
That will leave minority groups, federal prosecutors and municipalities looking for ways to keep elections from violating the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities’ constitutional right to equal protection under the law.
In Port Chester, trustees had been elected two at a time every two years, with conventional at-large voting. Most voters were white, and there were always six white trustees even though Hispanics made up half the population and nearly a quarter of the voters. Judge Stephen Robinson concluded the system violated U.S. law by diluting Hispanics’ votes.”
An innovative method – and perhaps one that will continue to be in the courts in the years to come.
Two rules regarding officiating I have witnessed in recent days: consistency and openness.
The other night, I provoked a 5-minute argument in the middle of a pick-up basketball game. The other team claimed I was consistently setting moving screens. (Ironically, before the game both teams were discussing how both the Celtics and Lakers set moving screens that are not called all the time.) But they were unwilling to call it as a foul. One of the key rules of pick-up basketball: players call their own fouls.
Perhaps another rule: be somewhat consistent in calling your own fouls. Don’t just complain about things you don’t like – you can call the foul and no one will argue. For many professional athletes, they also desire this consistency from officials. They may disagree about the validity of certain judgment calls (and most sports have judgment calls to be made on almost every play) but if they know both teams are playing by the same rules, they can handle it. Even the appearance of impartiality is enough to get players, fans, and coaches up in arms. Coaches like Phil Jackson have been recognized as masters of playing this game – criticize the officials in hopes of drawing better calls for your team in future contests.
Additionally, officials should be able to explain and be held accountable for their calls. This was not the case in the past, particularly in baseball. If you read baseball history, umpires often acted like dictators who saw no need to every offer any apology. But technology and league reviews now in most sports have reduced these traits. Scrutiny of every call is easy – plenty of replays, media outlets, and websites to discuss every decision. Witness the lauded efforts of umpire Jim Joyce who sincerely apologized to the Detroit Tigers pitcher whose perfect game was ruined by a bad call. Leagues are now willing to penalize officials based on bad calls. It doesn’t change the outcome of the game but it can bring a small measure of piece of mind.
Thus, the anger even a day later from the US Men’s National Team after a disallowed goal from their match against Slovenia. The issues:
1. A perceived lack of consistency, particularly in the second half. Players being mugged in the box are ignored. Phantom fouls are called.
2. The referee has not explained his call. What exactly did he see? Does he now see it as a bad call?
FIFA seems ready to admit the poor call as they are looking to remove the official from any further World Cup matches. I’m sure this will be of little solace to the US team but it does indicate we live in a new world of officiating.
After the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, riots broke out in Los Angeles. Winning a championship seems like it would lead to happy fans showing some emotions. But burning taxis?
