Glenn Beck Plans His Ideal City

The conservative commentator has proposed a $2 billion "city-theme park hybrid" that "would bring several of Glenn’s seemingly disconnected projects into one place." You'll be surprised at the similarities with certain Smart Growth principles.

1 minute read

January 18, 2013, 7:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Glenn Beck

Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Shortly after publishing a list of keywords associated with the dastardly Agenda 21 movement, Beck returns to place-based subjects with his proposal for a "city-theme park hybrid" indebted to Walt Disney's vision for Disneyland as "a place where people would find happiness, inspiration, courage and hope." And gosh darnit if Beck didn't use some of those very scary keywords in describing his ideal community - "Independence."

Angie Schmitt discusses the elements of the city "that in some ways bears a shocking resemblance to the urbanism he sneers at, and in other ways seems far more coercive than the planning ideas he wants people to fear."

So you don't have to sit through the 7:16 video below, here are some of the more captivating elements of the plan.

  • The city will be developed around "patterns." No word on who actually skecthed the plan Beck uses in the show. We'd be interested to hear your guesses.
  • Independence is oriented around a "marketplace" that has independent artisans and no chain stores
  • The "Ranch" addresses our food problems by growing food locally, making the city self-sufficient 
  • Through the use of renewable energy sources like wind power, the city actually provides energy back to the grid

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 in DC.Streetsblog

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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