A timeless marker of community has emerged as a source of conflict: the lemonade stand is being called an "illegal business." Scott Doyon discusses how getting to know — and support! — your neighbor can be an issue of survival.
"T.J. is, by all appearances, a pretty savvy young entrepreneur. Toying with and measuring the performance of different hours and locations, he ultimately settled on 3-7pm and secured permission to operate in front of a neighbor’s house with desirable, intersection proximity — something that didn’t sit well with nearby resident Doug Wilkey. Wilkey calls the stand an “illegal business” and has contacted the city on at least four occasions in an effort to get it shut down."
Doyon talks about how the form of our built environment can kill connections between people, and make us less likely to get along, much less survive.
"The boogeymen are varied. Sprawl, technology, and our 24-hour news cycle have all conspired — in different ways — to deliver us lemons. They’ve left us disconnected and fearful of those around us."
"So long as we’re content to exist that way, we’ll remain consigned to ever diminishing prospects. But if we actively choose to change, we’ll discover newfound opportunities to turn those raw resources into lemonade."
Destroying property values. Not. Photo credit: © Adwriter @ Flickr.
Read the full story: You’ve Got Lemons: What now?
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority