Below is an excerpt from a Mencken essay which I found online the other night. The full piece is called "Libido for the Ugly" - the piece is an extended insult to the built environment of a specific spot in western Pennsylvania (note, I happen to think this same area is beautiful). So next time conceiving a physical plan ask yourself the question, "will this lacerate anyone's eyes?"
From East Liberty to Greensburg, a distance of twenty-five miles, there was not one in sight from the train that did not insult and lacerate the eye. Some were so bad, and they were among the most pretentious—churches, stores, warehouses, and the like–that they were downright startling; one blinked before them as one blinks before a man with his face shot away.
Full text here
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Yikes! Lacerate the eyes?!...I wonder what this place looked like in 1927 (when the piece was written)...when I was there (I think it's the same place) in May it had changed pretty dramatically from then to the urban Renewal version of the 60s/70s and then to a New Urbanist-y development within the past 10-15 years...Hmm definitely food for thought.
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