Cities Are Good for the Environment

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but cities are efficient. That's why we built cities in the first place, thousands of years ago. Cities require far fewer resources per person.

Still, much of the environmental movement remains fixated on "nature," and for a variety of reasons—Jeffersonian individualism, puritan suspicion of urban decadence, etc.

It's been a matter of some joy for me to see the American evangelical church discover the environment. These are, in many respects, my people, and it's good to see needed change.

Still, my people, by and large, have bought into the contempt for urban life so characteristic of the American soul. The trouble is, almost no American lives a truly rural life: even those of us who live in small towns or exurbs drive long distances, for the purpose of accessing urban amenities. (Like stores, workplaces, entertainment etc.) Basically, we're long-distance city-dwellers.

What we need is a change in expectations. We need to learn to love cities.