15 Minute Cities, Heaven Or Hell?

My dog Bella at the local bakery. We would visit daily and get a cookie for her (and perhaps a little something for myself).

I consider it a blessing that I have a bakery right down the street from me, but I understand why people are afraid of 15-minute cities. And I love the fact that I have a café, a bookstore, and a grocery store all within comfortable walking distance from my home, but I know why people who live in suburbs and have to drive miles to buy a bag of apples don’t want to give up what they’ve got. In fact, I try to plan my life so that as much as possible I don’t have to drive my car at all but can either walk or ride my bike to get to where I need to go. The world I can access without a combustion engine seems vast and varied, the world I want to live in is what other people fear, and yet I can understand their apprehension.

The farmers market is a few minutes away by bike.

Perhaps it is because I believe that a hell is nothing more than a heaven that is imposed upon you. That heaven cannot possibly be a heaven if you do not choose it. In fact, I believe any utopia that is forced upon people will eventually become a hell, whether it be forced upon people with the best of intentions or with sinister ones.