This is my first Post for S512
Dr. Duany’s decision to go to the United States instead of
the United Kingdom or somewhere in Europe was surprising to me – not that she
chose the US, but her reasons for this decision. She spoke of the South
Sudanese populations she witnessed in London and how she didn’t want her
children to rely on the state – or become literally fat off the state. It
seemed there was not a fear of this in the US since she felt there were more
opportunities for her children to receive an education and find work. I know
Europe has a solid educational system – sometimes considered better that the
US’s and the US also provides many social supports like she mentioned people
using in London. So, I’m not sure where the distinction was drawn. Maybe
because, Dr. Duany had real experience with Europe and her only real knowledge
of the US was from films she had seen, but then Movies are typically an
exaggeration of the best and worst a society holds. She was concerned about
bringing her family into the permissive society depicted in these films. I
think coming here was a huge leap of faith.
I wonder if her family had settled in a different community,
in a large city or in the South if there would have been a significantly
different outcome for Dr. Duany and her children. Is there something special
about the social and cultural makeup of Bloomington that allowed the entire
family to excel? What could this be? Could we even begin to identify it? And is
it something to consider replicating?
