Today, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a measure to restrict the size of homes built by placing the designs within proportion to lot size. Several other suburbs have adopted similar measures such as Edina and Minnetonka, as the Star-Tribune reports. And I couldn't be happier thinking about all the psychological connotations that the decision carries.
As the title of this text suggests, I think it's a sign of a possible resurgence among Minnesotans to readily accept and operate their daily lives within the limits of "Minnesotan Modesty." Once thought long gone with the arrival of the "I need a large vehicle because it snows a lot, a large home because I don't want my children having to share rooms, and an enormous boat that I can't afford because I want a large boat that I can't afford" crowd, modesty is perhaps returning, very slowly.
Likely, I think it's due to the price of energy steadily rising over the last decade, and especially since Katrina. But I'd like to think it has something to do with a cognitive shift in Minnesotans. Maybe we're ready to embrace the cultural history of German and Scandinavian roots where penny-pinching and creativity we seen as admirable traits.
But the economy suffers as a result. It's a terrible paradox as we see consumer-spending drop because people don't have money and those who do are saving instead of spending it. Credit card companies are quite possibly the owners of many individuals' critical objects in life (computers, phones, cameras, etc.). It's troubling.
Believing all things are still equal (at least in the world I walk around in), penny-pinching may actually do something for the economy. It may actually spawn second economies. Case and point: craigslist. Everything from bicycles to stuffed animals make their way onto the site and with surprising success rates, manage to get picked up. Not only is it better for the economy, it's incredible what it does for the environment when these things are not recreated and rather recycled.
Returning to my point, the mansions are unnecessary, wasteful, and frankly, serve as testimony to a misguided American ideal of bigger is better. What ever happened to the rule of going up North? Leave the campsite better than when you found it. Seriously, quit leaving the McMansions behind. After all, we can't afford the energy bills on them.
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And how! Living here in Ecuador has truly taught me the value of the natural resources we expend. On a daily basis, I am made conscious of how much water or electricity I am consuming. People don't leave the lights on in rooms that they aren't in. It just doesn't happen. And the people who have a car consider themselves lucky to be able to do so. It's difficult, but it also creates a more honest sense of ownership and responsibility. People take care of their cars and drive only when they have to. Now if only we can do something about those horrible exhaust-belching buses!
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