Visions from Chautauqua

It's not like anything else, this gated village on a lake in the not-so wilds of far western New York State. Families come and stay there for a day, a weekend, a week, or all summer, where a feast of cultural opportunities is spread before them. I got up early for Zen meditation with a senior teacher from a well-known Zen center. Others got up early to go sailing or play tennis. Still others slept late in the blissful quiet of this mostly car-free environment. Worship services, lectures, conversations, book signings, concerts, recitals, every hour had another cultural temptation to absorb. Some of the cottages are quite grand, while others are modest. There are hotels and condos catering to most budgets (no campground, though -- there is a definitely higher-than-average-income feel about the place), and really, they are quite interested in making sure there is not a lot of driving of cars. That's what got my attention.

We had paid over $4.00 per gallon the last time we filled the tank on our way over there from New England, so it's not surprising that fuel was on my mind. So here's the deal. There's a little "downtown" area with the library, some shops, a post office, and a grocery store at the center of the place. The other places to go are within walking distance, though there is a trolley service of sorts, and a bus, both making the rounds on a regular basis. Out by the main gate there's an early morning farmers' market for fresh local produce. You can almost just go there and stay all summer without going "off campus" as they say. It's true, there's not a lot of privacy, because the lots are all small and everyone is always out on the front porch.

I spoke with a woman who said she had been coming for over twenty years, arriving from New York City with her carry-on bag, gathering up the things she would have stored from the last season, settling into the same room in the same residence year after year. And in all this time, she has not brought a car with her. I actually didn't ask if she owned one, which maybe she doesn't, since she lives in The City. It seems she wrote a book a long time ago that is still used in schools, that still brings her a dependable stream of cash that makes this vacation possible. But adjustments have to be made. This year, she will have to have someone drive her out to the pharmacy in town, because the delivery service has been changed from the drug store she always had used to a different one, and she hadn't gotten around to changing her prescription. About once a week, someone drives her to town so she can do a few errands, visit the "big" grocery store, and so forth. Otherwise, she walks or takes the trolley or the bus. There's plenty to do, and people she knows who either stay all summer themselves or drift through by the week.

I couldn't help thinking our regular neighborhoods could be more like this. There's Boys' and Girls' Club for the younger set every week day. There are electric carts for people with mobility issues. One payment includes all the culture you can absorb. And while you actually are able to leave at any time, there's not much need. Why not get out of our cars and start walking and biking and taking public transportation? Get to know our neighbors as we walk past one another's porches? I'm sure we wouldn't be living the way we are if there hadn't been some big drawbacks to this old-timey way of doing things, but this glimpse of it made me think that what is old might just become new again. I say, let's take our vision from Chautauqua, and invent a new kind of neighborhood that works without having to drive so much.