Community Squares

I agree with David Brooks column yesterday on how Obama should spend on infrastructure. We need to spend money to help people connect with one another. This will both improve the economy, because it will help with innovation and the distribution of risk, and quality of life.

Liesl and I were in Mexico this summer and in Belize in the fall (visiting the wonderful Cesiak and Blackrock resorts). In the towns there they always have a central square, the “plaza.” In the evenings, particularly on the weekends, everyone in town gathers there. Families with young kids, the elderly, and teenagers. They all do their own thing but they are there together and can’t deny they are part of a common experience. It’s great!