Verner Column: Observing a reversal of trends

I think it is fascinating when a social trend reverses itself, especially when that reversal is for the better. Take walking and running for exercise as an example. 

Up until some point in the 20th century, people walked because they had to, and not so much for exercise. With the growth in mechanized transport (planes and trains and automobiles), people walked
less.

The suburbs that arose after World War II were not pedestrian-friendly: American author Ray Bradbury wrote an engaging and troubling short story called “The Pedestrian” in 1951 about a society in 2053
in which people only leave their houses to go to work during the day.

At night they stay in and watch television. The central character of the story, Leonard Mead, likes to walk at night. It is during one of these nocturnal strolls that he is picked up by a robotic police car and
taken to “The Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies.” 

(Bradbury said this story resulted from an encounter with police in Los Angeles in the early ‘50s. He was walking down Wilshire Blvd. with a friend and a police cruiser pulled up asked what they were
doing. Bradbury answered “Well, we’re putting one foot in front of the other.” The policeman didn’t appreciate Ray’s humor and he became suspicious of Bradbury and his friend for walking in an area
where there were no pedestrians. After some arguing the policeman told them to go home and to not walk any more. Bradbury said “Yes, sir, I’ll never walk again.”) Bradbury and his wife went for long
walks while they were courting and continued to do so during the early years of their marriage as an inexpensive activity. She recited poems as they walked along, including “There Will Come Soft Rains”
by Sara Teasdale.  The title of this poem became the title for another Bradbury short story in 1950 about an automated house which survives a nuclear war that wipes out it inhabitants.

Although it’s not 2053 yet, it’s clear that the pedestrian-less society foreseen by Bradbury and other thinkers did not come to pass. At some point in the 1970s people in large numbers started walking
and running for exercise. Where I live, I can see dozens of people passing by on their walks. It’s a good thing, as the kids would say.

Another trend that did not continue as many thought it would is the building of large enclosed shopping malls. The first of these was built in the early 1950s in this country, and by the 1970s, malls were
springing up across the country, usually close to an interstate highway. It’s hard to believe now, but going to the mall was as much a social and recreational activity as it was a retail adventure. Malls
offered a variety of shops, a weather-controlled environment, food courts and ample parking. In many cases, traditional downtowns began to decay as businesses deserted them for the new malls.

But then the trend turned. People came to use strip malls again, which offered easier and faster access to shops. Most malls had the same retailers. I was in one in New Orleans several years ago, and
was struck by the feeling that I could be anywhere in the country, judging by the shops. This wish for novelty helped fuel the renaissance of town centers, including Old Town Manassas, thanks to the
work and vision of businesspeople like Loy Harris and others. (I think malls are useful for certain kinds of shopping. We just need both kinds of retail.)

I was reminded of this change a couple of weeks ago when my wife Becky and I went to Old Town for the First Friday staged by the Old Town Business Association. We had dinner at one of the
restaurants (out of fairness, I won’t say which. There’s a list of Old Town eateries ranging from fast food to upscale at http://www.manassasotba.com/dir.html and a list of businesses as well.) The shops were
open until 9 p.m., featuring free refreshments and music by the likes of the Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett underlining the beach theme of the night. It was a lovely evening, and as we wandered the streets and the stores, we saw quite a few people taking advantage of the event, including about 10 we knew. There’s to be another the first Friday in October, the second, and I recommend it to you
heartily. Even if the weather is a little colder, come on down and help continue to reverse a couple of social trends.

Dan Verner is a Manassas resident. He contributes his thoughts and stories to the Perspective page on Sundays.