But walking around the retail district near the Hotel Carmichael that night, something felt too poised, too polished, too perfect. Every surface considered, every business in its right place. Real places have friction — a hardware store next to a wine bar next to a laundromat. Buildings from different eras that don’t quite agree, businesses that are there because someone needed them rather than because they completed a vision.You should RTWT.
A couple years later Margaret and I visited Epcot, as our son was proposing to his girlfriend there. Walking around, I recognized exactly what Carmel had been doing. Epcot is a controlled environment engineered to deliver the sensation of place without the inconvenience of actual place. Themed zones connected by optimized infrastructure, every experience crafted, nothing unplanned, nothing that jars.
I share his feelings, which is why it makes me ill that they're trying to Carmel-ify my beloved Broad Ripple.
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