A Place of Welcome Distraction and Escape 

Oak Ridge is a paradox, a place of invention and decay, nostalgia and neglect. Oak Ridge is the place where suburbia was invented by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in 1943, it was the first gated community. It won the war by being young, segregated and hierarchical down to its house types. It is a place where science and history are kept at arm’s length, memories reduced to Katie the Calutron Girl and anecdotes of mud. It used to be well-educated and liberal but the cracks are showing. To old Oak Ridgers it is the best place in the world. There is a lot of nostalgia but not a lot of reflection.

Oak Ridge is a place that mismanaged its downtown into oblivion. It is a place of many bad franchises and few good gathering spots. Slumlord ruins linger, green spaces are bulldozed, and community-building efforts are met with suspicion. Urban sprawl seems to be the only vision for the future.

Oak Ridge has no public transportation and is not walkable. The lack of walkways is blamed on the high cost of walkways which is then blamed on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Buckets in public buildings and potholes galore but developers seem to thrive.

In October, I attempted to walk through the heart of historic Oak Ridge for a BAI class on urban lenscapes. I freely admit that my lenscapes are guided by my sense of disappointment and alienation. It is also true that during glorious fall weather I didn’t see a soul outside and encountered the end of the sidewalk many, many times.

A Place of Welcome Distraction and Escape is a quote from a historical markers about the Grove Shopping Center, which may tell of an overly positive past but makes you wish for a more inclusive, connected future.

A Place of Welcome Distraction and Escape