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Michael W. Mehaffy Those who are alarmed at the global advance of an authoritarian form of populism – and I am one of them – too often assume that the solution is straightforward: defend democracy, educate the public, and wait for passions to cool. Implicitly, the message becomes something like “let them eat democracy.”  If people are angry, frightened, or alienated, the thinking goes, they simply need more civic instruction, better information, and stronger faith in existing

Among more obvious geopolitical and environmental threats, the threat of civic and cultural degradation may be just as important, if much less obvious. But the answer may be around the corner - literally - in how we shape our neighborhoods and streets. Recent research literature has been full of cautionary findings about fraying social fabric around the world, in the wake of social media and other influences. Less discussed -- but perhaps deserving more scrutiny -- is the con