Paul Sparks profile picture

Paul Sparks

Urban Yoda

About Me



Get some cool videos and myspace layouts (like mine) at pYzam.com .
.. "Who should control public space in downtown Tacoma?" "We cannot see the environmental or social consequences of our extreme individualism." Where should we spend our tax dollars? The Fast Food Version Of The American Dream

My Interests

So pervasive is the power of the institutions we have created that they shape not only our preferences, but actually our sense of possibilities.[Ivan Illich]...For man has closed himself up till he sees all things through the chinks of his cabin... [William Blake]...The shape of our lives is defined by our insertion into institutions and systems whose interlocking power generates the "virtual reality" we experience...It is so thoroughly a part of our worldview that it simply would not occur to most people to question it. Yet, underneath this reality is another, subinstitutional reality in which very different responses are acted out.[David B. Schwartz]...There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.[Thoreau]...There was a time when it was literally impossible for people to separate belief in a divinity from the sense of belonging to a geographically circumscribed community.[Seymour Sarason]..........Here's a few of the authors that helped me think about the crucial nature of building livable communities.

Andrew W. Savitz - The Triple Bottom Line: How Today's Best-Run Companies Are ...

Wendell Berry - Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays

Stephen Goldsmith - Putting Faith in Neighborhoods: Making Cities Work through ...

Jedediah Purdy - For Common Things: Irony, Trust and Commitment in America T...

Doug Kelbaugh - Repairing the American Metropolis: Common Place Revisited (...

William Saunders - Sprawl and Suburbia: A Harvard Design Magazine Reader (Harv...

The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict (Bk L...

Michael H. Shuman - The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating...

Diana Whitney - The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Pos...

Robert D. Putnam - Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Commun...

Kirkpatrick Sale - The Green Revolution: The American Environmental Movement, ...

Kevin Lynch - The Image of the City

The Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effecti...

Congress for the New Urbanism - Charter of The New Urbanism

Peter Katz - The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community

Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the "G...

Daniel Kemmis - Community and the Politics of Place

Philip Langdon - A Better Place to Live: Reshaping the American Suburb

Joel Bakan - The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Pow...

Jane Jacobs - The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Iris Marion Young - Inclusion and Democracy (Oxford Political Theory)

John P. Kretzmann - Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Fin...

Peter Barnes - Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons (Bk Curre...

Daniel Goleman - Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships

Frank Fischer - Citizens, Experts, and the Environment: The Politics of Loc...

Herman E. Daly - For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Communi...

Jim Diers - Neighbor Power: Building Community The Seattle Way

Community Practice in the Network Society: Local Action / G...

David L Cooperrider - Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change

Jerry Mander - In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and...

David B. Schwartz - Who Cares?: Rediscovering Community

Benjamin R. Barber - Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age

Douglas E. Morris - It's a Sprawl World After All: The Human Cost of Unplanned ...

Gwendolyn Hallsmith - The Key to Sustainable Cities: Meeting Human Needs, Transf...

George Ritzer - The McDonaldization of Society

William S. Saunders - Urban Planning Today: A Harvard Design Magazine Reader (Har...

Margaret Kohn - Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatization of Public Space

People, Land, and Community: Collected E. F. Schumacher Soc...

Frank Bryan - The Vermont Papers: Recreating Democracy on a Human Scale

Albert Borgmann - Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology

Bob Willard - The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits ...

Eric O. Jacobsen - Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Fa...

John McKnight - The Careless Society: Community and Its Counterfeits

Gary M. Nelson - Self-Governance in Communities and Families

Ray Oldenburg - The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars...

Ivan Illich - Disabling Professions (Ideas in Progress)

Don Mitchell - The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Pub...

Thad Williamson - Making a Place for Community: Local Democracy in a Global E...

MySpace Book Lists at MySpace Toolbox !

My Blog

Tacoma gets a bad rap - now you know why!

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Posted by Paul Sparks on Sun, 13 May 2007 12:36:00 PST

The Small-Mart Revolution - Power To The Community

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Posted by Paul Sparks on Sun, 06 May 2007 09:52:00 PST

I WANT MORE!

If you were told the government is passing a law making it illegal to share a common life with your friends, family, and community you would say, "I want more."   We...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Fri, 27 Apr 2007 02:42:00 PST

The miracle invention for livable community!

www.conferencebike.com See it in motion - the miracle for a livable community -  yeh!...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:18:00 PST

What do you think should be done in downtown Tacoma around this same issue?

share your thoughts...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:12:00 PST

Where should our money be spent?

Love to hear your thoughts in response to New Urbanism's Andrew Duany Bonus Video: Exploring Options ...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 10:49:00 PST

Blackwater wins third place!

This was posted on my other blog, but I thought my friends here might enjoy it. I'd love to hear your thoughts. www.Blackwatertacoma.com They say "tying" is like kissing your sister and "se...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 05:22:00 PST

Never Overunderestimate The Power Of The Force!

"Never underestimate the power of the emperor." Yoda "Never overestimate the power of the emperor." Urban Yoda...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 05:36:00 PST

The Rabbit and The Serpent

No Fear In The Matrix...
Posted by Paul Sparks on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:02:00 PST

Check out this video: Neo vs Robocop

Neo vs RobocopThe Matrix Final Version (Neo, Robocop and The Urban Yoda)
Posted by Paul Sparks on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 07:27:00 PST