Anna Wolff
Nicole Hardiman
Hunter Negaard
Kaitlin Velez
Michelle Becker
ENGL 1410
Nate Siebert
February 23, 2016
City as a Text
The scene is downtown. Five ‘A seeking college students’ sit around a tiny, wobbly table
eagerly pondering the similarity of our small five-block city to the concept of a text. The
arguments were made as followed….
Anna: There is something quite interesting with cities and how we interact with them. It is a
complicated concept to view or try to view something of a virtual, physical form such as text,
versus something you can physically interact with such as walking around a city. However
I’m curious how we can connect the concepts of text and city. Before diving in, let’s just
touch the surface on our city. I know not all of us are from this city originally but I would
love to know what your thoughts are on what is now our city. For me this city holds a soft
spot in my heart because of what it has been for me. It’s a place I often hang out with my
friends at coffee shops, their homes, or even just to walk around. Everytime I go downtown, I
end up seeing people I know, no matter where I am. It’s a place I find community and
enjoyment. However, it was weird for me when we were walking around as a class. We were
walking around places I hadn’t been before and places that felt awkward for people to linger.
Specifically, I felt uncomfortable at the bus station and the bridge on Colorado Ave. What
were your first reactions to walking downtown as a class?
Nicole: It felt kind of awkward, because I was raised here and have been downtown a
thousand of times. To see everything from a different point of view felt like I was seeing a
different city. Hunter how did you feel?
Hunter: I’ve never ridden the bus before, that was a new experience for me. I felt out of
place, even though it’s meant for everyone to use it, the only people who use the bus are the
people that need it.
Michelle: Not being from around here, this was my first time really walking around
downtown. I was surprised with the amount of space there was and that it wasn’t over
crowded. Everything looked fairly new; I was surprised it wasn’t more dirty and beat up. It
gave me the impression that everyone was nice or gave me the impression that everything
was new. The feelings that it is going to build up and expand more just because of how new it
felt.
Kaitlin: It wasn’t what I was expecting. I was surprised because usually when I think of the
city, specifically downtown, I think of homeless people and kind of a dirty atmosphere since
I don’t come here a lot- it’s the other side of town for me. But when I got here I realized that
downtown is more of a safe haven than anything. People come here to hang out and make
friends more than they do in the other parts of the city. When we first walked around I was
expecting there to be more homeless people. The times that I have been downtown I’ve seen
a heavy portion of people who appear to be homeless. But when we started walking around I
realized that the people that are here see it as their community or their home. I used to think
that I had to be careful or avoid downtown but now I believe it’s not really a place that I
shouldn’t go because of them. It’s merely a place people can all get together and feel like
they are a part of society even if society doesn’t want to be a part of them. Now that I’ve seen
the city in a different way I see a stronger sense of society or community.
M: Anna, did you find it hard to compare our city to a text?
A: Good question, it feels like far-fetched idea. However, I am starting to see the similarities
between the two. The location of different areas of Colorado Springs and how they make up
of the city offer what I see to be arguments. For instance what Kaitlyn was talking about,
there is an argument between who gets to inhabit the city and different areas of the city.
Similar to how a text will make an argument. Michelle talked about improvements I can see
how this can be like editing the city. So I can see similarities but I still would have to think
about it more. What do you think about the city making arguments?
M: Throughout our walk I definitely felt spaces arguing with each other. Especially when we
were stopped on the corner with the nice storefront. On one side, it was fancy and clean and
on the other side, there were men who seemed to be part of a lower class than those people
shopping at the nice store. These men were kind of just posted up on the corner, and one of
them seemed to be selling his art to make a little extra money. To my left, there were men
trying to make money, and to my right, there were men spending money. I found it
interesting that in such close quarters, there could be such polar opposites.
N: I feel like that’s just how cities work. People of all different classes and backgrounds
come together to use the space just as anyone else would. I don’t see that as an argument. I
don’t think the city is like a text; a text has one clear motive. It has a clear direction it goes
from start to finish with one message. The city has multiple entry points and multiple
different messages, it’s not organized enough.
A: Do you feel if our streets were more organized it would feel more like a text? For instance
if the streets all had a theme or more organized in terms of having square blocks?
N: Yeah, well, I feel like there are some places that can be like a text. Like a small, older
town would have a story to tell but this city does not.
H: It depends on the kind of text you are trying to relate it to. If you are relating it to a paper
with one clear argument, then no city can relate to that. But if anything, our city does have a
story to tell.
A: What kind of text would you relate our city to if you say we have a story to tell?
H: If you look at the signs and art the city has commissioned, it’s a history textbook.
K: That’s like the mural at the bus station with all its history to tell. It started with meeting
the Indians and going to the Wild West scene all the way to what the city is now. It’s a
progression of what Colorado Springs started as to what it has become today. So I would
agree with Hunter that it is a historical text.
N: Okay, I can understand that.
H: I think you can relate that to a lot of the statues and public art around town.
M: I think that a lot of the art in the city also strengthens the similarities to how a city is like a
text because just like some books, we look to pictures and diagrams to give us an explanation
or better understanding of the material we are reading. You can do the same thing with a city
to understand more about the many people that live there, and even the history.
A: Yes! I like the way the conversation just turned. I agree the visual explanation of what our
city looks like is one way to relate it to text. I didn’t think of that before, I think that s a great
point.
N: So if we have decided it’s a historical text, what kind of arguments does the city make?
A: Does it have to make an argument if it’s a historical text?
N: No it doesn’t, but at the same time, doesn’t everything make an argument? Every text at
least makes a point and that is its arguments. What does our city have to say?
K: Well since it is like a text, I think it’s trying to say strength in numbers. It started out as a
small town and as it has grown, we now have from downtown all the way to briargate and
monument. So my point being, that you can take a small space with limited amount of people
and then you can keep growing to build a community and a society. This then builds a bigger
city. I feel it’s the community that makes the city. If you just had the buildings and no people
then it’s just a ghost town.
H: That was in our reading! De Certeau said had something to say about that. “Their story
begins on ground level, with footsteps. They are a myriad, but do not compose a series. They
cannot be counted because each unit has a qualitative character: a style of tactile
apprehension and kinesthetic appropriation. Their swarming mass is an innumerable
collection of singularities. Their intertwined paths give their shape to spaces. They weave
places together. In that respect, pedestrian movements form one of these ‘real systems whose
existence in fact makes up the city’ they are not localized; it is rather spatialized. They are no
more inserted within a container than those Chinese speakers sketch out on their hands with
their fingertips.” People give shape to the spaces, much how a gas will fill the volume it is
contained within. Without the public thriving in Colorado Springs, the city would cease to
exist in the same way. People give the city life.
A: Okay that gives me a thought. I noticed an argument in that.
N: I would like to hear it!
A: Just a minute ago we were talking about the city telling a story about our history. The
buildings, art and statues all tell a story. But now we are saying that the city can’t exist
without the people. So which is making the loudest statement or argument? What makes up
the city, the people or the spaces that the people interact with? BAM! Bomb drop, what do
you guys think?
N: I want to respond about that. I think that it takes both the people and the spaces to make
the argument, but more so the people, because the people bring in different vibes to each
space. The spaces can make all the arguments, but if the people don’t want there to be the
barriers between different spaces then the people as a society can change that and bring about
unity.
A: Do you feel that the architecture or the people create barriers?
N: Both. People can feel like they don’t fit into a certain space because of the way it is set up.
If I went to wall street I wouldn’t feel like I could fit in, the buildings are big and all the
people wear suits. The space overall created, architecture and design, along with the people,
push out different types of people.
A: Is that from people putting assumptions onto the buildings?
N: Yes.
M: Yeah, I think people put assumptions on buildings, if a building is more of a business
building then a younger child or someone like myself would not feel welcome. If I walked
into a building like that, I would feel awkward and unwelcomed.
H: Even the layout within the buildings of downtown creates barriers. Most business
buildings have a front desk in the main lobby or entrance. As you walk in you are greeted by
a receptionist asking if she can help you. This makes it so that you must have to have a
purpose to be there, without a purpose you cannot continue on into the building. In general,
people do not often encounter this situation, because they do not want to go into the building
to begin with. However, let us say they want to explore, being denied further access to the
building creates the feeling of not being welcomed.
K: On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you go to a park, it is set up for everyone to be
there at his or her leisure for free time, and hanging out. Likewise, if you go to a store you are
there to buy things. I feel like the city is made up of many different buildings and areas that
are made in a specific way with a specific use in mind. I think the city is made of primarily
barriers. I’m not sure there’s one spot in this whole town that doesn’t have a barrier around it.
Like I said a park is for leisure, stores are for buying things you need, and school is for
learning. Imagine trying to go into a store to throw a frisbee around. You would get kicked
out because that’s not “appropriate” behavior for a store. Everything that is built in a city has
a specific use or even a specific audience it is intended for. So I believe a city is only made
up of buildings and barriers.
M: I thought Acacia Park was nothing out of the ordinary. It was very open and didn’t have a
ton of things going on. I felt it looked rather welcoming and not as sketchy as everyone made
it sound. I thought the placement of this park was rather interesting. The fact that it’s kind of
just right in the middle of everything made me feel as if it serves as a nice crosswalk to get
from one place to another. The park also seemed like a good place for people to gather, or for
people to chill out alone and just reflect. The park allows you to choose what you’d like to do
in that specific space, which a lot of the other places in the city do not allow you to do.
A: Do you agree that the city creates barriers?
M:Yes, definitely. However, the park is an area that if feel is free of barriers. Are there any
areas you guys feel that allow the public to choose what they’d like to do in that space?
N: What do you mean by choose?
M: I just mean that there are places with barriers, and places without barriers as well. Places
that let you choose what you want to do are my definition free of barriers.
A: Kaitlin, you talked about walking through a park and the enjoyment of the scenery. Do
you guys see any contradictions or arguments with nature and the business world? Have you
noticed the areas nature wins an argument and areas where the buildings and the city in
general overtake nature?
N: I feel anytime someone builds something that hasn’t been there previously or in nature
originally, that is man overtaking nature. Man wins the argument.
M: This also ties into landscapes and the reading we did on the 10 different views of a
landscape. Out of the ten perspectives, which of them is easiest for each of you to see within
our city?
K: I think that landscape as a habitat is easiest for me to see in Colorado Springs, because
there is a strong combination of man and nature. Colorado itself has an abundance of
beautiful nature, but we also have large, high functioning urban areas, so this means that
there are plenty of people who care strongly about the land and the city. This combination
isn’t seen everywhere, and I think it is unique to our city specifically.
N: Interesting perspective. I personally see the landscape as history because the town’s
buildings and houses get older the further west you go, and as you move to the east, you so
things becoming more modern. The history in specific directions is very evident.
M: Do you think there is history in Colorado Springs?
N: Yes, you can see plenty of the history throughout the city. The mural at the bus stop really
depicted the evolution of our landscape and how far it has come. What do you think, Hunter?
H: I think in general, our city specifically, downtown Colorado Springs, the people who are
concerned with the image of downtown see the landscape differently than I may. I think these
people see the downtown landscape as wealth. According to D.W. Meining in The Beholding
Eye, he says, “Such a view of landscape is future-oriented, for market values are always
undergoing change and one must assess their trends. Such, obviously, is the view of the
speculator, but it is also the view of the developer and is thus akin to that of the landscape
designer, for ‘development’ is usually thought of as ‘improvement’ and may involve strong
feelings of creativity and of contributing to the benefit of society.” Our downtown is going
through cultural change and improvement. Colorado Springs is catching up, and getting itself
‘hipp’ with all of the new living spaces, food, and venues development. The people who are
in charge of downtown are always assigning a monetary value. More improvements means
more money.
K: That goes along with the sit-lie ordinance that’s going on downtown. The city wants to
pass a law that people can’t sit down or loiter in front of the stores so that the businesses can
make more money by making the outside of it look more “appealing”.
H: Yeah, that would be part of the improvements our city is trying to make downtown. Many
people feel like the homeless people begging detracts from the downtown district. The people
who support the proposed law the most are likely the same people that see the landscape as
wealth. Along with them, other supporters may be people who feel unsafe.
N: I don’t like that. It’s not fair to them. Everyone should have the opportunity to sit there,
it’s public. You can’t discriminate against only certain types of public! They are
discriminating against the homeless, there aren’t any signs about no loitering. You can’t just
decide that between these hours people can sit down. It’s stupid that you can tell someone
they aren’t allowed to hang out somewhere. They can’t own the outside or nature.
M: Actually they can, because it’s the city’s space- not that I’m for the ordinance. The
businesses and the cities can say what they do and don’t want on their property, because the
owner of that piece of land does have a say in who is welcome/unwelcome. I think this isn’t
fair, but it is up to them to make this type of rule.
N: I hate that. I don’t like that you can own land.
H: Well, here’s the thing, you can own land.
N: I know you can. I’m saying that if a piece of land is open up to public it should be open up
to all the public! Just because someone ‘looks’ homeless he can’t sit in a certain area and I
don’t agree with that.
H: In an email, Tom Strand wrote about the law, “A common problem many cities face is
maintaining safe and vibrant cities...We welcome the cities input on the best way to address
the pedestrian safety issue.” From a different city council member, Jonathan Dron, “If they
weren't there and trying to bum money and trying to disturb people, yeah if they were gone it
would definitely enhance the city's image for sure.” The council members want to make
Colorado Springs safer, and in doing that make it more attractive. It is an unfortunate way to
go about it though.
K: I can understand that, there are times I go downtown and I don’t feel completely safe.
M: What exactly do you guys mean by safe?
K: It’s more a safety in numbers problem. I wouldn’t feel safe walking around downtown by
myself, especially walking into a group of 15 or so people that might appear homeless. I just
feel like they outnumber me or the group that I’m with at the time.
N: I don’t feel unsafe
M: I never feel threatened by the homeless. If anything, I feel superior, or as if they want me
to help them, and that’s really it. Just because someone doesn’t have a home or has clothes
without holes in them, doesn’t necessarily make them dangerous. If anything, it makes them
more weak, tired, and cold and none of those things are the traits of a big strong person who’s
trying to hurt people.
H : I don’t know if I feel my safety threatened personally by the homeless downtown as
much as I feel uneasy and bothered. If you are walking down the street, and you see two
homeless looking people sitting on the corner, that can prompt an uncomfortable situation. I
don’t think anyone enjoys being asked for money. It is awkward, and there has not been a
day in recent times where I have been downtown walking around and not been asked for
money. Just the other day I went downtown to grab a pizza from El Vicino’s. As I was
getting out of my car, a man stopped me and asked if I had any spare change. I denied. He
continued to ask if i had anything at all to give him. I had an extra coffee, and gave it to him.
After my lunch I had an extra slice and he was waiting outside for me to ask for any
leftovers. I proceeded to give him my leftovers. Then as I walked to my car, he followed me.
He repeatedly asked if I had any money. I turned him down multiple times before I finally
got into my car, and shut him out. After that, I watched him immediately walk up to another
another passerby and ask him for something. I feel this situation can highlight what many
people find to be an issue in our downtown. Throughout the experience I was uncomfortable.
I wanted to help this man, down on his luck, but he continued to bother me throughout the
entire time I was downtown. Some people will steer clear of downtown purely because of the
possibility of being heckled for money.
A: In light of that story, you had mentioned the man’s ability to follow and persist on asking
for money. What about the survival complex? The idea that people will become more violent
when in need of something or eager for survival?
M: I’ve personally had so many conversations with the homeless and have got a lot of insight
about their intentions and what they go through on a day-to-day basis, and nothing about
them threatens me. I think that society is constantly threatening them, and the the last thing
that they’re trying to do is start trouble.
N: I totally agree with you, one-hundred percent. I think society puts a lot of negative
perspectives on them, and don’t understand who they are. We think if someone doesn’t want
to live the same way as them there is something wrong with them. I would say it’s split
between circumstances that led them to there and if they want to be there. It’s not right to
judge them that they are on drugs or have a mental illness.
A: It’s interesting to me that we as a society so often just assume that someone is homeless
too. If someone acts crazy, out of the norm, might have body odor, or some rips and tears in
their clothing, then automatically they are labeled as homeless. Do you think this relates to
language at all? The reason I ask this question is because I’ve been thinking about this idea
about how text can be similar to social status. If we agree that we misjudge people, then can
we misjudge text? If the way someone talks or writes isn’t proper english then they can be
misjudged as someone with less education. Does the way a text present itself have any
correlation with its status in society? Ponder that. For instance how would a professor
misjudge a college paper if a transcript of a text message conversation was handed in? Would
you, if you were the teacher, think of the student as unintelligent? If you think it does, does
that have any benefit in regards to ethos? Hear me out, this might be far fetched, with my
dreadlocks I notice I blend into many social groups just because of the way I look, it’s easy
for me to be misjudged as homeless or a drug addict who is less intelligent. If I had a certain
type of syntax that is similar to another person, would I agree or appreciate what they have to
say more? So does the way we judge text have a similarity to the way we judge each other’s
appearances? Are we misjudging text and placing it in a social hierarchy?
M: I think that we definitely misjudge texts based on how comfortable we feel with that
specific piece of written material. If it’s something that’s a bit more out of the box, people
with a more closed mind might feel uncomfortable with it and might tend to stray away from
a piece of writing that they aren’t totally comfortable with. I find myself doing this
sometimes when I am faced with a challenging piece of writing. The larger words and
abstract ideas that can be found within a text can sometimes make me nervous, and make me
feel as if I won’t be able to comprehend the material. Just like when I am around an
individual that seems to have a lot of knowledge on a specific subject that I personally don’t
know a ton about, I sometimes feel inferior, or as if that person might not want to be
conversing with me. This is something that I am definitely trying to work on though. Instead
of shying away from them, I try to take as much away from their intelligence as I possibly
can. Just like when I am faced with a challenging text, I am trying to work on focusing on the
little things that I understand really well, instead of dwelling upon the fact that I can’t
comprehend it entirely.
K: In the spirit of comparing texts, the two texts we read in class were very different to me.
De Certeau’s text was complicated and wordy. I found it hard to understand and that to me
made it more difficult to talk about in class. The discussion we shared wasn’t all that deep
and didn’t help me understand it anymore than I already did. Whereas, Meinig’s writing was
more easily understandable. I could read his work and think about a deeper meaning to it.
When we talked about it in class, I could comprehend the conversation and enjoyed it more.
So then comparing people and society to a text is almost the same. We don’t understand
people we don’t get along with as well as we do people we see everyday and call friends.
N: I have noticed that I tend to find comfort in people who are similar to me. There is
comfort in similarities and comfort in things that I already know. I reread books and I
rewatch movies and I find it difficult to make new friends. I think that I reread books because
I know how it will end and I know the twist and story lines. I also find comfort in the same
friends I have had forever because I know what makes them, them. It’s familiar and usual to
me. I think that I see people and texts that same way.
M: I can see that comfort zone is a very important thing to all of us, whether we are trying to
make decisions regarding the city, or materials that we are reading. In general, it seems that
all of us can agree that there are some definite similarities with the city and a text.
N: Even though we all agree it’s a text, I think the city a little bit more complicated than a
text. Is it possible to fully understand a city? Or a text even? I could see spaces completely
different than somebody else but if you don’t see it from every point of view are you really
seeing all of it? Texts and cities are always changing so is it possible to understand it without
the pieces we are missing?
A: Yeah that’s good. Everything has a deeper root that shapes and forms how that thing
behaves. I agree that you can’t fully know or see anything without seeing the whole picture.
That’s why social and natural sciences dig so deep into what was and why instances were
created. I agree that you can’t fully understand the city without knowing all the different
details. Bringing it full circle, I think that’s the story the city is trying to tell. We talked about
the city being a historical text, but I can see it also being so many other different texts. I can
see the text being a poem if you watch the beauty of people interacting in the park or watch
how people behave. If you’re artsy, the way you view the city will be artsy. You’ll see it as a
poem. If you’re more of a science-brained individual, the city is more mathematical and
organized. People and cars have their place and they behave to their character similar to how
elements always interact with each other; when they don’t bad things happen, when a person
walks into the street when they aren’t suppose to, bad things happen. The way I see it,
everyone does see the city differently, and because of that each interpretation is a different
way to see the city. But you can’t fully understand the city because you can’t fully
understand all the different angles and views that are created from the people in and around
the city. Not only that, they are changing. How my grandpa views the city is different
because of his history with the city, I can never understand it the way he did no matter how
much I learn. It’s always changing. Therefore, I can never understand fully or quickly enough
to understand the city. The same theory applies with a text due to not fully understanding
history. Therefore I agree completely that the city and text have large similarities in almost
every aspect that it can. If not, someone could find a metaphor to have them be the same.
You just have to see it in a different view than before.
K: After having this discussion I can see how the city can be compared to a text. Mainly, I
see the city as a text because of the arguments it makes. It contradicts itself in every way,
especially downtown. Starting with Acacia Park, it’s in the middle of downtown so much so
that they call it city center, but the park is surrounded by storefront and restaurants. You have
a place that was meant for goofing off and feeling free to places that have specific rules and
intended uses. Then you have the feel the city is trying to make. The city wants you to go out
and enjoy it while buying things at the shop. They want you to feel like a part of the
community but at the same time they are trying to get rid of a big portion of the community,
that being the homeless. I just feel like the city is full of contradictions. That is why I see the
city as being similar to a text.
Works Cited
De Certeau, Michel. "Walking in the City." The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley and Los
Angeles: U of California, 1984. 90-110. Print.
Meinig, D. W. "The Beholding Eye." The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes (1979):
32-48. Print.