Populism can be beaten back by libraries. Really – Open Future

MANY IDEAS have been put forward to explain the rise of populism in the West: economic insecurity, a backlash against immigration and fake news, to name but a few. Another on the list might be the lack of shared spaces where people from different walks of life can meet and mingle. If politics has become tribal, perhaps that is a result of people being walled off from others—in some cases literally—eroding the sense of commonality and community.

That is the intriguing message of a recent book by Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist at New York University and the author of “Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life” (Crown, 2018). The title comes from a phrase used by Andrew Carnegie, an American steel baron of the early 20th century, to describe the thousands of public libraries he helped build with his donations.

Source: Populism can be beaten back by libraries. Really – Open Future

How Much Housing Does Haslemere Need?

I’ve been researching the facts about the need for housing in Haslemere.  So far, my conclusion is “not much”.

Waverley Borough Council has posted on its webite a document called the “West Surrey Strategic Housing Market Assessment,  September 2015“, which covers the whole of West Surrey, with assessments broken down by borough. More importantly for Haslemere, there is also a “Waverley Addendum” to this document, which includes some detailed figures for Haslemere (alongside  Farnham, Godalming, Cranleigh and “others”). Continue reading “How Much Housing Does Haslemere Need?”