Zócalo's Connecting California
Character study
If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution that will really make a difference, consider swearing off the phrase “character of the community.”
By Joe Mathews • • 5m ListenIn California, neighborhood activists, politicians and governments love to lean on the phrase “character of the community” as a justification for opposing just about anything new, or different. But commentator Joe Mathews says the expression is an instant conservation stopper – saying nothing and everything at once. And don’t we want our communities to evolve? Mathews says it’s time to banish “character of the community” from our political discourse, if not the English language entirely.