LETTERS

TO THE EDITOR

15-minute cities

To the editor:

I want to compliment Finn Hartnett for an excellent story last week reporting on two meetings on the opposing sides in the upcoming election.

There were very clear differences between the parties — a bit of religion, “voting is a spiritual act,” and some conspiracy theories on the Republican side.

Vaccine conspiracies are pretty standard, but I was caught off-guard by the “15-minute city” conspiracy.

Having a daughter, Hallie (Marion High School class of 2000), with a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Wisconsin, I am familiar with the concept of making cities more livable and eliminating things like food deserts by making services and retail a part of neighborhoods.

One might say that the Marion I moved to with my family in 1961 was the quintessential “15-minute city,” with just about every service one would need available on an active main street, all within walking or biking distance.

Conspiracy theories are not new and can lead to bad events. I remember the early ’90s when there was a lot of talk about “black helicopters” and “jackbooted ATF agents” that were coming to take away guns.

Two believers, Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols, constructed a truck bomb near Marion County and carried out the tragic Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people.

Harry E. Bennett
Madison, Wisconsin