Cittaslow: a smarter way to go

BY CHERI RAE
He was a long-term Santa Barbaran; a stressed-out computer programmer of Italian heritage who plunked his Italian grammar book down on the table every morning in the local coffee house. When he spoke dreamily about selling everything and moving to Tuscany where he could enjoy a slowed-down life in the country, no one really took him seriously. When he sold his house and possessions, his dreams became to take shape, and we began to take notice.

Six years later, he has changed his life, his locale and his outlook. He now owns a villa—complete with a pool, olive grove and successful vacation rental, retreat and workshop center—in the town of Cortona, the place made famous in “Under the Tuscan Sun.” The simple life he yearned for in Santa Barbara he found in the hills of Tuscany.
In a recent exchange of holiday greetings, he wrote the following, “Even though I really like living in Italy, I do miss some aspects of S.B. after living there for so long. I have heard that S.B. is changing and becoming more like a big city with condos galore, traffic and fancy chain stores…I heard about the gang killings and was quite surprised. Everyone had their futuristic predictions about Santa Barbara becoming an extension of LA. The future is already here.”
Those stark comments unnerved me with their precision, the underlying pain, the informed perspective with which they were delivered. They arrived about the same time the notion of “Cittaslow” began to resonate with me.
Cittaslow, translates to “Slow City.” Founded in 1999 in Orvieto, Italy, it’s an international movement—borne out of the Slow Foods movement—that is dedicated to improving the quality of life in towns and resisting “the fast-lane, homogenized world so often seen in other cities throughout the world.” It’s a way of thinking that emphasizes caring for the community, protecting the environment and extending gracious hospitality that encourages visitors to do the same; it promotes local products and produce, and it values tradition and traditional ways as well as the diversity of the culture and its specialties.
It’s all about maintaining local character, living simply and authentically on a human scale. The criteria for evaluating a city include environmental conservation, pedestrian zones, artisanal production and citizen services. It embraces sustainable change and emphasizes good living, less frantic and fast, as essential to physical, mental and spiritual health. Co-founder of Cittaslow and former Mayor of Orvieto Stefan Cimicchi noted, “Being slow doesn’t mean arriving late. On the contrary, it means using new technologies to make towns and cities ideal places to live.”
Only cities with a population below 50,000 can apply for official Cittaslow membership status, but cities of any size can embrace the principles and join as Cittaslow supporters. Membership extends far beyond rural Italy: there are Cittaslow communities in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Norway, Spain, Poland Portugal and Austria among others. There is even a movement in London, but to date, not a single place in the United States holds an official membership.
The Cittaslow principles are hardly unknown in the States. A few years ago, a walking tour of Orvieto was offered for members of the American Planning Association so they could learn, better understand, reframe their thinking and become inspired by Cittaslow. And the Journal of Urban Affairs published an article entitled “Slow Cities: Sustainable Places in a Fast World.”
About as close as we get Cittaslow in Santa Barbara is the Slow Foods convivium that celebrates and educates about the bountiful local produce and agricultural products. Established locally in 1999, ironically the founder now enjoys the slow life and slow food in her own Tuscan farmhouse where she offers workshops at her cooking school located not far from my friend the villa owner.
Short of packing up and joining them in Bella Italia in pursuit of la dolce vita, I’m thinking those of us who question the wisdom of Smart Growth and get steamed over the HOT principles—now have another way to go. Slow.

Care to join me in getting Santa Barbara to take it slow in the New Year? Write me at cheri@santabarbarafree.com.