For The Record- 15. November. 2025

Some thoughts on pizza, Pandora, and destination neighborhoods.

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I realized not too long ago that, for the first time in my life, I was a regular somewhere. Not a regular in the sense that I go places a lot — that list is long. I mean a regular in the way Norm was on Cheers. Okay, that’s a step too far, but it’s close...and that hit harder than I would’ve expected.

I had this realization at a pizza place near where I live. Whatever stereotype you’re imagining right now, go with it. It looks like the place where you had all your Little League parties. It’s Wisconsin, so of course there’s a bar squeezed in, but there are tchotchkes nested in among the bottles. Faded novelty posters and pennants adorn the walls.

There are just enough TVs for a couple of games to be on, but not enough ever to be considered a sports bar. No one’s coming here to watch the big game, but somehow you end up there anyway. The Brewers broke my heart more than once in that place this year. I made my peace with Shohei Ohtani in the same spot. Freddie Freeman can still F off, though.

They play good music. I’ve heard — and I swear this is true — New Order more than once while in there. Dunno who’s picking the Pandora channel, but they have good taste.

My first clue was when the waiter could almost rattle off our order: drinks, pizza, all of it. The second was when I looked around at all the people and thought — these people are here all the time… only to realize that I also had to be there at the same time(s) for that to have happened. A real “you’re not stuck in traffic, you are the traffic” kind of moment.

It’s busy, but you can always find a good place to park. Which leads me to my next point: all of this is great, except we have to drive there. It’s in a destination neighborhood (or at least what I would consider one), but not ours. What happens when your local isn’t that local? I love the place — but it bothers me that I can’t just walk there.

My ‘neighborhood hangout’ lives in someone else’s neighborhood.

I’ve been thinking about urbanism and walkability lately –the kind of thing middle-aged guys in too-liberal towns overthink on weekends. In our case, it’s been an ongoing issue for some time. Where I live really just serves as a shortcut to somewhere else. It’s not somewhere people go. It’s not a destination¹. That pizza place scratches the itch that my own neighborhood can’t — a sense of being part of something, even if I have to drive to get it.

We had a shot at that several years ago. The street needed to be redone entirely, and city leaders thought that would be as good a time as any to update the city’s long-range plan. There were lots of surveys, postcards, and listening sessions. What did people want the city to look like? What sorts of businesses would we like to see? (My vote: anything but more gas stations and banks!) How did other transit options work in? Could we make it more bike- and pedestrian-friendly? After all, is it really a destination if you can’t get out and stretch your legs?

The short version is that most of that didn’t happen. The road itself turned out great, and if pressed, I guess I’d say that the streetlights are cool? I might be an infrastructure dork, but not even I am gonna fawn over turn lanes. What we didn’t get were more bike lanes or more shops that people could walk to or between. We did get at least one more bank and a gas station, though. There are a few places still doing fine, but a Walgreens and three Kwik Trips do not a city make.

For some people, this is a non-issue. They didn’t move here to be part of an ecosystem. They bought into the bedroom-community side of things. These are the same folks who treat proposals for ADUs and sidewalks as high crimes—the ones who complain about rising taxes but fight any development that would offset it. We’re landlocked, so we can’t grow “out” — only up, or more dense. Absent that, a place loses its sense of place and atrophies.

That same sense of drift — of neighborhoods losing their gravity — showed up again when I read Ryan Allen’s recent article on the decline of Halloween.

Allen ties the demise of trick-or-treating to the destination neighborhood. Our obsession with car culture and the lack of walkability in many neighborhoods make it easier to pile into the wagon and drive somewhere else. The rise of social media means a block with even a little savvy can get their neighborhood on the map. The real point, though, is that it keeps us from the work of fixing our own neighborhoods/cities/towns. Why bother watering your own garden when you can just jump in the car and go?

Each year, we see fewer and fewer kids at our door. That becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as people figure out where they can get more loot. I’d be surprised if we got 20 trick-or-treaters this year. One of my neighbors dressed in a full Bride of Frankenstein costume, ready to hand out candy from her driveway. I hope she had a better showing than we did. Otherwise, I can’t see her doing it again. My guess is that my fellow regulars at the restaurant did bigger numbers.

Back to the pizza place. The last lightning bolt that hit me was that if the place was always full, but the lot was not, that of course meant people were walking and/or biking to eat — whereas we had to drive to join them. Not an Earth-shattering revelation, I know, but it’s something that’s stuck with me.

On the plus side, a couple of new apartment complexes are going in, so who knows? They’re the same mixed-use model every other city has — one of the things we collectively said we’d like to see. Maybe that density will spark new discussions about how to infill the main street and conversations about how to make the place more walkable. I’d love to have a place I can walk to! Maybe there’ll be more kids come next October. There’ll be at least one new business — I noticed the signs on my way home from work.

The first business to go in?

A bank.

I’d love to hear what you think! As always, thanks for being here.

KA—

Various Artists:

Pulp showed up at the Tiny Desk.

“I can see a world where Spotify doesn’t exist.” New platforms are looking to return more to artists and improve the UX for listeners. Speaking of enhancing the consumer experience, Hayley Williams is trying to beat scalpers and resellers for her upcoming solo tour. Split Enz is also hitting the road for the first time in forever. The Church’s Steve Kilbey on the 5 records he can’t live without.

From the ‘Stack: some incredible words on one of the most misunderstood tracks of the modern era.

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Longer read:

A common misconception with earplugs is that they diminish the live music experience. In reality, with the right earplug (not the cheap orange foam ones), they actually improve the overall audio quality. High-fidelity earplugs bring down the volume of the entire environment around you – including those pesky dance floor yappers and fan clackers – allowing the music to shine more clearly. The result is a cleaner, more balanced sound entering your ear, making for a richer and more enjoyable live experience. Even better, they don’t block out conversations with friends nearby — so you can still hear your buddy when they ask, “What’s this ID?”

A diehard dance music fan, Dr. Switzer understands if fans want to take their earplugs out every once in a while at shows. “If you can wear earplugs 85% of the time, I’m happy with that. It’s better to be consistent than perfect. If you want to take out your earplugs when your favorite song comes on, do it. Consistency is more important than having them in 100% of the time.”

Zach Salafia on the rising epidemic of tinnitus and hearing loss in the music industry

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AV Club:

Zevon forever!

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Have a great weekend. Drive south!

Kevin—

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1. Portland friends: think Raleigh Hills, but as its own autonomous city.