Author, Evan Blythin. Photo credit: Bill Hughes

Evan Blythin is not a cranky old fart. But the 30-year resident of Blue Diamond does have a thing or two to say about village life, modern technology and the real meaning of community, which he lays out in Vanishing Village, published by CityLife Books. In it, he explains why actual reality is better than the virtual kind, and why you should work out problems with neighbors instead of calling the cops. CityLife talked with Blythin about what he’s learned from living at the lip of Red Rock Canyon.

CityLife: How did you originally find out about the community?

Evan Blythin: I was raised rural. My wife was raised urban. We started circling Vegas to find a spot that I would feel more comfortable in, and that was as far out as she would go and as close in as I wanted to go.

CL: Was there anything that provoked you to want to write about Blue Diamond?

EB: Well, I think there’s been a nagging dissatisfaction with some of the changes that have occurred, not necessarily with the physical changes, the new houses, the upgrades, but rather the type of mentality that I was beginning to see more and more. Urbanized, used to government taking care of everything, not too much into actual physical work, which had been sort of the backbone of the community.

CL: So what was driving these changes you were seeing?

EB: I believe that on a very large level, the whole world has moved to an economy of scale. Everything has gotten big. I call it — it’s a kind of urbanization, but it has more to do with scale and size and the distance now. I mean, we’re really close now with e-mail and Facebook and Twitter and all of that. We’re closer, but we’re also further. Too many damn people to deal with. I don’t think you can do it right. It needs to break up somehow.

Read the full interview here.

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Read the full article here.