So we owned a Gran Torino, one not nearly as nice as Clint’s, but still, it was cool to see it again in this awesome film.

I loved his garage — a lifetime of buying and using tools — his second chance at fathering, and the way the film presents teaching about tools and fixing things…

I also thought it a smart rejoinder to the recent Obama decision to move away from home ownership and towards supporting urban rentals. Yeah, the Clint character might be racist and a pig, but he cared deeply about his own property. It cuts both ways, I think; there’s something to be said for a neighborhood of homeowners who subtly pressure each other to keep their properties up. Apart from NYC/SF/Seattle, I’ve not seen many cities where there are communities of renters that are places you’d want to live.

And looking at the various landlords who own places on my block: it’s not about making a community to them, it’s about getting paid, about their building as an investment, not as a home. Only a pretty special landlord can do both.