But most of all, the great society is not a safe har bor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor So i want to ta lk to you today a bout three places where we begin to build the great Society --in our cities, in our countryside and in our classrooms Many of you will live to see the day perhaps 50 years from now, when there will be 400 m illion Americans - four-f ifths of them in urban areas. in the remainder of this century urban popula tion will double, city land w ill double, and we will have to build homes and highways and facilities equal to all those built since this country was first settled. So in the next 40 years we must re-build the entire urban United States Aristotle said: Men come together in cities in order to live but they remain together in order to live the good life It is harder and harder to live the good life in American cities today. The catalog of ills is long: there is the decay of the centers and the despoiling of the suburbs. There is not enough housing for our people or transportation for our traffic. Open land is van ish ing and old landmarks are violated Worst of all expansion is eroding these precious and time honored values of community with neighbors and communion with nature. The loss of these values breeds loneliness and boredom and indifference And our society will never be great until our cities are great. Today the frontier of imag ination and innovation is ins ide those cities and not beyond their borders. New experiments are already go ing on. It will be the task of your generation to make the American city a place where future generations will come not only to live but to live the good lif e And i understand that if i stayed here tonight I would see that Michigan students are really doing their best to live the good life This is the place where the Peace Corps was started It is inspiring to see how all of you, while you are in this country are trying so hard to live at the level of the people A second place where we begin to build the great society is in our countrysi ave always prided ourselves on being not only America the strong and america the free, but America the beautiful. today that bea uty is in danger. The water we drink the food we eat the very air that we breathe are threatened with pollution. Our parks are overcrowded, our seashores overburdened. Green fields and dense forests are disappearing A few years ago we were greatly concerned about the Ugly American Today we must act to prevent an ugly AmericaBut most of all, the Great Society is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor. So I want to talk to you today about three places where we begin to build the Great Society -- in our cities, in our countryside, and in our classrooms. Many of you will live to see the day, perhaps 50 years f rom now, when there will be 400 million Americans -- four-fif ths of them in urban areas. In the remainder of this century urban population will double, city land will double, and we will have to build homes and highways and facilities equal to all those built since this country was first settled. So in the next 40 years we must re-build the entire urban United States. Aristotle said: "Men come together in cities in order to live, but they remain together in order to live the good life." It is harder and harder to live the good life in American cities today. The catalog of ills is long: there is the decay of the centers and the despoiling of the suburbs. There is not enough housing for our people or transportation for our traffic. Open land is vanishing and old landmarks are violated. Worst of all expansion is eroding these precious and time honored values of community with neighbors and communion with nature. The loss of these values breeds loneliness and boredom and indif ference. And our society will never be great until our cities are great. Today the f rontier of imagination and innovation is inside those cities and not beyond their borders. New experiments are already going on. It will be the task of your generation to make the American city a place where future generations will come, not only to live, but to live the good life. And I understand that if I stayed here tonight I would see that Michigan students are really doing their best to live the good life. This is the place where the Peace Corps was started. It is inspiring to see how all of you, while you are in this country, are trying so hard to live at the level of the people. A second place where we begin to build the Great Society is in our countryside. We have always prided ourselves on being not only America the strong and America the free, but America the beautiful. Today that beauty is in danger. The water we drink, the food we eat, the very air that we breathe, are threatened with pollution. Our parks are overcrowded, our seashores overburdened. Green fields and dense forests are disappearing. A few years ago we were greatly concerned about the "Ugly American." Today we must act to prevent an ugly America