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My vent on sprawl...

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Bonoluvr 
#1 ·
Okay, first of all, this IS a vent.

Yesterday, my daughter and I took a small road trip down to this little village about 30 minutes from Charlotte. They have a bead store/jewelry repair place I like to visit every now and again (probably equaling once a year). It's a nice little town to visit out in what used to be the country. Nice town square type place...an odd artist who does cool metalwork sculptures and then donates them around town, a potter who does great work. Now, I can see how this little town would be appealing for almost anyone. As I mentioned, we enjoy our trips down there...walking around town and getting some fresh, arty, small town air. There are antique/junk places selling all manner of old things, as well as a few galleries. A train runs along mainstreet every few hours. Well, on our trip down yesterday, I was just appalled by all of the megahouse developments that have gone up. We stopped at a little place by the park to get some ice cream and I read their weekly paper. Apparently this is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. The infrastructure has not been able to keep up with all of the people who want to 'enjoy country living'...and move out to the country.

The problem I guess with people moving out to these places where there is so much space...is that it destroys the space. The hills and trees and farms are disapearing faster than our ability to replace them (or at least get some nice country scenery slideshow going on our flatscreen media player). I had this same issue when I visited Smoky Mountain National Park over the last few years. People want to move to the country...but then they destroy the country by building strip malls, souviner shops, paint-ball and lazer tag arcades and theme parks. Because god knows while we are in the country, we need to be sedated and distracted by all forms of entertainment and shopping.

The megahouses we saw yesterday? What in God's name does a three person family need with a two story, five bedroom house? Could someone explain this to me because for the life of me....I just can't grasp our need for bigger everything at the expense of the planet.

B
 
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#2 ·
It's a problem all over the country, anywhere people want to live, sprawl comes with them. Those kinds of developments are marching out into the countryside, I guess, I wonder who will live in them? Who can afford these houses? $300,000? For a house?
 
#3 ·
Three causes of Sprawl:

1. The Automobile and too much car friendly development.

2. City Hall, public subsidization of infrastructure.

3. Rapid population growth.

I have bigger issues with sprawl than wrecking the view (although that is always a consideration) such as:

1. Tax revenue becomes diluted as more areas require service, i.e. if you live in a neighborhood with existing roads and schools more of your taxes go to build new roads and schools for new neighborhoods than are spent maintaining yours.

2. Sprawl creates more pollution as commuting times and distances increase.

3. Urban (or suburban) sprawl dilutes services (Fire, Ambulance, Police, Street Cleaning, etc...) as the service area increases.

Stop Urban Sprawl:

1. Vote. Support candidates who support urban renewal and redevelopment over development at any cost.

2. Boycott. Stay away from power centres, strip malls, and other businesses who choose to locate in sprawl communities. Heck, just quit shopping altogether - I did and it feels great.

3. Speak. Tell people about the the awfulness of sprawl, make them feel guilty for buying property in sprawl communities because it IS your business where they live and build, particularly when it can have very negative effects on you and the environment. Join protests, sign petitions.

I'm sure there's more and the local Sierra Club should have more info as well.
 
#4 ·
Sketchy, I wasn't exactly talking about wrecking the view, though that was surprising last weekend. I think I'm really talking about wrecking the natural habitat. I've had time to consider this over the past week, and thought about my contribution in the form of driving down there. That certainly IS something to consider isn't it....my own participation.

BTW, thanks for your insight.

B
 
#7 ·
The town I live in has a minimum building and frontage requirement, the lots must be at least 2 acres and have at least 200 feet of frontage, that in itself cuts down on development, and we also have a huge percentage of the land in our town being conservation land , if it were not for these things i would suspect my town would be over populated right now........there are towns around us without such strict requirements and the building going on is crazy........we are one of those towns the city folk from Boston drive out to on the weekends for the apple orchards, farm stands, etc.......and the cost of housing in are around immediate boston area is sooooo insanely expensive it has pushed commuters farther and farther out, so some live out here 40 miles west and make the commute because the average home price in this town is about $350,000 which is a bargain compared to the immediate boston suburbs.

so anyway, i hate sprawl too, and i agree with sketchy, i try to buy local as much as i can, i try to go to local businesses.........not always possible, but i try.
 
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