Develop Here, Develop Now!

True/Slant ^ | 03/01/10 | Ethan Epstein

[claudius the great]

The San Francisco Chronicle reports today on a brouhaha afoot: a group of environmentalists are loudly protesting the construction of a complex of condominiums and offices, this time in the San Francisco suburb of Redwood City. Of course, even amidst recession, disputes such as these are commonplace in the Golden State – I wonder if the Chronicle has the article template already on file, and only has to insert the new town name (Santa Cruz, Sausalito, San Mateo) before proceeding with publication.

As usual, the environmentalists are preaching precisely the wrong prescription. Because the call now should be for more development, not less.

[claudius the great]

http://trueslant.com/ethanepstein/2010/03/01/develop-here-develop-now/

[pabianice]

Massachusetts is littered with the bodies of dead, half-built Chapter 40B disasters. 40B allows a builder to build anywhere he wants and give zoning the finger as long as 25% of the units are designated "affordable."

[Sherman Logan]

But humans are a simply (sic) part of nature, and do no more harm to “nature” than does the polar bear.

The author makes some good points but lost me here.

Humans have the potential to end all life on earth above microbial level. Polar bears don't. In a few decades we will very likely have the potential to end all life or even destroy the planet or the sun.

We should think about what we do and how we do it so that we don't cause such disastrous effects.

The brainless notion that any and all potential human actions are good is as idiotic as the equally brainless notion that they are all bad.

[I Buried My Guns]

Redwood City is not a suburb of San Francisco. It is the county seat of San Mateo County, and is about 40 miles away. It has a long history and goes back at least 100 years; to call it a “suburb” would be like calling the reporter “competent”.