BOWERS: What's so bad about suburban sprawl anyway?

The Star [South Chicago] ^ | 1/39/6 | Michael Bowers

[GOPJ]

"Developed land accounts for less than 5 percent of the total land area in the continental United States. The amount of land developed each year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is 0.0006 percent." So I have to ask: Where in the heck is this suburban sprawl crisis?

The crisis? It's a two part deal. First, people cramped in together, crowded and angry vote dem. Think "inner city".

Then dem elitist want the country-side to be their own private Sierra Club type estate. (On our dime) They can bike and sail without the great unwashed messing up their fun. We get shoved into dirty cities so the John Kerry's of the world, the Teddy Kennedy's of the world, can have MORE. More space, more view, more fun, and more power.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I like the old buildings myself, but your attempt to paint me as part of the problem was lame. I am stating the fact that unless you own that building, you have no say in what happens to it. Or are you a liberal who believes you have more rights than the owner?

[ScreamingFist]

I like the old buildings myself, but your attempt to paint me as part of the problem was lame. I am stating the fact that unless you own that building, you have no say in what happens to it.

You are correct....property owners, developers and the city council decide what you and I get to look at now.....

Unfortunately, you and I can buy most of them for pennies on the dollar. Not what I would call a heritage for my children. Then again, if you have enough money.....you don't have to look at it at all......

[steve-b]

Did you know there were no bats on Earth until we emerged from the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago?

That statement is sufficiently idiotic to put a big red "IGNORE" stamp on the entire article, and a provisional stamp on anything churned out by this author.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I looked to see that you are in Oklahoma. Do you have a local or regional group that works to preserve Historic Sites? You might consider contacting such a group to try to keep any remaining older buildings. When I lived in West Texas there was a pretty active group that, unfortunately, gathered after the beautiful old courthouse was demolished to make way for a bright new ugly shiney one.

Good luck with your town. I honestly hope you can spare some of the original beauty, but I do believe in free enterprise and if someone wants to sell their land then I believe it is their right.

[ScreamingFist]

Good luck with your town. I honestly hope you can spare some of the original beauty, but I do believe in free enterprise and if someone wants to sell their land then I believe it is their right.

I agree....my property, my choice. Until the last few years, many parts of western Oklahoma were going ghost town. Now we have a natural gas boom on the Anadarko basin.....they can't drill wells fast enough out here. The economy is thriving, jobs are plentiful.....we even have starbucks (rolling my eyes). I believe in capitalism and free enterprise but, hey, I want MY kids to see the old brick banks and museums also.......the big corporations can keep their damn hands off a few small buildings in the middle of nowhere, IMHO.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I think you and I are going in circles here. You are happy that there are jobs, happy that more tax money is coming into town, right?

Let's step back - suppose someone had owned a small store in town. It supported his family nicely, then his kids moved away. He retired, no one wanted to buy the building so it sat and fell into disrepair.

None of the kids live in town any longer but Starbucks wants that piece of property, and makes an offer.

Do you really think that just because you'd like your kids to see the old buildings that you have any right to complain when the legal owner of that property sells it?

[P.O.E.]

What's wrong with suburban sprawl?

TRAFFIC!@#&_*

[cowtowney]

What we don't want is another Starbucks across the street and tearing down the old museum so that Eckerds can compete with business from Walgreens. Understand? It's called urban planning and it's out the window in most suburbs. Unregulated sprawl is a blight, I don't need 5 new drugstores within 1/2 block, at the expense of the historic 100 year old buildings and neither do you.

So...you want to be king? Get your own fiefdom. Who are you to say there should not be another drugstore? Keeping historic buildings is one thing; you deciding how many of any one retailer is another. The market will decide whether the town needs another drugstore, or apartment or Starbucks. If the people in your town don't want a certain retailer, the retailer will go away. People vote with their feet and pocketbooks. There are towns where there are only one drugstore, one department store, one restaurant. One example is the old company mining towns; the other is in socialist countries. Competition is frowned upon there, also.

[ScreamingFist]

Do you really think that just because you'd like your kids to see the old buildings that you have any right to complain when the legal owner of that property sells it?

No. I'm revealing emotions on this thread, bad thing for old time FReepers. You are correct, and many times tearing down old property is a blessing.....

My entire premise on this thread is.....grow fast, grow large but, by the lord, have a plan! Most city governments can't find the restroom, let alone devise a city layout that is nothing more than a taxing nirvana.

And what the heck is a Texas gal doing in PA?

[ScreamingFist]

So...you want to be king? Get your own fiefdom. Who are you to say there should not be another drugstore? Keeping historic buildings is one thing; you deciding how many of any one retailer is another.

Ooooof. You're going to start this too? Get a clue, your city council is bought and paid for by developers, get it. How many walmarts and home depots do you need in a 5 mile radius......get it. In Fort Worth I could walk between home depot's, loews and walmart's....get it. It has zero to do with "your living quality" and everything to do with tax revenue....get it...?

[cowtowney]

I believe in capitalism and free enterprise but, hey, I want MY kids to see the old brick banks and museums also.......the big corporations can keep their damn hands off a few small buildings in the middle of nowhere

Then, why don't you get off your butt and buy them and preserve them, instead of whining about the good old days. Maybe you can figure out how to make them pretty and useful. See how easy it is. I've been there done that and had people like you trying to tell me what to do with my buildings even though they didn't have an economic stake in it. I own them now and have preserved older buildings. It's not cheap to do. There are incentives, but frequently those are not enough. Jump on in.

[cowtowney]

Get a clue, your city council is bought and paid for by developers

aw jeesh!! another conspiracy theorist. How'd you get so familiar with Cow Town? You know the city council, do you? FYI, it's one of the best run cities in the country.

[ScreamingFist]

I've been there done that and had people like you trying to tell me what to do with my buildings even though they didn't have an economic stake in it. I own them now and have preserved older buildings. It's not cheap to do.

Good for you. Try the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth next, mr. land baron. 1/2 million dollar homes are sold for pennies on the dollar, a perfect opportunity for moguls such as yourself. Bring bodyguards....

[cowtowney]

Good for you. Try the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth next, mr. land baron. 1/2 million dollar homes are sold for pennies on the dollar, a perfect opportunity for moguls such as yourself. Bring bodyguards....

And your point is?

[knews_hound]

The problem I have with long commutes is that, typically, you choose to do it.

After commuting first 52 miles one way, then 127 miles *shudder*, I finally moved to a suburb that is close to my work.

My commute is a whopping 2.5 miles now. Even with my gas guzzler muscle car, I still spend 10 bucks a week getting to work.

In a nutshell, there are suburbs and there are suburbs.

Choosing wisely is the issue.

Cheers,

knewshound

http://www.knewshound.blogspot.com/

[ScreamingFist]

aw jeesh!! another conspiracy theorist. How'd you get so familiar with Cow Town? You know the city council, do you?

Unless you're one of the Bass brothers themselves, you're just another small time realtor in my book. Move into Stop Six or perhaps prime locations off Camp Bowie.....or would that take infrastructure...perhaps law and order? Yea, whatever.....tell it to someone who doesn't know.

[Clemenza]

The key is good zoning. Yes, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, and suburban Atlanta are practically indistinguishable, but places like New York (including many of its inner suburbs), Chicago (ditto), and even smaller metro areas like Pittsburgh still have alot of character.

Here in Seattle, its a mixed bag. You have a-s ugly sprawling communities like Kent, Lynwood, and Marysville, but such communities are cheaper to live in. Well-zoned towns such as Kirkland and Edmonds are, conversely, more expensive to live in.

As a native New Yorker, I am sickened by some of the exurbs that I see on the I-80 corridor (Western New Jersey through the Poconos in eastern PA), or in eastern Suffolk County. Most of the folks who choose to live there, however, do so because it is cheaper than living in Morris or Somerset counties, where many commute. Nevertheless, you get what you pay for (ugly developments, no character, long commutes, etc.).

[Clemenza]

Yep, I still maintain my Lawn Guyland tone of voice, even though everyone else seems to speak like Brian Williams.

Its ARE-ange, not Ooorange goddamnit!

[DugwayDuke]

"Planning is the key,.."

Yes, planning is the key. It's the key for someone else to plan how you will live your life. Once government gets to power to plan communities, then you'll have to fit the plan won't you?