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To go green, live closer to work, report says [anti-"sprawl"crusade]
LA Times ^ | Sep 21 2007 | Margot Roosevelt

Posted on 09/21/2007 2:16:14 PM PDT by republicpictures

Don't want to fork out for a Prius? Can't see tanking up with ethanol? Can't afford solar panels for your roof?

Not to worry, you can still do something to fight global warming: Live closer to work.

That's one conclusion of a major national report published Thursday by the nonprofit Urban Land Institute.

...A hotly contested bill sponsored by Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) would require regional planning groups to set targets for reducing greenhouse gases, and could stop millions of dollars in federal, state and local transportation funds from being spent on roads that could encourage sprawl.

...two-thirds of the structures in the U.S. in 2050 will have been built between now and then. Construction will include 89 million new or replaced homes, and 190 billion square feet of new offices, stores and institutions. If only 60% of that development is clustered in mixed-use, compact areas, it could slash greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by 7%, the report said.

...The California Chamber of Commerce and the California Building Industry Assn. declined to comment on the report, but James Burling, litigation director for the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative group that has battled environmentalists over land-use issues, dismissed "the latest anti-sprawl crusade based on global warming" as "no different from every other anti-sprawl campaign from Roman times to the present."

"So long as people ardently desire to live and raise children in detached homes with a bit of lawn, there is virtually nothing that government bureaucrats can do that will thwart that," he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: agw; suburbia; zoning
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To: republicpictures
I can't move much closer. I work from my house. No commuting required. When I do have to travel, it is to a customer site. All the rest of the project team must also travel on those occasions.
41 posted on 09/21/2007 2:54:51 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: OpusatFR

That’s why Howard County, MD (where I live) has so many homes built in the last 20 years and so few before that.


42 posted on 09/21/2007 2:55:28 PM PDT by RockinRight (Can we start calling Fred "44" now, please?)
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To: DBrow
I know people who got nifty jobs in Palmdale CA, then due to business decisions of others, got transferred to LA, Redondo Beach, or Hawthorne CA, which is a heck of a commute from Palmdale (and housing costs three or four times as much).

The idea was to get them to leave, voluntarily. A few times in my career, I was offered absurd relocations, when business got bad and layoffs were looming. It was just a loud hint.

I live in Massachusetts, which as everyone knows, is a Socialist pesthole...but still I took a layoff before accepting a transfer to California. Worked in there for a year, saw enough... My hideous state, multiplied by a large number. Cost of living, the "Homeless", etc.etc.

43 posted on 09/21/2007 2:56:27 PM PDT by Gorzaloon (Food imported from China = Cesspool + Flavor-Straw™)
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To: RockinRight

Howard County still has some charm.

I lived in PG county and that is a major mess.


44 posted on 09/21/2007 3:00:03 PM PDT by OpusatFR
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To: JTHomes
My commute in San Diego was 7 miles one way. It took 90 minutes each way. If I waited until 10 PM, I could make the trip in about 12 minutes. That commute was a big factor in my decision to leave San Diego for Idaho. My firearms collection was another issue. Crowded stores and restaurants were yet another issue. Moving to Idaho fixed all of those problems. I even escaped the humidity and many allergens that were causing me persistent health problems. The snow in Idaho means I get a break from the weekend lawn mowing tasks.
45 posted on 09/21/2007 3:00:53 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: republicpictures

And live in a commune, right, got it.


46 posted on 09/21/2007 3:03:46 PM PDT by vpintheak (Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked. Prov. 25:26)
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To: republicpictures
What a bunch of jerks you guys all are.

I moved so that I'm just a mile from my work, I'm saving the planet, but you guys are destroying it even faster.

The one draw back, being so close to work, is that traffic is a bear (I'm not much one for walking) but I've found a back way, admittedly it adds 60 miles each way, but I feel AWESOME about my self the whole way.

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.

47 posted on 09/21/2007 3:03:58 PM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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To: republicpictures
Live closer to work.

Gee I never thought of that!

I'll talk to my boss about moving the plant right away.

Hey! Maybe we should move the farms to the middle of the city too.

48 posted on 09/21/2007 3:06:15 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes into it.)
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To: MediaMole

I’ll second that one!


49 posted on 09/21/2007 3:11:19 PM PDT by FReepapalooza
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To: MediaMole
Telecommuting is your friend.

Oh, I envy that. But I work in a laboratory and my company and co-workers would frown on bringing the analyzers home with me.

50 posted on 09/21/2007 3:11:22 PM PDT by HoosierHawk
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To: republicpictures

Just about the time they convince everyone to “move in close” to their work, L.A., New York or Houston will disappear off the face of the earth under a terrorist’s mushroom cloud. Rural America will never be the same when the rats jump that ship now fondly called the “Great American City.”


51 posted on 09/21/2007 3:12:31 PM PDT by Muleteam1 (The stars at night, shine big and bright, deep in the heart of Taxes!)
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To: republicpictures
To go green, live closer to work, report says

Wow. What a breakthrough.

52 posted on 09/21/2007 3:13:30 PM PDT by pogo101
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To: VOA

[At least have bare-bones dormitories (a cot, vending machines and bathrooms/showers) near the worksite for some industries that require lots of irregular hours]
 
I hear those are  pretty much the conditions some of the Indian IT outsourcing slav... err, employees live with.
 
"The campus has a golf course, tennis court, pool tables, table tennis, gym and horses, and families are encouraged to come at weekends. There's also a dormitory for staff engaged in critical projects or working on round-the-clock support. There's even a zoo on site."
 
 
"families encouraged to come at weekends"
"round-the-clock support"
 
Hmmmmm no thanks.

53 posted on 09/21/2007 3:15:17 PM PDT by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
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To: RockinRight

I was thinking that too. What if the wife works 60 miles away from the husband? And jobs change, too. Should we all move with every job change, and change the children’s schools each time?

Also, speaking of schools, school districts need to be considered. Suburbs have fewer jobs but better schools.


54 posted on 09/21/2007 3:16:40 PM PDT by olivia3boys
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To: Lorianne

I agree, living closer to work makes sense, unless of course, you work in a very crummy area and don’t want to raise your kids there.

I think a lot of decisions on where to live center around schools and safe neighborhoods (if there is such a thing as safe neighborhoods ).


55 posted on 09/21/2007 3:20:49 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: VxH

“Hmmmmm no thanks.”

For about 90% of jobs in the USA, I’d surely agree.

My suggestion was only for occupations like biochemistry/molecular biology
where you might start four or five processes of different time-length...
and you MUST be there at the end of the time for each process.

Doing chemistry/biochemistry/molecular biology does have this aspect
in common with being a short-order cook!

But you are absolutely right about most jobs...having a dorm near
the worksite would just be an employers’ exuse to exploit the work force.


56 posted on 09/21/2007 3:28:47 PM PDT by VOA
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To: JTHomes
I'm 25 miles from work, I relocated to a rural part of the state where my children can play in a yard with 8x the amount of area as our previous home.

It's a trade off I'm willing to accept even though it's costing me dearly on fuel consumption.

Guess I'll have to find another way to offset the increased cost.

Cheers!

57 posted on 09/21/2007 3:29:12 PM PDT by #1CTYankee (That's right, I have no proof. So what of it??)
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To: Dr. Sivana

Exactly. The cities were vibrant and fun and contained real communities.

Then war on poverty, welfare and corrupt city governments and insane schools and now illegal immigrants drove everybody out and the inner cities are like Darfur.

Who would move back in to the inner cities and send their kids to school there?


58 posted on 09/21/2007 3:33:32 PM PDT by squarebarb
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To: VOA
[My suggestion was only for occupations like biochemistry/molecular biology]

Yes, that does make sense.

[But you are absolutely right about most jobs...having a dorm near the worksite would just be an employers’ exuse to exploit the work force.]

When I hear people describing these conditions my thought is, “man, thats not a home, it’s a hive”.

59 posted on 09/21/2007 3:37:15 PM PDT by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
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To: TexanToTheCore
Bureau of Land Management shows that 4.33 percent of our land is developed. What spraul?

Ever driven through Texas? Nebraska? Idaho?

There is no one out there.


That's because this what a liberal thinks of the US...


60 posted on 09/21/2007 3:42:28 PM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: There is no god named Allah, and Muhammed is a false prophet)
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