Posted on 07/16/2008 5:43:59 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
True, to a great extent.
However, the suburbs may no longer be a viable alternative for a lot of people. People may start to move abandoned cities and try to fix them, and not with any big government programs. Alternately, they can build new cities or expand existing ones. With the internet and the availability of air travel, you can put a city just about anywhere.
Gentrification is occuring, and has been occuring, in many cities - Ohio City in Cleveland, and just north of the river here in Chattanooga. People are doing so of their own volition. Unfortunately, there is still the democRAT monolith that runs many large cities, particularly those of the north. Cleveland is extremely liberal, as is Detroit, Chicago, and such. Atlanta has its problems as well.
Chattanooga still enjoys some degree of conservatism and that alone makes it a better place to live. Plus, it's a smaller city. I personally believe that when a city reaches a certain size, it takes a turn for the worst. Too many people living on top of one another, with no means for escape. Maybe it's the population density or maybe it's the lack of privacy and lack of freedom of movement - I don't know. But I do know that the larger the city, the more trouble it seems to have.
No, I don’t assume the government will stay out of the way; in fact, I’m frightened they’ll screw it up. However, right now while they just argue about gas prices and drilling an don’t actually do anything, it’s ideal.
The government does need to lift many of it’s restrictions, especially on nuclear power. It can lift the restrictions on drilling too, but we need to focus way beyond that. You mention an “environmental hoax”, by which I’m assuming you mean global warming/cooling/climate change/whatever they’re calling it today. That’s not my concern. My concern is that oil is a fossil fuel that we’re eventually going to run out of, and countries like China and India are rapidly using more and more. This is why prices are headed sky high and why drilling more at home will barely be a drop in the bucket.
We need to change the way we’re living. I don’t have faith in government to figure out how and I certainly don’t want them to force us. However, we’re headed for economic catastrophe if we don’t accept that cheap energy is a thing of the past and we need to adjust.
We're seeing that here in DC- over the last decade or so the city has been getting gentrified and is now more white and richer. This has led to large numbers of poor black residents moving out to Prince George's County, which has seen a spike in crime.
This situation needs to sort itself out over the next decade- people need to figure out whether they can afford to keep living in the suburbs and commuting in to work. The only thing government should do is lay off on the restiction on oil drilling.
I agree with that. I’ve stated a few times on this thread that smaller cities are better. Places like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. get too big to manage and it becomes too hard to hold local government accountable. I like the Twin Cities because they’re smaller.
To be honest, the Twin Cities pretty liberal, but so is a lot of rural Minnesota. If I want to escape liberalism, I need to leave the state entirely, which is not something I’m willing to do. I can’t stand the people out East or down South (not to mention the God awful weather), and the West is just too remote for me, so I’m definitely staying in the Midwest. The Twin Cities are the best example of smaller city where crime is low and jobs are good, so I plan on staying.
Large cities are generally more expensive and less accountable than smaller communities.
Just moving out of the city resulted in lower taxes, better schools, substantially better police response and a generally higher quality of life.
Technology will solve many of the short term problems we are facing. Telecommuting will reduce many people’s need to commute to the office. Higher gas prices are spurring development of more efficient cars, although we could be driving cars with better gas mileage if the government safety regulations hadn’t effectively banned tiny cars like the old GEO Metro.
I am puzzled by your contention that the government drills for oil. Oil companies want the opportunity to pay the government for the right to drill. They pay leases and then pay royalties on the oil they pump.
How do you know we can’t drill our way out of it? Liberals have prevented us from trying. If we can, great, no problem. If not, drilling will increase the supply of oil and decrease the price of fuel until a a viable alternative can be found. However, liberals and envirocommies have us in a strangle hold. It shows me they are afraid, WE CAN drill our way out of this if given a chance.
“These folks either get a Housing Allowance, or there is on-post housing available...they just CHOOSE not to take it.”
1) You obvioulsy have not been stationed in DC
2) And E-6(with dependents) assigned to DC receives $2000. Having lived in DC/NOVA on and off for 15 years, $2K doesn’t go very far.
3)”there is on-post housing available” Sure and the wait can be anywhere from 6 months to a year.
4) “they just CHOOSE not to take it.” Have you seen the schools outside of Bolling AFB? Obviously not. It is a friggin’ war zone outside the gate.
5) “I’m retired Army.” Unfortunately, I’ve seen and heard the “Just suck it up” compassion so well known within the Army culture all too much. (Sigh)
Of course the government doesn’t drill. However, they can prevent us from doing so. They can also raise gas taxes and control the road system. That’s why I like to use as little gas as possible and avoid being subject to the whims of government.
I agree technology will solve many problems. I think the high prices right now will cause market forces to push us even further in that direction. This will happen much more quickly and efficiently than any government program.
We can’t drill out of it. This is a global problem. Third world countries are very rapidly using more oil, much faster than we could produce here. The best case scenario is we slow the rate at which prices increase. We’re still going to have to find an alternative eventually.
Honestly, that’s the comforting thing, because let’s say it did bring down prices. It would just like after the oil crisis in the 70’s; everybody would forget and go back to depending on cheap fuel. Then, we’ll start to run of oil for good. Then we’ll REALLY be screwed, because there was no economic pressure to come up with an alternative.
Oil is a fossil fuel. We can’t use it forever, especially not at the rate we’re going. The market pressures of high prices will prove to be good for us in the long run.
If the federal government would reverse some of the uneducted fear-based restrictions that the Carter administration imposed on us, nuclear power (fission) would provide cheap electricity for the next 1000 years. Once fusion becomes viable, then electricity becomes cheap indefinitely.
Once we have a sufficient supply of cheap electricity, then internal combustion engines can be supplied with fuel other than oil-based octane.
Accepting expensive energy is letting the socialist-greens know that they win and that they can restrict our freedoms as they please. Do not give in.
Do you support the Democrats policies against drilling?
COnservatives conserve. We want sustainable living, we don’t want to burn up the planet. We were put here to be in dominion over every living thing, but not to destroy it.
Imagine someone buys the property next to you, and then mines it for topsoil and cordwood. Then they dig out the rocks for people to use for walls.
Now you have a pit next to your house, so they hire it out for trash.
Do you see: That would be living in a “burdensome way”. To be less burdensome to the planet is to live in a way that improves things rather than destroys them.
In Scouts, we had a rule — always leave the campsite better than you found it. That’s a conservative principle.
I refuse to change my language because some liberals try to take it and use it for their own bizarre theories.
Given how much people switch jobs (by their choice or the company’s), it wouldn’t make sense to try to live near work in all cases.
My parents live in the suburbs of Chicago and both have jobs in the suburbs. But they both commute 40 to 50 miles each way. 2 different suburbs.
Not everyone with this problem lives out in the exurbs.
I think nuclear is probably the way to go for the future. Government should stop getting in its way. However, I don’t think we should encourage more drilling. It’s a short-term band-aid.
To a degree, but not for the same reasons.
You know, I really think things are different now. If gas prices dropped, I think there'd still be a push for drilling and alternative fuels. Why? Because now, more than ever, the average person does NOT want to be beholden to the countries in the Middle East. The political will of the people will remain after prices drop, IMO.
I’ve moved a few times. But more importantly, if both people and businesses moved back to the cities, we wouldn’t have this problem. I commute 8 miles from my house in St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis. I’m able to have some distance from work, have some space (I have a house with a yard), yet not live in the middle of nowhere and be dependent on my car. I always wonder what people out in the middle of nowhere do when their car breaks down? I just take the bus.
Yes—I have 4 children and even though I’m in the suburbs, all 4 are enrolled in a private Christian school. Hence no McMansion for us!
My husband works from home a lot (actually he works at local coffee shops or wherever), and I work from home a little and only have a long commute 2x/week. (I work P/T). We don’t own SUVs or gas guzzlers and I take BART besides. . .(it sure has been crowded lately!)
For people with long commutes, this could be a dangerous solution. More miles = more opportunities for accidents, regardless of the type of vehicles.
Overall, I think it’s a decent idea in many situations.
Wasn’t in Los Angeles.
Living in Minnesota apparently has LEFT influence upon you.
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