Posted on 06/03/2006 12:48:28 PM PDT by Lorianne
Ah, so it smells like New Jersey...
We all moved to the cities for the Sushi...
hmmm, what is new about it, NY has had that for decades.
Here in this city the home owner really has to jump through hoops.
The following is how to get people back into city living:
1) Tax credits and vouchers for K-12 schooling. Crappy and dangerous government schools, as well as busing, contributed to driving the middle classes out of the cities.
End the practice of automatically building a government school just because a new housing development is built. When my husband and I take our yearly skiing trip to Alta, Utah, I can't help wondering if there would be fewer multi-million homes on those fragile alpine slopes if there were no door to door school bus service and government school service to that area.
2) Reduce city business and personal taxes. My childhood city of Philadelphia has a personal income tax of more than 6%! Who in their right mind would choose to work and live there?
2) End the drug war. Legalize all drugs except antibiotics. The prohibition on drugs is driving up crime.
3) Honest elections. Put those who would corrupt our elections in prison for a LONG time. A vote cast fraudulently means that another honest citizen is disenfranchised. Philadelphia's disgustingly corrupt elections should be cleaned up immediately!
4) Honest and fair police and judges.
5) Profound respect for private property. This means rational zoning and building regulations and the end to eminent domain seizures. Do the above and people will return to the cities.
That just means that people who don't want to live in the New Urbanist zones can build houses in the County. Isn't that what folks who want new homes on large lots are doing already?
No it doesn't. It applies to the city too. Nothing to stop the city from taking property for NU use.
Voter reaction. Kelo hasn't exactly been a popular decision.
Good article. Thanks for the link.
The above always slays me! The "Urbanites" really do not remember what city life was like way back when. And yet, their goal seems to be to get everyone OUT of the country and the 'burbs and force 'em back into the city.
And then they'll whine and cry that all those people moving back into the city ruined "The Urban Experience" for them, LOL!
We should package it and sell it to the DOD.
Bwahaha... It takes me 45 minutes to get to work on a good commute. Uphill, to and from. If I even try to walk around my neighborhood, I get hit up by stray dogs and local delinquents for everything from smokes to cash. Sure could do with a thinner population, myself.
This "New Urbanism" won't work without heavy spending in law enforcement.
True. But mandating zero lot lines, small setbacks, no front garages or driveways over a large region is just insane. Especially when no mass transit exists or could ever be self-supporting. Gee, why not just mandate cookie cutter highrises if all you want is a high population density?
No. Not when a regional "Metro" controls the countryside zoning too. See Portland.
I really don't think the goal is to force everyone to live in one way.
If that were true, then you could say the current zoning codes are trying to get everyone to live in cul-de-sac surburbs. That may have been the effect due to lack of choice, but it was not the intent.
The point is that there are choices and options. Then everyone can live at the density and the style of land develpment they want.
The people who wanted to live in a new house in a traditionally laid out neighborhood, until recently, were not allowed to do because such neighborhoods were ILLEGAL to build.
I agree if ALL developments are mandated the same ... the way that they have been for the past 40 years or so ... spaghetti street cul-de-sac neighborhoods were FORCED on everyone who wanted a suburban home. There was no choice for anything else!
To that extent, I agree that there should not be a one-size-fits-all approach to land planning and development. We've already had that for 40+ years!
My comments were directed at the link metesky posted, not the article you posted. Sorry if my comments confused you! :)
Gulfport MS is NOT Portland OR, thank heavens!
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