Think About It

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.               Henry David Thoreau

We are too quick to clear the land and cover it with asphalt in order to park a car on it for several hours a day.  Our taxes support this.  It is the infrastructure.  We clear acres and acres of space for new, and frequently poorly constructed, new homes while older homes nearer city and town centers are allowed to deteriorate, to become "low-income" rentals that landlords feel little obligation to maintain beyond basic standards.  We have no pride.  

We've been convinced that "growth" for our economy relies on more and more new homes to congest our landscape, distance us, isolate us, and enslave us to the wasting of fossil fuels to return to our ever more distant jobs.  On your way home from work make an observation as to how many large automobiles are single occupant.  Why do we drive in a vehicle larger than the covered wagons that moved entire families westward?  How many of the Conestoga's were private vehicles?  Mom and Dad with separate wagons? The teenager gifted his or her own by virtue of living to the age of 16?  Two to four wagons per family?

We should insist that our tax dollars be spent in the upkeep of existing residences and buildings.  Architects, contractors, carpenters, plumbers, all journeymen would be just as busily employed with remodeling, upgrading, and redesigning.  Instead of more roads let's build an efficient high speed rail system.  Make public transportation practical.  Give us the opportunity to walk or bike to work and the markets.  Free up space and give us some air.

How can we and our county and state governments condone the construction of new shopping centers and malls while so many storefronts are empty and have been since the crash of '08 and before?

Stop moving away and move toward.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v