I think it's selfish to think that, as Americans, we are entitled to massive plots of cheap land that we can pilfer and ruin. I like the idea of dense urban areas. In terms of efficiency, in a world of scarcer and scarcer resources, dense urban centers are the future of human inhabitation. People use less resources this way. Dense urban centers with mass transit eliminate so many wasteful American habits. When I surround myself with people who have the same ideas about these things as I do, I forget that there is a dissenting opinion.
"The protesters clearly feel there is a form of Moses-style planning going on today, but rather than highways, it’s high-speed rail and transit, and compact, mixed-use, dense development, all of which are designed to bring about long-term sustainability. As one Florida Tea Party activist put it, "compact development aka smart growth, aka New Urbanism, aka Traditional Neighborhood Design, aka Transit Oriented Development, aka Livable Communities, aka Sustainable Development ... are all names meaning the same thing: they are anti-suburban, high-density dwelling design concepts that are part of the UN's Agenda 21 and will make single family home ownership for our posterity unattainable." Another summed it up this way: “We don’t want none of your smart growth communism." -From http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2011/12/how-tea-party-upending-urban-planning/718/
Smart growth communism? Really? How about backwoods, wasteful, obesity inducing resistance to ideas that could possibly make your world and my world a more enjoyable place to live; a place that resembles how people used to live, knowing your neighbors, with a greater sense of community and civic duty. And in terms of taking away to opportunity for the next generation to live in single family homes(suburbs)? There are countless studies showing that my generation has little interest interest in theses values. What you're really worried about, here, is you chose a shitty investment house in a neighborhood that is no longer desirable and you are worried you will not get your perceived value when you are ready to sell your house and move into a dense urban area when you retire. Suburban housing will likely still be around with new urbanism and it will likely be really cheap considering there is less of a buying market for it. So my generation will have plenty of opportunity. Clearly this argument is invalid.
I also believe well-manicured lawns in the desert are the downfall of society. But I'm off topic.
Onto a new topic, I made the most amazing egg rolls last night.
I used brussels sprouts instead of cabbage because I didn't want to hassle with a whole cabbage and carrots, onion, green onion, jalapeno, celery and soy sauce. My sauce was honey, soy and vinegar. They were possibly the best vegetarian egg rolls I've ever had and I'm quite proud of myself.
Andrew and I are talking about the possibility of him coming to visit sometime. I'm really liking this idea. And if I know one thing about Andrew, as opposed to my last out of town visitor, he will never try to force things along at a quicker speed than they should go, or try to convince me or coerce me to say or do things I'm not ready for. I like being friends with him. We always were really great friends.
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