On 31 Aug, 2004, at 21:14, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
The obvious problem with sprinkler cities is that at some point out
West they're gonna run out of water to sprinkle all those stupid
suburbs. You can only find water to create places like Las Vegas, Los
Angeles, Phoenix in the middle of the desert for so long. As everybody
should know, water politics is big time stuff already out in the arid
West. (Remember Jack Nicholson in "Chinatown"?)
In an interesting news interview the other day pointed out that the
LARGEST concentration of West Nile Virus cases was in Phoenix. They had
the Phoenix Public Health director on and he described the source of
the problem as "abandoned swimming pools!"
Forbes also ran a major piece on the Western Water Crisis about 10
years ago now. Their predictions are coming true in spades.
Leaving the junk behind and fleeing to a new frontier is the American
way. But at some point, as Miggle sagely points out, we run out of
hydrocarbon fuel. And of course it's not just we Americans who are
addicted to oil. One of the things that really disappointed me about
places like Korea, Vietnam and China is how they had a perfect chance
to create future-looking transportation systems and instead opted for
the archaic clunky old automobile.
The answer for this of course is purely economic.
The Internal Combustion engine was without doubt the single most
transforming invention of the 20th century -- from any way you look at
it. It allowed the denuding of forests to stop; shifted the "power"
from "King Coal" to Oil; allowed major advances in transportation speed
and the like to take place. Roads are actually much easier to build
that "rail-roads" simply because they can be created with utterly
manual labor and don't require a sophisticated support structure. (High
speed roads are a different issue.)
Until a technology, maybe fuel cells, is "perfected" the clunky old
automobile still provides the cheapest and most "mobile" form of
transportation for not only people but goods and services also. But
even with fuel cells, just like the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
provided a personal portability not possible with centralized
mainframes, the PMD - Personal Mobility Device - is still that which
the individual demands.
Of course, one could couple fuel cells with something like a Segway
just as easily as with a Bus or Truck. ... but we'd have to fix the
sidewalks first ... get rid of those damm tree roots!
One of the things I love about old rust-belt Philly is the way it's
emptying out, people are scurrying off southwest to the newest
sprinkler. That's just perfect for an Amish like me. It means we
slowly get an extra-livable walking-size city with lots of green space
and all the cultural amenities, while the Yahoos are tying themselves
up in traffic out in the sprawling nowhereland suburbs.
Philadelphia is surprisingly unique, if for no other reason than the
vision of William Penn.
One of the biggest issues with things like Street's NTI and similar
Urban Renewal programs is that the housing density in Philadelphia is
much much greater than it needs to be, especially for its current
population. Many of the derelict properties could be simply torn down
and left as open space. Like most 19th century cities -- Philadelphia
"just grew." As population increased so did housing density.
Philadelphia had an advantage in early years in that it had the street
railways and later the trolley systems. It also had space to expand.
Housing developments, like University City, were the result of this
same desire to move outward from the "teeming city" and all its horrors
into a more bucolic setting.
Philosophically, there is something radically different about
"commuting" for 30 minutes or an hour or so on the highway in a car or
even in a Bus or Train when compared to spending the same amount of
time walking. [Did you know that it is only about a 45 minute walk from
45th street to City Hall?]
T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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