This reminds me of the story they used to tell in Kansas about having the
best beef in America.   But when you got through eating it  you were still
in Kansas.   I grew up on the plains.  No thanks.  Fragile or not I
thoroughly enjoyed a new restaurant, another three star, that I found
tonight three blocks away and one block from Lincoln Center.  Then we went
to the Swing Dance at the outdoor theater, walked around the reflecting pool
and checked out upcoming concerts at the Philharmonic.   The Met was
beautiful and the new fountain is spectacular.   

Perhaps you could go live on the farm Chris, I've been there and prefer
Mahler.   Also we have the greatest free classical music station I've ever
heard WQXR.    Their programs for the 150th anniversary of Mahler were
breathtaking.    Even going to a funeral this week reminded me of why our
ethnic community means so much.   At the end of the funeral the priest said,
well that's enough down now let's do some up and then his big booming voice
led us all in singing out our hearts for the departed policeman whose life
we celebrated.

I'm tired of grim, although I hear Zurich is beautiful.    America has too
much grim.     

REH

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christoph Reuss
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 4:11 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Futurework] The partial answer of the 0.00001%

REH wrote:
> C'mon Chris.   You misread what I meant.   I meant we do NOT need to worry
> about numbers replenishing themselves, we already have plenty.

I understood this, but my point was that this high population density
in a city as large as NYC is fragile, because it so strongly depends on
food inputs from outside.  If you'd distribute the same number of people
to a rural area (or 100 cities surrounded by rural areas), then the
self-sufficiency and proximity to the food sources would be much better,
and the transportation distances of food and other daily consumer goods
could be shorter.


>  However, the city is the ideal way
> to deal with such numbers.   If you don't spend all of that energy on
> nonsense jobs that do nothing for the human spirit or competence, you will
> have the money to pay for your energy.   I use much less energy resources
> than an average family in the suburbs with a large house.   I also am
> limited to two rooms.    How many rooms does the average house have to
> provide energy for?   How much energy is lost in poor insulation and the
> outside walls of separate housing?    New York is large enough to effect
the
> weather in the coldest times.   Air quality is not great but Europeans who
> come here from France and Germany always comment on how good our air is.
> We have the best public water works in America.   We do, however, have to
be
> on constant guard that the corporations in the suburbs with their waste
and
> poor sanitation systems don't pollute the sources of that water.   My
> building is far more efficient in its seventeen floors than a comparable
> suburb serving the same number in houses.   Our streets take less energy
to
> care for.   The public services are low per capita because of the
proximity.

Comparing with urban sprawl, of course you are right -- but if you'd compare
with cities the size of Zurich (or smaller), then the energy efficiency
could be even greater.  Around one third of households in Zurich or Basel
are car-free.

Chris




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