Really protecting the environment...
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I hope that Dabe and a few others are reading this blog entry, as I may surprise them with my thoughts and what they read here.
Several articles and topics that all circle around the same competing issues have come up in the news lately, and in other sources. I may refer to a couple, and will link what I can, but readers can find a lot more information by doing just a little searching on the web.
First, in The Washington Post, there were a pair of articles:
Among other sources, there was also this site Historic Preservation of American Civil War Battlefields
Fairly current issues of National Geographic had an indepth series of articles of the "loss" of many historic sites from the Civil War era. As an example, check out the following article, or better yet, see the print editions. Article link here: U.S. Civil War battlefields see new conflict.
Additionally, there are many other historical sites being lost along the way, rather from the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, or many other important historical events.
If readers will indulge for a bit, I may ramble on here a bit about the many competing interests at work in these various articles.
As someone that has seen much of the area I grew up converted from farm lands and wooded rural area into many housing developments, all featuring large and luxurious over-sized single family dwellings or large shopping centers featuring the "mega" sized grocery stores, the obligatory Starbucks, fast food sandwich shops and the like, I'm saddened to read more and more articles like these knowing that slowly but surely we are obviously consuming the space we have available, and destroying the resources necessary to do it as we go.
Some readers may have seen a recent article: Ack! time to panic - two thirds of worlds resources used up that noted this problem.
Unfortunately, we also have the competing interests noted in the second Washington Post article above, that of providing cheap and affordable housing to individuals that need homes in the areas where they find jobs and employment. On the one hand, there's a desire to protect historic monuments and preserve open spaces and land, but on the other hand, people have to be able to find homes.
Much of the problem, at least to me, is the ever increasing demand among humanity for more, bigger and better. Where I used to drive around in a fairly small car, I too have succumbed to Explorer-itis, and now am driving around in an SUV. Though I'd like to save some gas, save on expenses for the vehicle, etc., I've had to balance that desire with a desire to be safer, knowing that if I were to be hit by, or hit an SUV while driving a compact car, I'd be the loser in the equation. Do I really need an SUV? At times perhaps, for hauling things around, many times when I may be hauling my family around (as my son has definitely outgrown the back seat of a compact car).
I'm actually fairly well astonished and embarrassed to see the sizes of many homes today. In the DC metropolitan area, I see homes that would have been considered mansions when I was a child. Now they're "average". People have to have 20x20 living rooms or great rooms, with huge vaulted ceilings and more wasted space. Never mind that many of us grew up in homes where the largest rooms were 14x12, if that. More, more, more.
What people aren't thinking about (obviously) is that in order to build that huge home, land must be consumed. More and more of it. In order to have even a reasonable sized yard, you have to have about 2x or 3x the size of the home in ground space (if not more), so even more space is consumed as the home gets larger and larger.
I drive around some areas where there were small rancher style homes by the thousands (or so it seems). Traditional city blocks where my aunts and uncles bought homes in communities that made up the suburbs for places like D.C. and Baltimore. Those homes are still there, but with longer and longer life expectancies, or with grown children now living in the homes having replaced their parents, the grandchildren (my age) and great grandchildren are left moving further and further out in search of homes and places to build them.
What are we to do about the problem? I honestly don't know. I'm saddened that so much history is being lost along the way, even if it's just the history of an empty field, or a large wooded area. I don't want to see the environment destroyed, and have these monster homes built in those spaces. I really wish that people would learn to be happier with smaller and more cozy, but (at least in this area, and many others -- try the Dallas-Ft. Worth surrounding areas as an example) -- it's obvious that is not what people want.
I admire the creative individuals at work in the first article above. I know that many others are doing similarly to help protect the Civil War battlefield areas. (Again, please check out a recent copy of National Geographic magazine for a wonderful article on same). I'd encourage others that feel strongly about the environment (such as Dabe has demonstrated concern for) to be more concerned about the environment here in the lower 48, than in areas of barren land in Alaska. The problem is most definitely closer to home.
Several articles and topics that all circle around the same competing issues have come up in the news lately, and in other sources. I may refer to a couple, and will link what I can, but readers can find a lot more information by doing just a little searching on the web.
First, in The Washington Post, there were a pair of articles:
- New Approach to Managing Growth Town in W.Va.'s Eastern Panhandle Tries to Buy Farm Before Developers
- Getting Around the High Cost of Living RV Dwellers Find Affordable Housing In Pricey Suburbs
Among other sources, there was also this site Historic Preservation of American Civil War Battlefields
Fairly current issues of National Geographic had an indepth series of articles of the "loss" of many historic sites from the Civil War era. As an example, check out the following article, or better yet, see the print editions. Article link here: U.S. Civil War battlefields see new conflict.
Additionally, there are many other historical sites being lost along the way, rather from the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, or many other important historical events.
If readers will indulge for a bit, I may ramble on here a bit about the many competing interests at work in these various articles.
As someone that has seen much of the area I grew up converted from farm lands and wooded rural area into many housing developments, all featuring large and luxurious over-sized single family dwellings or large shopping centers featuring the "mega" sized grocery stores, the obligatory Starbucks, fast food sandwich shops and the like, I'm saddened to read more and more articles like these knowing that slowly but surely we are obviously consuming the space we have available, and destroying the resources necessary to do it as we go.
Some readers may have seen a recent article: Ack! time to panic - two thirds of worlds resources used up that noted this problem.
Unfortunately, we also have the competing interests noted in the second Washington Post article above, that of providing cheap and affordable housing to individuals that need homes in the areas where they find jobs and employment. On the one hand, there's a desire to protect historic monuments and preserve open spaces and land, but on the other hand, people have to be able to find homes.
Much of the problem, at least to me, is the ever increasing demand among humanity for more, bigger and better. Where I used to drive around in a fairly small car, I too have succumbed to Explorer-itis, and now am driving around in an SUV. Though I'd like to save some gas, save on expenses for the vehicle, etc., I've had to balance that desire with a desire to be safer, knowing that if I were to be hit by, or hit an SUV while driving a compact car, I'd be the loser in the equation. Do I really need an SUV? At times perhaps, for hauling things around, many times when I may be hauling my family around (as my son has definitely outgrown the back seat of a compact car).
I'm actually fairly well astonished and embarrassed to see the sizes of many homes today. In the DC metropolitan area, I see homes that would have been considered mansions when I was a child. Now they're "average". People have to have 20x20 living rooms or great rooms, with huge vaulted ceilings and more wasted space. Never mind that many of us grew up in homes where the largest rooms were 14x12, if that. More, more, more.
What people aren't thinking about (obviously) is that in order to build that huge home, land must be consumed. More and more of it. In order to have even a reasonable sized yard, you have to have about 2x or 3x the size of the home in ground space (if not more), so even more space is consumed as the home gets larger and larger.
I drive around some areas where there were small rancher style homes by the thousands (or so it seems). Traditional city blocks where my aunts and uncles bought homes in communities that made up the suburbs for places like D.C. and Baltimore. Those homes are still there, but with longer and longer life expectancies, or with grown children now living in the homes having replaced their parents, the grandchildren (my age) and great grandchildren are left moving further and further out in search of homes and places to build them.
What are we to do about the problem? I honestly don't know. I'm saddened that so much history is being lost along the way, even if it's just the history of an empty field, or a large wooded area. I don't want to see the environment destroyed, and have these monster homes built in those spaces. I really wish that people would learn to be happier with smaller and more cozy, but (at least in this area, and many others -- try the Dallas-Ft. Worth surrounding areas as an example) -- it's obvious that is not what people want.
I admire the creative individuals at work in the first article above. I know that many others are doing similarly to help protect the Civil War battlefield areas. (Again, please check out a recent copy of National Geographic magazine for a wonderful article on same). I'd encourage others that feel strongly about the environment (such as Dabe has demonstrated concern for) to be more concerned about the environment here in the lower 48, than in areas of barren land in Alaska. The problem is most definitely closer to home.
WinCustomize Forums
It typically gets a 5/5 star in front collision and 4/5 in roll over. Don't assume that a vehicle will save you just because of it's size. A great deal of expressway accidents are single vehicle. When you are rolling, weight is not your friend.
PolMach Forums
