| Subject: | Re: FW: George, Tell the Oregon Senate Committee not to weaken Colum |
| Date: | 08/31/2004 04:20 AM |
| From: | Tris-@aol.com |
|
--part1_154.3e150856.2e665251_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sorry, I meant to send this out to the list, not as a personal email. Perhaps you'd like to not lecture Doug, a European with significant Continental travel about these issues. And unless you bought your property significantly before the urban growth boundary went into effect, you knew the risks and are not now "being told what to do with your property". You went in knowing the rules and then thought you got to change them. Tough luck. People who buy houses next to PIR want to shut it down because of the noise. Too bad, you knew the score. I agree, having lived in multiple American cities (Memphis/Boston/DC/SF/Silicon Valley/Portland) that sprawl is probably in the top three issues relating to quality of life. It does "force" you to drive more by making the barriers to other methods of transport higher, via increased distance, higher traffic loads, and infrequent bus service (everybody drives, so why does the bus need to go by every 15 min?). At least one large recent study links increased sprawl to increased obesity due to the inability to walk/bike to errands, entertainment, school, etc. Look at the population in "walkable" cities (and I mean IN the city) such as NYC/DC/Boston/SF/Portland and compare it to the average suburban population. Or just go to the airport and watch the planes come in from almost any sprawling Midwest city like Minneapolis. The average heft of the passengers is pretty sobering. There's a reason that Portland aims for sustainable development. The majority of residents don't want to see it become the norm to drive 30 minutes to go to a big box store along wide faceless boulevards with cloned neighborhoods separated by the occasional Generica Strip Mall. The urban growth boundary may seem arbitrary to you, but many of us think it has a major role in keeping Portland more like Portland, and less like the Bay Area, Seattle, LA, Minneapolis, Kansas City, etc. Cheers, Ian Penner In a message dated 8/31/04 2:50:18 PM, sn-@charter.net writes: Doug wrote: "Maybe I've got it all wrong but, if you "push an ever increasing population into a confined area" people might be more inclined to not drive?" Have you been to some of Europe's bigger cities? They have traffic and pollution issues as well. Until urban planners stop designing cities to accommodate cars, and design them to accommodate people, cities will not be great places to live. Cramming people into tighter spaces designed for cars is called New York City. "Call me un American but, there are lots of alternatives to sitting behind the steering wheel of your car." There is nothing un American about not driving your car. There is however something un American about telling other Americans what they can or cannot do with their own property in an attempt to appease a minority of people. --part1_154.3e150856.2e665251_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR> Sorry, I meant to send this out to the list, not as a personal email.<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE CITE STYLE="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px" TYPE="CITE"></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">Perhaps you'd like to not lecture Doug, a European with significant Continental travel about these issues. And unless you bought your property significantly before the urban growth boundary went into effect, you knew the risks and are not now "being told what to do with your property". You went in knowing the rules and then thought you got to change them. Tough luck. People who buy houses next to PIR want to shut it down because of the noise. Too bad, you knew the score.<BR> <BR> I agree, having lived in multiple American cities (Memphis/Boston/DC/SF/Silicon Valley/Portland) that sprawl is probably in the top three issues relating to quality of life. It does "force" you to drive more by making the barriers to other methods of transport higher, via increased distance, higher traffic loads, and infrequent bus service (everybody drives, so why does the bus need to go by every 15 min?). At least one large recent study links increased sprawl to increased obesity due to the inability to walk/bike to errands, entertainment, school, etc. Look at the population in "walkable" cities (and I mean IN the city) such as NYC/DC/Boston/SF/Portland and compare it to the average suburban population. Or just go to the airport and watch the planes come in from almost any sprawling Midwest city like Minneapolis. The average heft of the passengers is pretty sobering.<BR> <BR> There's a reason that Portland aims for sustainable development. The majority of residents don't want to see it become the norm to drive 30 minutes to go to a big box store along wide faceless boulevards with cloned neighborhoods separated by the occasional Generica Strip Mall. The urban growth boundary may seem arbitrary to you, but many of us think it has a major role in keeping Portland more like Portland, and less like the Bay Area, Seattle, LA, Minneapolis, Kansas City, etc.<BR> <BR> Cheers,<BR> Ian Penner<BR> <BR> In a message dated 8/31/04 2:50:18 PM, sn-@charter.net writes:<BR> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR> Doug wrote: "Maybe I've got it all wrong but, if you "push an ever increasing population into a confined area" people might be more inclined to not drive?"<BR> <BR> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">Have you been to some of Europe's bigger cities? They have traffic and pollution issues as well. Until urban planners stop designing cities to accommodate cars, and design them to accommodate people, cities will not be great places to live. Cramming people into tighter spaces designed for cars is called New York City.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR> <BR> "Call me un American but, there are lots of alternatives to sitting behind the steering wheel of your car."<BR> <BR> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">There is nothing un American about not driving your car. There is however something un American about telling other Americans what they can or cannot do with their own property in an attempt to appease a minority of people.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR> <BR> <BR> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR> <BR> </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR> <BR> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT></HTML> --part1_154.3e150856.2e665251_boundary-- |
