Growth & Development
Join our discussion of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond. This geographer recounts why past societies have failed and what we need to do to keep our society going. The Seattle Times writes, “Diamond’s most influential gift may be his ability to write about geopolitical and environmental systems in ways that don’t just educate and provoke, but entertain.”
Book Description:
Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastrophe—one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future.Date:
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Location:
Carrboro Cybrary, 100 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro
Philip Duchastel has a searing column about Carolina North in yesterday's Chapel Hill News. I think he raises some good points, although he also seems to look at the issue as if no conversation or process has come before. I certainly don't agree when he says that "all assume building Carolina North is good." And I also wish he would propose some kind of better way forward instaed of just predicting Chapel Hill's doom.
...the big questions have gone unspoken. The behemoth of those is growth. It seems assumed by all that growth is desirable, and of course that growth is possible. I beg to differ.
Someone brought up the idea of downtown businesses giving a discount for people shopping off peak hours. Unfortunately, small business really doesn't have the money to do that. Part of that is that State and Local subsidies and development go to out of town ventures - like Interstate 40, The Parton Theater and Carolina North. We encourage people to buy locally, but what is government doing to help local businesses?
I don't have any preconceived notions on this, just the usual anectdotal evidence that many cite as fact. However, it is interesting how Micro-Loans have helped in developing countries. I believe someone won a Nobel Prize with that one.
As a taxpayer and homeowner in Chapel Hill, I am in favor of things that help out working people (and students) like free bus service. I feel like that is giving people a hand-up rather than a hand out and helps local business, the environment and actually keeps taxes lower (fewer car trips, fewer road repairs).
Hi to everyone!
I've been inspired by the blogs on this site. These times I believe require more action on our part, and it seems I too now feel compelled to get involved.
I have been talking much with friends about growth and development. Everyone I speak with is very concerned over where it's leading us. Many feel down the wrong road. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Out of concern I called one of the best run and accomplished development agencies in the world, the Portland Development Commision. The resulting conversation lead to a column I wrote for the Chapel Hill News.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/guest_columns/story/12305.html
I was impressed with the concern the people in Portland showed for our situation and believe you too will find they're advice highly relevant to us all.
Please read the article and let me know what you think! And thanks,
Don Henze
Carrboro touts its "walkability," and it is more walkable than, say, Cary. Yet one only need hangout downtown for a little while (e.g. on the lawn in front of Weaver Streer) to notice that most folks only walk as far as the parking lot holding their personal smogmobile. Carrboro, like the rest of suburban America, still obeys Kinsella's law of land use: "if you provide parking, they will drive." We seem to be caught in that old vicious circle: we provide parking, which reduces density (since parking actively competes with other uses) and discourages transit (by enabling driving, and most Americans will drive when given the option), which encourages driving, which "requires" more parking. So it was rather discouraging to see the discussion in Kirk Ross' piece in the Carrboro Citizen.
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