To thy own profession be true?

[el Guapo]

Mrs. Guapo and I have been house hunting. Yesterday our contract was accepted. In late Sept. we will be the proud owners of what can only be described as a little chunk of American Suburban Sprawl.

So here is a poll for you inspired by our hellish house hunting experience.

 

[Dan]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

I'm a strong proponent of New Urbanism and urban living. However, the location of my job and the configuration of the Orlando area road system have forced me to resort to suburban living if I want to have a reasonable commute. The lack of New Urbanist/neotraditional development near the job means that I have one of three choices:

1) Live in a single family hosue in a conventional suburban subdivision.

2) Live in an urban environment, and face a 30 to 35 minute one-way commute.

3) Live in a single family house in an older, middle class enclave of a town close to work, where most residents acknowledge Dale Earnhardt as their personal lord and savior.

I have one or two night meetings a week, so (2) wasn't an option. I think of my house as an investment, so (3) wasn't an option. Thus, the cul-de-sac.

If it means anything, when I lived in Denver I had an 85 m2 house in an urban neighborhood 3 km from downtown.

 

[el Guapo]

I know Dan - I'm sorry - That pool must be a bitch to live with.

I liked the older neighborhoods also. I really loved one house near the parkway system here in town, but I noticed all of the homes, except for the generously inter-sprinkled mansions, were going Earnheart.

We didn't want be surrounded by keegers and bassboats all the time. We are even planning to hide my 4x4 and vast cammo netting collection in the garage when we move in to in the new neighborhood. Not as it is now parked proudly out front in our current "Blue-Collar" neighborhood. Where it screams - don't break into this rednecks house!

We don't want to be the seed ourselves that gives Earnheart/Redneckerish decay a foothold in "Wheatridge" - our newly chosen subdivision. It currently is "in Memory of...." sticker free.

So, say the name of your subdivision proudly to those dwellers in lesser subdivision and meekly to your subdivision superiors.

Long Live Subdivision Meritocracy! AKA, Subdivision Darwinism for the 2000's!

 

[Tranplanner]

I live in suburbia right now (Scarberia for those of you who know Toronto), but I'm in a 29 storey condo building. With a magnificient view of the 401 outside my window (think Interstate, on steroids).

Of the 3 full-time gigs I've had - this is the first one I haven't been able to walk to work for. Though if I transfer to the East District office, I could.

Why am I out here, instead of downtown?

Can you say "Committed Relationship" and "compromise"?

I knew you could.

 

[NHPlanner]

As I posted way back when in the "Where is your House" thread...

I live in a downtown neighborhood....4 blocks from the house I grew up in. Duplex, roughly a 1/4 acre lot, neighborhood park across the street, Main Street 1 street to the east.

 

[Mastiff]

Mastiff wishes...

...he had a remote cabin.

The city is remote, but since it's surrounded by National Forest, with Forest Ranger Nazi's, so I can't build a cabin.

Just a plain ol' rented house for me...

 

[Cardinal]

Mastiff - Apparently you have forgotten of Julia "Butterfly" Hill and the two years she lived in a Redwood names "Luna." No, not a cabin, but a perhaps a more affordable alternative for planners?

 

[el Guapo]

Michael's suggestion for an option

has been addded. Enjoy Birkenstockers.

 

[Mastiff]

Uh huh

Mastiff - Apparently you have forgotten of Julia "Butterfly" Hill and the two years she lived in a Redwood names "Luna." No, not a cabin, but a perhaps a more affordable alternative for planners?

Her and her cronies weren't too far from here, from what I've been told. Seems the locals like to wait until dark in the woods and shoot them with paintball guns.

I'm surprised no crazy logger just cut her tree down...

 

[Cardinal]

They did, after she left. There is a large cut across the base, and it has been bolted and cabled to give it strength in the hope that it will survive. From what I can see, Luna is a very nice looking tree, and I hope it lives through this ordeal.

 

[Mastiff]

I'm not surprised, really.

They did, after she left. There is a large cut across the base, and it has been bolted and cabled to give it strength in the hope that it will survive. From what I can see, Luna is a very nice looking tree, and I hope it lives through this ordeal.

Up in these parts, there has long been an argument over logging v. conservation. I believe both ends of the spectrum are really missing the point.

While I seem to be hijacking this thread, here are my points:

1) Some areas, like the giant sequoia's in the National Park, and some major old growth areas need to be saved outright for people to enjoy.

2) That said, trees are one of our few renewable resources. The reason so many mills shut down is that they refused to retool to accept secondary growth. Forest management is the key to a balance between having wood products and having forests.

3) The Forest Service tends to suck at management... just my opinion. Believe it or not, Weyerhaeuser does a much better job on their own lands.

4) For the U.S. economy... no selling raw wood products abroad. Create the secondary products right here.

I'll climb off my stump now... if you'll pardon the pun.

 

[Cardinal]

Yeah, I can agree with most of what you said. There is a difference between a forest and a tree farm. The old growth stuff has a diversity that you don't get once a forest has been logged. Once it has been logged, manage it for future harvest. The unlogged forests need to be fully and honestly evaluated to determine their merit for conservation, or for logging.

If we could go back 150 years we would be having the same debates over midwestern prairies and savannas. Restored prairie simply does not have the diversity and robustness of a native prairie. It would have been wonderful to have saved more than 1% of this unique landscape.