Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Sun, Dec 21 2003
Thoughts On Neighboring Counties
Local freebie paper Metro Santa Cruz can now be accessed online as a pdf file. The Coast Weekly for Monterey County has highlights online. I wish they'd put their whole publication online, because even though I live a short distance from the county line, I can never find a copy in this county. Although the two counties are adjacent and share a strip of some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the world, there is this strange rivalry and snobbery that prevents cooperation in silly ways. As they begin to change the old Fort Ord area into housing. An article earlier this year shows the problem folks in this area have when it comes to owning affordable housing. The problem I have with all the talk that goes on concerning "affordable housing" is that everyone seems to want to subsidize and build on the cheap and cram people into condensed areas. The real answer should be to raise everyone's standard of living and encourage businesses to open in the area, and businesses should not mean just chain retail stores. We need jobs that provide people the kind of wage they need to survive in this state. There are times when I understand the reluctance of some neighborhoods in Monterey County when it comes to further "development". Residents in places such as Carmel and some of the scenic marina areas of Monterey and Pacific Grove know that a lot of their property value is in being exclusive. The trouble is that soon all roads leading into those exclusive areas are going to be lined with cookie-cutter substandard "affordable housing". High-density housing will create many more problems than it solves. And once we pave over the beauty, it will be a much more formidable task to turn it back into the wild beauty it once was.
posted at: 11:04 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Local freebie paper Metro Santa Cruz can now be accessed online as a pdf file. The Coast Weekly for Monterey County has highlights online. I wish they'd put their whole publication online, because even though I live a short distance from the county line, I can never find a copy in this county. Although the two counties are adjacent and share a strip of some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the world, there is this strange rivalry and snobbery that prevents cooperation in silly ways. As they begin to change the old Fort Ord area into housing. An article earlier this year shows the problem folks in this area have when it comes to owning affordable housing. The problem I have with all the talk that goes on concerning "affordable housing" is that everyone seems to want to subsidize and build on the cheap and cram people into condensed areas. The real answer should be to raise everyone's standard of living and encourage businesses to open in the area, and businesses should not mean just chain retail stores. We need jobs that provide people the kind of wage they need to survive in this state. There are times when I understand the reluctance of some neighborhoods in Monterey County when it comes to further "development". Residents in places such as Carmel and some of the scenic marina areas of Monterey and Pacific Grove know that a lot of their property value is in being exclusive. The trouble is that soon all roads leading into those exclusive areas are going to be lined with cookie-cutter substandard "affordable housing". High-density housing will create many more problems than it solves. And once we pave over the beauty, it will be a much more formidable task to turn it back into the wild beauty it once was.
posted at: 11:04 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
