Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich
Are you kidding? You've got a state so desperate for water to feed those that want their cake and to eat it too it's literally trying to redraw state borders. Do you realize how much more a negative impact that the sprawled urban area has on that dense canopy than a 'dehumanizing' gridded urban area?
There are legitimate reasons to appreciate Atlanta. It's sprawling layout (especially, if you're a true nature lover) is not one of them in the least bit. Yes, there is a reason why it tops the growth list, because the vast majority of people don't much care about future negative consequences as long as they got their's. It's the rule that this country has lived under for too long that you can buy now and pay later. The areas waters and air are screaming at it, and everyone's pretending that they don't hear it.
|
We aren't as desperate for water as you would imagine and that had nothing to do with the city in as much as it had to do with the worse drought in recorded history. We conserved our way right out of the crisis and the drought is essentially over. Plans are already in place to make sure that never happens again all without ever harming the river system. Yes I would like to know what impact Atlanta has on the mostly lifeless forest it inhabits. There is a reason why people don't ever complain about the environmental impact here. As shown in that photo, it is mostly intact at the end of the day not to mention the countless preservation projects across the city.
The quality of life is soaring here and as much as people hate sprawl on paper, it isn't as if there is a huge environmental problem here. I hate to say it to the tenants of this whole 'smart growth' agenda but it may have many more consequences than the alternative. Unfortunately, having to shell out most of your income for your home is a great shame of cities like Portland and Miami and these places crash first when a recession comes around. The slight increase in efficiency is not really worth having a computer generated traditional city based on old and failing theories.
We even get around the problems with uninodal sprawl by having multiple urban centers each with the potential for dense development. And yes there is something comfortingly human about not having gridded streets numbered 1 to 200 in every direction.
I never said the sprawl was why people moved here. I said it was the physical beauty among a dozen other things I listed, but since you brought it up, I'll have to respond to the knee jerk reaction to Atlanta from out-of-towners.