The Impending Fruition of Mr. Peabody’s Grand Plan
Greetings, reader o’ the blog. I trust you’re well.
I have the extreme good fortune to have a job that I truly enjoy. For several years I toiled at a job that I did not enjoy in the least. Well, that’s a bit harsh, probably. My former employer was, undeniably, a solid, well-respected organization, and though its employees’ salaries were not always exceptional, their benefits were pretty outstanding. In addition, I worked with a lot of really good people. The job itself, though, was not enjoyable. But I digress. My point is that I now have a job I love.
Despite my contentedness with my current state of employ, I do still find myself occasionally troubled by some things about my employer. That’s natural, right? Most people don’t agree 100% with every policy, every decision their employer makes, right? I hope that’s the case…
The municipality by which I am employed seems bent on increasing tax revenue. To be fair, its residents enjoy many fine services as a result of that tax revenue, but I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the greater cost. Property taxes and sales taxes are probably its two largest sources of revenue (just so you know, I haven’t actually done any research to back any of this up—I’m just going on my own observations, etc.). The best way to increase both of those sources of revenue is to encourage development. Increasing development, of course, contributes to urban sprawl (already an obvious problem in this area), and urban sprawl is quickly gobbling up the pretty, hilly landscape surrounding the community.
Have you every heard the song “Little Boxes?” I haven’t for a long time, but it’s become more poignant for me over the past several years, as I’ve witnessed urban sprawl. I think the lyrics go something like, “Little boxes on a hillside / little boxes made of ticky-tacky / little boxes, little boxes / little boxes, all the same.” Don’t ask me to tell you what, exactly, ticky-tacky is… I often think of that song, though, as I drive past the vast housing developments.
Residential development is not the only problem, however. This particular town has basically become one giant strip mall. Driving down its main thoroughfare is like running a gauntlet of consumerism. It’s literally dizzying, especially at night, when the entire length of the street is lit with all types of signs for an amazing array of chain restaurants, stores, and other businesses. And it’s expanding! No longer is that type of concentrated commercial development focused on the main thoroughfare; it’s creeping out along other arterial roads, spreading and weaving its way into previously non-commercial areas. I can think of at least two recent commercial developments where numerous large, mature trees were cut down to make room for a new store or strip mall. Perhaps the most frustrating part of that for me personally is that both of those commercial developments could have been located on nearby land (I mean like right across the street) that was already cleared and leveled and available for purchase. There aren’t many nicely treed areas left in the middle of this town, and it upset me that two of them were sacrificed for commerce.
“Well, Matt, that’s the price of progress,” one might say in response. I guess I must have a different definition of “progress,” in that case. To me, a progressive community is one that understands the value of preserving some natural areas even though they could be developed, that realizes there is value in improving existing housing, and that values quality of life over quantity of revenue.
I’ll admit, this is a pretty cynical assessment of the city’s priorities. They have also set aside some parkland, built new trails, and used environmentally responsible building techniques and materials for a few of their newer facilities, and it's a darn good organization for which to work. I also realize that this particular city is not unique in its tendency to encourage as much development as possible. Recently other nearby communities have displayed similar tendencies.
One city in particular, which I would have thought less likely to woo such massive development, recently approved the building of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, which will replace the existing very large Wal-Mart store and be located within a couple miles of another Wal-Mart Supercenter. That whole situation makes no sense to me. There’s no need for two such stores in such close proximity to one another. Yet despite common sense, there they’ll both be not long from now. That same city also approved the construction of a brand new, giant Menards store, to be located maybe a mile from the existing—and again very large—Menards store. They claimed that the present Menards was not large enough to serve the customers effectively, or something, and also claimed that there was not adequate space around the existing store to allow for expansion. I find the latter claim especially difficult to believe, since there’s nothing but open space around the store. So thanks to that city’s recent decisions, there will be two extremely large stores sitting completely empty, and I, for one, can’t think of what other stores might be interested in moving into the vacated spaces.
I guess that’s not my responsibility, though. My responsibility is simply to spend my money at these stores, or at the chain restaurants, or at the strip malls or coffee shops or mega-malls or supercenters. I’m supposed to help feed the monster. And you know what? I do. I admit that despite my best intentions to be a responsible consumer, I do go to at least some of those stores. I think Starbucks coffee tastes good, so I occasionally buy it. I appreciate the convenience and low prices of the big stores (though I will say that I do not typically do any shopping at Wal-Mart (I guess that’s the extent of my boycott)), so I sometimes shop there.
So ultimately it’s my fault that our cities place such importance on development. Not solely my fault, but you get the idea. I probably engage in about as much sheep-like behavior as the next consumer. If given a choice between a buying something from a locally-owned store versus a big chain store, though, I’ll probably choose the local place. I could be more pro-active about such things. I know I’m a bit of a hypocrite. I do at least consider the consequences of my purchasing habits, though, and I guess the whole point of this blog entry is to get you, the reader, to do the same. I may not sway anyone to only buy local, or to boycott Wal-Mart, but if you at least consider the ramifications of your purchasing habits, then I guess I’ve achieved my goal (which I didn’t even have in mind when I started writing).
Just some (locally-produced) food for thought.
Matt
I have the extreme good fortune to have a job that I truly enjoy. For several years I toiled at a job that I did not enjoy in the least. Well, that’s a bit harsh, probably. My former employer was, undeniably, a solid, well-respected organization, and though its employees’ salaries were not always exceptional, their benefits were pretty outstanding. In addition, I worked with a lot of really good people. The job itself, though, was not enjoyable. But I digress. My point is that I now have a job I love.
Despite my contentedness with my current state of employ, I do still find myself occasionally troubled by some things about my employer. That’s natural, right? Most people don’t agree 100% with every policy, every decision their employer makes, right? I hope that’s the case…
The municipality by which I am employed seems bent on increasing tax revenue. To be fair, its residents enjoy many fine services as a result of that tax revenue, but I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the greater cost. Property taxes and sales taxes are probably its two largest sources of revenue (just so you know, I haven’t actually done any research to back any of this up—I’m just going on my own observations, etc.). The best way to increase both of those sources of revenue is to encourage development. Increasing development, of course, contributes to urban sprawl (already an obvious problem in this area), and urban sprawl is quickly gobbling up the pretty, hilly landscape surrounding the community.
Have you every heard the song “Little Boxes?” I haven’t for a long time, but it’s become more poignant for me over the past several years, as I’ve witnessed urban sprawl. I think the lyrics go something like, “Little boxes on a hillside / little boxes made of ticky-tacky / little boxes, little boxes / little boxes, all the same.” Don’t ask me to tell you what, exactly, ticky-tacky is… I often think of that song, though, as I drive past the vast housing developments.
Residential development is not the only problem, however. This particular town has basically become one giant strip mall. Driving down its main thoroughfare is like running a gauntlet of consumerism. It’s literally dizzying, especially at night, when the entire length of the street is lit with all types of signs for an amazing array of chain restaurants, stores, and other businesses. And it’s expanding! No longer is that type of concentrated commercial development focused on the main thoroughfare; it’s creeping out along other arterial roads, spreading and weaving its way into previously non-commercial areas. I can think of at least two recent commercial developments where numerous large, mature trees were cut down to make room for a new store or strip mall. Perhaps the most frustrating part of that for me personally is that both of those commercial developments could have been located on nearby land (I mean like right across the street) that was already cleared and leveled and available for purchase. There aren’t many nicely treed areas left in the middle of this town, and it upset me that two of them were sacrificed for commerce.
“Well, Matt, that’s the price of progress,” one might say in response. I guess I must have a different definition of “progress,” in that case. To me, a progressive community is one that understands the value of preserving some natural areas even though they could be developed, that realizes there is value in improving existing housing, and that values quality of life over quantity of revenue.
I’ll admit, this is a pretty cynical assessment of the city’s priorities. They have also set aside some parkland, built new trails, and used environmentally responsible building techniques and materials for a few of their newer facilities, and it's a darn good organization for which to work. I also realize that this particular city is not unique in its tendency to encourage as much development as possible. Recently other nearby communities have displayed similar tendencies.
One city in particular, which I would have thought less likely to woo such massive development, recently approved the building of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, which will replace the existing very large Wal-Mart store and be located within a couple miles of another Wal-Mart Supercenter. That whole situation makes no sense to me. There’s no need for two such stores in such close proximity to one another. Yet despite common sense, there they’ll both be not long from now. That same city also approved the construction of a brand new, giant Menards store, to be located maybe a mile from the existing—and again very large—Menards store. They claimed that the present Menards was not large enough to serve the customers effectively, or something, and also claimed that there was not adequate space around the existing store to allow for expansion. I find the latter claim especially difficult to believe, since there’s nothing but open space around the store. So thanks to that city’s recent decisions, there will be two extremely large stores sitting completely empty, and I, for one, can’t think of what other stores might be interested in moving into the vacated spaces.
I guess that’s not my responsibility, though. My responsibility is simply to spend my money at these stores, or at the chain restaurants, or at the strip malls or coffee shops or mega-malls or supercenters. I’m supposed to help feed the monster. And you know what? I do. I admit that despite my best intentions to be a responsible consumer, I do go to at least some of those stores. I think Starbucks coffee tastes good, so I occasionally buy it. I appreciate the convenience and low prices of the big stores (though I will say that I do not typically do any shopping at Wal-Mart (I guess that’s the extent of my boycott)), so I sometimes shop there.
So ultimately it’s my fault that our cities place such importance on development. Not solely my fault, but you get the idea. I probably engage in about as much sheep-like behavior as the next consumer. If given a choice between a buying something from a locally-owned store versus a big chain store, though, I’ll probably choose the local place. I could be more pro-active about such things. I know I’m a bit of a hypocrite. I do at least consider the consequences of my purchasing habits, though, and I guess the whole point of this blog entry is to get you, the reader, to do the same. I may not sway anyone to only buy local, or to boycott Wal-Mart, but if you at least consider the ramifications of your purchasing habits, then I guess I’ve achieved my goal (which I didn’t even have in mind when I started writing).
Just some (locally-produced) food for thought.
Matt
posted by Matt at 3:53 PM
7 Comments:
I pretty much agree with all of those issues. I am very interested on not supporting stores like Wal-Mart, but I will admit that I go there almost every week. It takes half an hour of driving to get anywhere better and (since I am a bit lazy) I don't want to make the trip. I do try to go to all the local small business as often as I can if they have things that I want to purchase. The problem there is that they seem to all be disapearing, which makes it harder to spend my money there to support them.
The tree thing... don't get me started.
I struggle with the same issues-although, I must say, not nearly as eloquently as you do. Especially living a ways away from the fray right now, I am assaulted every time I return with the ways that the consumerism monster has devoured more of the beautiful and replaced it with the concrete and the cookie-cutter.
I, too, would like to use the word "progress" to honor communities that, instead of "bigger, faster, more", strive for "modest, sustainable, local." It works in other places, other countries.
And I also get stuck on the accountability part. No Wal-Marts or Starbuckses here, thankfully, so that temptation is gone, but every day I catch myself choosing ease over conscience in a thousand tiny ways. Grr. I think it's the age-old dilemma of trying to recognize that my contribution (if I could make it more consistently, anyway) really might mean something in the long run.
I think "a ways away from the fray" is a neat sounding phrase...
1. Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.
2. And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.
3. And they all play on the golf-course,
And drink their Martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
And they all get put in boxes
And they all come out the same.
4. And the boys go into business,
And marry, and raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.
"And so the under-70 crufew passed by just a single vote."
"See, Homer! I told you you should have voted!"
"Ahh, it wouldn't have made any difference, anyway."
"curfew," I meant. I also intended to somehow tie the quote into the idea that I, too, find it easy to think there's no point in my thinking I can make a difference, but I hit the "Login and publish" button too soon.
It seems to me like the Internet plays a big part in this whole process, too (although, in its defense, it also provides us with this medium to complain about it). Especially in the music-type-stuff area, I've found. Operations like AMS and Musicians's Friend and Zzsounds have all but killed off the local retailer - West Music had more live audio stuff back in the late 80's when it was a much smaller store. Now it's huge but almost exclusively sells things like pianos and band instruments & music that most people don't buy online. I try to support online Mom & Pop places like Audiopile Distributing and Audio East, but when I can buy a cable for $10 online or $40 at West Music it's hard to keep my money in Coraville.
On an unrelated note, I sure do have trouble noticing your allusions for some reasons. The Mr. Peabody line officially joins the faith baton as a Reference Charlie Really Should Have Caught On The First, Rather Than Fourth, Reading.
Sorry to take over your blog with the long comment.
Hey, I'm just glad somebody got the reference at all (I knew I could count on you, Charles!). Actually, I guess you're probably the only one who could have gotten it, unless someone else has encountered the same funny spell-check suggestion...
It really is difficult to keep your money local. I face the same dilemma anytime I want to buy something from REI or Campmor or Cabela's or even Scheels rather than at Fin & Feather or Active Endeavors, for instance. I can at least somewhat justify spending my money at big stores if they're responsible retailers. Big stores like Target and REI, for instance, do give back to their communities and to the general public good, so I feel a bit better about spending money there. It's probably not fair to label every big store as evil and just leave it at that. Heck, there are probably plenty of local stores owned by money-hungry jerks with no intention of doing anything to benefit the local economy or community.
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