tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307246258834168852.post605443885154188980..comments2023-10-07T04:25:23.792-07:00Comments on dailywombat: Greenbuilding.com on the Cul-de-Sac Syndromejfwasikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09765380482300292433noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307246258834168852.post-13611613307043336902009-07-20T12:42:21.623-07:002009-07-20T12:42:21.623-07:00And yes, I do plan to get the book, too.And yes, I do plan to get the book, too.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369671329148617450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307246258834168852.post-52359136666732875162009-07-20T12:39:27.546-07:002009-07-20T12:39:27.546-07:00I gravitated to your blog when I heard of your boo...I gravitated to your blog when I heard of your book and it's thesis. I'm glad someone finally presented an informed voice to this inevitability. This is something I have predicted for many years, but my perspective came from my observations about ancient cultures. Older civilizations automatcially side-stepped many of today's problems for the simple reason advanced transportation tech didn't exist, so cities had to be build with a built-in growth limitation. The numerous fully-planned cities built by the Romans illustrate their intuitive knowledge that size and distance mattered, - even with slave labor. <br /><br />What the US needs are more fully-capable city nuclei, self-contained and self-sustaining, built by intention rather than haphazardly, interconnected by good mass transit. Moreover, existing large cities need to establish good, confidence-inspiring mass transit, if it doesn't already exit. Such proto-cities are similar to your ideas about modular living built around work areas...from inception. I think it needs to go one more step, and that is to make the community more like a mini-city. Not just work-live-school areas, since that could describe many suburbs already. They really need to have a more mentally simulating basis than that to be attractive to most modern citizens.<br /><br />Maybe such planned proto-cities themselves could be sold much as individual houses are today, bidding them up in a conscious effort to drawn down populations in overgrown cities. Unfortunately larger cities will usually command a premium in housing values, which in turn raises salaries to compensate, making the larger city generally more desirable. However, IMO that boom-town phenomena is no more than an out-of-control cancer. The cure needs to be an active effort to encourage populations to distribute more evenly.<br /><br />What a lot of people never seem to discuss is that housing makes up the most expensive cost in most people's lives and therefore is the largest tax on everyone. By creating an economic environment which puts a downward pressure on housing prices, the costs of all things would be less expensive. It is a major component of inflation, and by trying to sustain those high prices, it becomes a barrier to recovery. If I remember correctly, wasn't there also a housing bust just before the last Great Depression? It seems to be, at the least, a related factor in other times of economic crisis.<br /><br />I would agree that there are many ways to make housing more affordable such as inexpensive modular homes and the like. I think they really need to look to some of the better ancient societies...they had it all figured out thousands of years ago.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369671329148617450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307246258834168852.post-36830379860444583892009-07-16T10:26:33.793-07:002009-07-16T10:26:33.793-07:00I'm Kelly's wife and I just did a blog pos...I'm Kelly's wife and I just did a blog post about it too, on my website about simple green living:<br /><br />http://simplegreenliving.com/green-homes/the-cul-de-sac-syndrome-by-john-wasik/<br /><br />Not a review, just mulling a bit on macmansions!Rosana Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05727935895220551578noreply@blogger.com