Ever driven through/flown over any of the western states, such as Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming,......
As my old Pappy used to say as he gazed to the empty horizon, "lots of room for improvement".
-Doug
---------------- I lived in South Africa for many years and have flown/driven over most of the region and surrounding countries. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. England however is a little different.
individuals building on their own land really aren't the problem. it's large scale commercial developers buying up what should probably be farmland or wilds and plonking down thousands of units and expecting fema to fix it when it all washes away that is the problem....
Hi, I live in Knoxville, TN, we have gotten alot of rain and flooding from the hurricanes this year. Lot of the blame lays with the contractors and devolopers, that does there best to skirt regulations and county officials that won't enforce there own regulations. Are you listening Knox County?
Tony
--
I visited England for the first time in 30 years this past June and was struck by how populated the countryside has become compared to when I lived there in the 60's and 70's. It was really noticeable when flying over.
A portent of things to come in the less populated areas of the world today. It's happening here in Texas to a startling degree also.
To each his own I guess, but I find that mindset rather sad.
...And not only do you accept that, you seem rather proud of it. Again, I find the mindset rather sad. A couple feet away from where your lords and masters gave you permission, huh?
Is where I come from, thank god (or the cosmos, or the ying & yang or whatever for those that find the word god offensive).
Dave Hall
Well, the fact that "we" expect FEMA to take care of it seems a problem. Again, I see no problem with Government telling us that the house we are going to build or buy is on a floodplain or even possibly some required building code modifications based on location such as roof straps in hurricane areas or flow through first floor construction in stream floodplain areas (although I am not fully convinced that these should be more than strong suggestions). Once we know these things and decide to build there (or buy there) anyway it should be our problem. If someone wants to sell us insurance to guard against the probability of our risks occuring fine, but that should be a market decision. If nobody is willing to sell us such insurance, that seems a real good indicator of our stupidity. Further, if mortgage lenders weren't insured by the government against issuing stupid loans to stupid people then you wouldn't see many people buying homes that had that much risk as there wouldn't be loans available. Essentially, we encourage people to build and buy where nobody would be able to afford to do so in a free market by giving government security against stupidity and then we want the Government to tell us we can't do these stupid things that they subsidize and then we want government to pay for our stupidity if they fail to make it illegal to, say. build a house anywhere in Florida or within 3 miles of a river. Come on people, are we really small children in need of such nannying?
Dave Hall
The problem is not what people build today, your insurance carrier and your mortgage company will require you to build to code (elevation). The problem is old buildings that were never built to code and are below flood elevation. If they are not 50% destroyed they can rebuild at their current elevation. There is also a problem with FEMAs flood maps. A friend of mine in Ohio (hurricanes are not just a coastal thing) says folks who thought they were 3 feet above the nominal flood plain found out the map was wrong when Ivan hit.
Swingman reports:
In Virginia, too. I moved to this area 28 years ago as of October 10 as a geographical cure for a failed marriage. In that time, Bedford County has changed from a rural, farming communit with a few homes for commuters to a bedroom community for Lynchburg and Roanoke. Government size has increased more than population, because the previous homeowners from outside the area were primarily retirees, two adults, no kids. Now, we're seeing two adults, three kids as closer to the norm, so there's a constant search for teachers, the sheriff's department has increased in size a phenomenal amount (some of that is empire building rather than need, as is the school situation, where county schools cost about double what they do elsewhere so they can have prize winning features such as mosaic floors in foyers).
But the most noticeable part is the traffic. Sheest! Winding, two lane country roads are not fun with the kind of traffic that is moving over them now.
Charlie Self "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." John Quincy Adams
Dave Hall notes:
Dave, to enlighten you, if you put up a non-code structure in many areas of the U.S. (some rural areas are exempt), you can be forced to tear it down. If you place a structure too close to a boundary--usually 15' in small cities--you can be forced to remove the structure or modifiy it.
Neither Parkersburg nor Pittsburgh is going to allow you to build without code enforcement, though I must say Parkersburg code enforcement tends to be exceptionally spotty in my limited experience.
Charlie Self "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." John Quincy Adams
Don't pick on Florida. Remember the California mudslides, where "we" paid to rebuild homes for millionaires, more than once? Joe
But that's more like bowling, setting the pins up again so you can have another go.
They must teach "increasing the tax base" at some damn mayoral or city manager seminar somewhere. This is a common occurence.
What scares me about this trend is something we, as woodworkers, should all be aware of: "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
... and sell it to a private individual or corporation to develop so as to "increase the tax base".
There was a time in this country when a young man, who may have made some youthful errors in judgment, could go somewhere else, start over, and become a productive member of the community.
That no longer is the case, and may well be at the root of the frustration you see in the current 20 and 30 something's that manifests itself in this pervasive quest to become someone they're not.
I spent a lot of time overseas and a few years back found myself racking my brains to figure out if there is a better place somewhere outside this country to raise my family ... the answer has always been "no" but, IMO, the options here have just about run out also.
PS ... I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is losing his home because, due to a heart attack and being laid off, he can't pay the property taxes ... the "tax spenders" are showing no mercy, and the SWAT team will move him out if he decides to make a stand.
All too common. For 10 years I moved throughout Florida trying to evade this mentality, and finally gave up just to return here. I would find a nice place, start to get settled, and the bulldozers would show up. I even lived in the backwoods of New Jersey for a while - but the cold, the ticks, and Dupont dripping from the faucet ran me off...
There were some 20 something boys at the Gas station last night, and they were comparing the paperwork on charges against them. Police had charged them IN THEIR HOMES for "Possession by consumption" of Marihuana. What the hell is that? At least they weren't running around shooting up pedestrians in some crack-head, dealer territory, gang war - which is all too common around here. They were playing video games and smoking a joint. Not too different than a bunch of guys watching a football game on TV while drinking beer.
That's pretty much what happened. I thought this was illegal? Condemn and take property, then sell to a private interest? There is a shopping center on the lot now. There is a long and twisted story involving arson, politicians and their depraved kids, and State Senators surrounding this "particular" piece of property.
One of the BAD ramifications of the computer age... And when they look around, with fresh, idealistic eyes, and see the crap that those in power are involved in, it kinda sucks the innocence right out of them. Hell, it sucks the idealism outta ME.
The white kids want to be rapping gangsters. Black kids want to be anything else. 30 somethings want to be large lipped, well endowed sex objects. The elderly just want things to return to the way they used to be...
No generation in history has witnessed the rapid technological and societal changes that we have. Every personal infraction is recorded forever in the databases of Big Brother, your DNA is on file at ChoicePoint, close knit communities are a dim memory, and Lake Woebegone is a pipe dream. I'll even bet Edna, Texas isn't the quaint little town it was 4 years ago...
I have seriously considered Australia. Or maybe another planet. ;-)
I hate to hear this - I can empathize with his situation. I hope he has a lawyer friend who can file for a stay - hiring one of those bloodsuckers can be more painful and expensive than dealing with the tax man.
Later,
Greg G.
Its called "perspective". :)
I worked there for a time in the early sixties ... from what I've read lately it is not the same freewheeling place it was then, which is not surprising, but the memories are still wonderful!
Like dinosaurs, we better get resigned to it.
it usually is. there have been 2 wildly publicized cases in this area (phoenix, az) in the past few years where the cities involved have been successfully sued to overturn attempts on private takings. there is currently a case in front of the supreme court in this session dealing with this issue.
regards, charlie cave creek, az
Yes, I am aware of building codes. Pennsylvania just passed a statewide code to replace the thousands of local codes issued by the outlandish number of municipalities this state has. Again, I don't mind some basic codes (although ours is absolutely carried away). But the poster I replied to was not talking about (as best I "heard")basic codes. He was talking the nasty land use laws that are starting to take hold in the US like those in Oregon that will only allow homes in rather circumspect areas of the state even if you own the land. While in the cities (Incorporated municipalities) you do usually have these minimum buffer zones between anything you build and your neighbor's property, as well as minimum frontage from the public roadway, you can usually shift your home (in design and original construction) about as much as you want within those bounds.
Parkersburg may have codes (what a loss of freedom in the Mountain State) but get out of the municipal boundry into the rest of the County and it is a different story. They tried to impose codes a year or two ago and were shut down by the populace. There are some requirements imposed by a "higher authority" such as EPA regs that limit how close to a waterway you are allowed a septic system and federal regs that require certain design criteria if building in the floodplain of a navigable waterway (such as a flow-through design of the first floor).
Pittsburgh is in the land of the liberal. One of the reasons for the statewide building code recently imposed was to reduce the extreme hardships being imposed by certain large cities and by certain smaller municipalities that were designed not for safety but to a) minimize development b)generate kickbacks in the form of massive fees and payments to have a prayer of approval and c) generate kickbacks in the form of outright bribes.
So that is what make my joints ache in the morning... ;-) I am currently in the awkward position of being younger thinking than my peers, but my body is older than what my mind thinks it should do.
I'm sorry to hear that life on other planets has become stolid. ;-)
But, seriously, I remember your tale of Brumby busting... I guess it's like everywhere else, things change.
Hey, speak for yourself. ;-)
Greg G.
Interesting links, Thanks! Around here, people find it's far easier to just give up and move away than to fight City Hall. But of course, when things transpire in this way, it simply provokes more of the same behavior as word gets out to other municipalities seeking broader tax bases.
Greg G.
Where abouts? I live in the KZN midlands. A quiet area that is being exploited with housing developments and shopping complexes. I came to the country to appreciate the solitude and rural life and the developers come in and stuff it up
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.