tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post112951760914513328..comments2023-10-10T03:39:50.342-05:00Comments on A Little Urbanity: NIM CityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-1129565774049698142005-10-17T11:16:00.000-05:002005-10-17T11:16:00.000-05:00The N&R unfortunately doesn't post Debbage's month...The N&R unfortunately doesn't post Debbage's monthly column -- too bad; he usually writes great stuff.<BR/><BR/>I'm guessing that most exurbanites are looking for a safe and pleasant place to raise their families and get their kids a good education, and there's a moral argument to be made for that, too. I don't want to villify them -- I just want them to stick around. I know many personally who contribute to the community with time, effort, and money.<BR/><BR/>That said, I do very much admire the people I know in Greensboro who are staying around and laboring in our little urban vinyard -- people like Donna Newton, Patrick Downs, Dorothy Brown, Jennifer Burns, Nettie Coad, Diane Davis, Deborah Haro, Laura Jackson, Mojgan Jordan, Peter Kauber, BB Knowles, Joyce Lewis, Darlene McGriff, Chuck Newell, Carl Phillips, Bob Powell, Marsh Prause, Gloria Rankin, Todd Rotruck, Mable Scott, Randy Shepard, Marie Stamey, Ann Stringfield, Mildred Tucker, Goldie Wells, Joyce Williams, and Greg Woodard.<BR/><BR/>Most of them I'll bet you haven't heard of, but all of them are working hard to keep their neighborhoods viable -- them, and a lot more like them. Most of them have been doing it for a lot longer than I've lived here.David Whartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13251439852685796681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-1129553646535361072005-10-17T07:54:00.000-05:002005-10-17T07:54:00.000-05:00They aren't the smartest or most "creative"- they'...They aren't the smartest or most "creative"- they're merely the most selfish and lazy. People who are committed to their community (like Mr. Wharton and David Hoggard) don't head for the hills when they see something they don't like; they get involved and set about the task of fixing things. The NIM folks just cut and run and hope for the exclusionary power of economics to keep the "undesirable element" from following them. Actually getting on a school board task force, attending a public meeting or even voting in a local election is just too much work. <BR/><BR/>As for their "smarts," the far-flung exurbs are beginning to see the chickens come home to roost as energy prices rise. It's important to understand that the entire exurban way of life, in unwalkable communities far from even the most bare-bones public transportation, is reliant on cheap oil. <BR/><BR/>If it's any consolation, the Triad is not alone in the flight of the selfish from core municipalities. A quick scan of the major dailies in NC finds a whiny exurbanite self-righteous about gas prices in Clayton, outside of Raleigh, which is not a NIM, but it's one of the exploding Triangle exurbs where those who live off the fat of the Triangle's prosperity flee to contribute as little back as possible in taxes.<BR/><BR/>http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters/story/2818880p-9266415c.html<BR/><BR/>Of course, this individual now wants the State Government to intervene in the gasoline markets to insulate him from the consequences of his own choices, and further, he naively assumes there are no tradeoffs such as decreased road safety that externalizes costs through greater traffic fatalities and injuries. <BR/><BR/>The authors of this article (Couldn't find it on the byzantine N&R website) are right about the dilemma facing the metropolitan region in terms of tax-base. But let's not call the out-migration of the selfish a brain drain. The best and brightest aren't leaving Greensboro, Winston, and High Point for the dull conformity and isolation of the Triad exurbs. When those folks feel the need to spread their wings, they go to DC, Austin, the Bay Area, Boston, etc for a way of life that can't really be found in the Triad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com