Miniver Cheevey discusses
peak suburbia.
Another problem that I'm seeing in my (close-in, suburban) neighborhood is tracts of land that were bulldozed for housing projects just as the credit crunch hit. The "developers" are now nowhere to be seen. Now, the plots, which once provided habitat for wildlife and pollinators such as bees, are denuded and the land is eroding with every strong rainstorm.
Next time around, could we please exercise a little bit of planning and caution? Maybe require a "development fee" upfront to be used to clean up these sorts of messes? If not needed, half could be returned to the "developer" and half could go for infrastructure improvements: protected bus stops with seats, greenspace, community gardens, etc. Not a bad idea for McMansions (aka any house over X sq. feet), as well, although those funds should be held for 20 years and used to upgrade the property when it gets turned into multi-family housing even though the developer didn't build enough parking, sewage, green space, etc. for that use.
Sia provides an
interesting alternative.
