Yesterday I read a NYT article about the old age of our infrastructure, our inability to address it, and the consequences. Government no longer seems to be able to solve big problems. Communities are starved of resources because the people with the money, and who control the money, are undertaxed. The story this essay tells may well be another example of the impact of this breakdown.
What en eloquent telling John, I only wish your subject matter weren't so disconcerting. Hoping for a miracle of cooperation between all invested parties.
Stanwood is possibly a more instructive example. The comprehensive planning process resulted in a definition of long term planning limited to the next 20 years. 2043, I believe.
The Mayor told me in an email that he would not listen to “climate change evangelists.” The entire attitude in the municipal space is to completely ignore the very idea of climate change. The major portion of Stanwood was built in a flat estuary that is, present day, right at sea level or only a foot or so above. The focus of planning is on bringing business into downtown. Meanwhile, there is about half of the town uphill about 100 feet higher on the mainland plateau. The real estate values are going a bit higher just like everywhere else. The pending question is when will reality show up and cause the downtown to move uphill? What about planning for that? We do not even know what might be involved.
Yes, much of Stanwood and the surrounding farmland is in deep trouble. The sea level rise projections there are scary. The Nature Conservancy and Stillaguamish acquisitions may help buffer storms but won't do much for SLR. Conway, La Conner, Mt Vernon should all be concerned.
But this is MAGA territory. Fox News is the authority on climate change. Even the Sierra Club looks elsewhere for expressing environmental concern in terms of other aspects.
Snohomish County has a lot of older voters who do not want to let go of the old familiar rural past. Those moving in who are more career focused suburbanites are not yet a majority,
Yesterday I read a NYT article about the old age of our infrastructure, our inability to address it, and the consequences. Government no longer seems to be able to solve big problems. Communities are starved of resources because the people with the money, and who control the money, are undertaxed. The story this essay tells may well be another example of the impact of this breakdown.
What en eloquent telling John, I only wish your subject matter weren't so disconcerting. Hoping for a miracle of cooperation between all invested parties.
Yes, there needs to be political will to get anything done, and that means involving the community, as cantankerous as they are!
Stanwood is possibly a more instructive example. The comprehensive planning process resulted in a definition of long term planning limited to the next 20 years. 2043, I believe.
The Mayor told me in an email that he would not listen to “climate change evangelists.” The entire attitude in the municipal space is to completely ignore the very idea of climate change. The major portion of Stanwood was built in a flat estuary that is, present day, right at sea level or only a foot or so above. The focus of planning is on bringing business into downtown. Meanwhile, there is about half of the town uphill about 100 feet higher on the mainland plateau. The real estate values are going a bit higher just like everywhere else. The pending question is when will reality show up and cause the downtown to move uphill? What about planning for that? We do not even know what might be involved.
Yes, much of Stanwood and the surrounding farmland is in deep trouble. The sea level rise projections there are scary. The Nature Conservancy and Stillaguamish acquisitions may help buffer storms but won't do much for SLR. Conway, La Conner, Mt Vernon should all be concerned.
But this is MAGA territory. Fox News is the authority on climate change. Even the Sierra Club looks elsewhere for expressing environmental concern in terms of other aspects.
Yes, that's true, although the area almost got a democratic state senator. It was the adjacent piece of Snohomish that put Muzzall over the top.
Snohomish County has a lot of older voters who do not want to let go of the old familiar rural past. Those moving in who are more career focused suburbanites are not yet a majority,