Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

MONDAY MORNING TEST

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

Google Map search for Mountain House, California and Waterloo, Iowa (Tks to Larry Gross for a great example)

Background: Mountain House is the new poster child of Wrong House, Wrong Location and underwater mortgages (90% or 95% depending on source.) Both Mountain House and Waterloo are in agricultural regions that are among the most productive on the planet.

If from these two maps do not make:

Clear Edge
Critical Mass
Balanced Community
New Urban Region
Mobility and Access Crisis
Affordable and Accessible Housing Crisis
Helter Skelter Crisis
Sustainable human settlement patterns

very clear to you, please do not vote or invest until you have overcome Geographic Illiteracy.

Until a majority of US of A citizens can understand these eight concepts, political leaders will have no choice but to promise economic growth instead of sustainable trajectory for society.

EMR

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16 responses to “MONDAY MORNING TEST”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    what was it you said about anecdotes, vs data?

    RH

  2. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    I just wanted to know if Waterloo, Iowa is it’s own New Urban Region or part of another one ..or if it is part of an Urban support region.

    Much of the economic activity in Waterloo is based on the AG carried out on the lands around Waterloo.

    So.. do we have Waterloo with it’s clear edge and the lands around it supporting it…as a stand-alone New Urban Region?

    And if that is true then if the AG land around it produces more food than Waterloo needs.. then does that mean the land outside of the clear edge of Waterloo is a Urban Support Region?

    and then of course, we have the issue of where is the electricity than Waterloo needs – produced.

    Is it produced inside the clear edge of Waterloo? or in the lands around it… or somewhere else?

    I know… I know.. by asking such insulting questions just proves that, once again, I refuse to learn….

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “All words are inherently dangerous; that’s why the press is the first place dictators quash when they overthrow a government. The person in power gets to define the term and the connotation. Your blog = bailout. My blog = loan. Pretty simple.”

    “Subjected to more than a century of propaganda masquerading as news, Russians often seem to live in a different reality from the rest of us. At a time when their country is locked in its worst financial crisis in a decade, Russians are more optimistic about the economy than they have ever been. According to opinion polls, 57% reckon it is flourishing, up from 53% in July.

    The survey’s findings are a triumph for the state, proving that the Kremlin has not lost its touch when it comes to manipulating fact. Obeying orders from the top, Russian television has banned the use of words such as “crisis,” “decline” and “devaluation.” Coverage of the mayhem in the country’s stock market, where shares have fallen by 75% since August (see chart above), is scant.

    Instead, just as in Soviet times, Russians are told how bad everything is in the West. The US, Russians are told, is in irreversible decline, while desperate Britons are throwing themselves into the Thames. The Queen, facing imminent penury, has been forced to pawn her diamonds and, according to one tabloid front page, Brits can no longer afford to bury their dead.”

    Why do these stories remind me of EMR’s diatribes?

    RH

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “…please do not vote or invest until you …” [meet my standards].

    Once again, so much for free markets and democracy.

    As for me, whoever you are, wherever you are, spend YOUR money as YOU please and try to elect whoever you think will do the most for your betterment, whether that means more spending or less taxes.

    RH

  5. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    1-6 fine

    7. Helter Skelter Crisis

    Thats a new one to me

    8. Sustainable human settlment patterns

    Everyone hinges on this. I know this is your thesis but it will never work. Simply because you are never going to be able to force everyone to work/live/commute the way you need them to to optimize your personal viewpoint to utopia

    This is a democratcy not EMR’s dictatorship market forces trump everything. (See gas price bubble, housing cost bubble, stock market bubble, relationship between school quality and home values etc)

    P.S. thats not an attack thats reality

    NMM

  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I just read the wikipedia summary on Mountain House, CA and find it really interesting. The idea that we can “grow” into sustainability may be at best problematic, at worst a fantasy. The challenge of sustainability may force us to rewrite our theories of economics, as farmland is destroyed.

    -another downtowner

  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “The planned community was envisioned as a sustainable new town that would provide housing and services with minimal impact on agricultural land and habitat for a region whose population was expected to triple in size between 1987 and 2025.

    ……..

    When fully completed in 2025, the 4,800-acre (19 km2) “Smart Growth” community will feature a mix of 12 residential neighborhoods with pedestrian-friendly retail-oriented town centers, parks, and nearby schools, plus separate zones for commercial activities and industrial districts. Two of the villages are planned to be “for seniors only” surrounding a community golf course.

    It is the largest such planned development in San Joaquin County in many years, projected to provide 15,600 homes for 44,000 residents by 2025.

    Until the current development, land in the Mountain house area was primarily used for agriculture. “

    So this is different from any other development how, exactly? You don’t think the developers were speculating on converting agricultural land?

    There may be plenty of open space now, but the land use map shows all the agricultural space cut up into conveneint size blocks for housing, but useless for agriculture.

    I fail to see the difference between this and any other exurban suburb in CA.

    On the other hand, if you think that growing into sustainability is problematic, just wait until you try shrinking into sustainability.

    RH

  8. E M Risse Avatar
    E M Risse

    Another Downtowner said:

    “I just read the wikipedia summary on Mountain House, CA and find it really interesting.”

    EMR read that too before posting. It is not “interesting” it is frightening, like that holiday we just celebrated with the witches and ghosts with sales advertising by Humpty Dumpty.

    Mountain House would not be a bad idea INSIDE THE CLEAR EDGE AROUND SACRAMENTO OR OAKLAND, not halfway between Tracy and Livermore.

    Wrong Size House in the Wrong Location. Had this been modest migrant worker housing with support services and on 200 rather than 4,000 acres …

    It is like a Haymount (Caroline County, VA) on seroids with real money invested.

    WRONG LOCATION.

    It is not just individual lots or orphan subdivisions that can be in the wrong location.

    Talk about using marketing hype to sell sows ear.

    The funniest thing is that those with Geographic Illiteracy cannot see the difference between this and sound development strategies.

    “The idea that we can “grow” into sustainability may be at best problematic, at worst a fantasy. The challenge of sustainability may force us to rewrite our theories of economics, as farmland is destroyed.”

    Your are right Another Downtowner, there can be some “growing” but it has to be on land that is now vacant and underutilized and INSIDE the Clear Edge and create Balance, not disaster.

    Mountain House is a sick joke, the problem is that it not yet clear to many just how bad it was from the start.

    It is nice that underwater mortgages brought it to the fore but too bad it was not stopped before it go started. Wonder who loaned them the money for development?

    That loan may be in a debt swap in your 401K.

    EMR

  9. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    re: “Mountain House would not be a bad idea INSIDE THE CLEAR EDGE AROUND SACRAMENTO OR OAKLAND, not halfway between Tracy and Livermore.”

    re: Haymount

    What would you say EMR if Toyota decided to put a plant than employed 3000 people in Mountain House INSTEAD of an existing New Urban Region – you know like they actually did for Blue Springs, Mississippi?

    What then?

    If in doing that – a community became “balanced” how would we know where the brand new “clear edge” should be (or not)?

    Bonus Question: Why do you think Toyota picked Blue Springs instead of an existing New Urban Region …say like Detroit or some other Rust Belt location?

    Do you think that Toyota has the “right” to decide WHERE they want to locate – even if it totally screws up ideas about “balance”?

  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Bingo Larry

    Asuuming EMR can somehow force people where to live (highly unlikely)

    He is never going to be able to force Businesses where to locate. Ppoof the whole entire utopican perfectly balanced dream goes up in smoke.

    Why do we need any of this again. Businesses choose where to locate for profitablility. People choose where to live for many reasons. That is what freedom is. The freedom of choice AND then being responsible and mature enough to deal with the consesquences of your choice.

    Get government/planning out of this of course then EMR would be out of a job.

    NMM

  11. E M Risse Avatar
    E M Risse

    Too All:

    EMR appolgizes for the too hasty 8:15 post.

    There is one thing that could be worse than Mountain House in its current configuration and location. That would be to spread the 20,000 Mountain House dwellings on 5 to 10 acre lots along Cal Route 33 from Brentwood to Tracy. (Print out a Googel Map)

    The Mountain House development — note 10 persons per acre at small (not Critial Mass) Community scale — would not have to be inside Clear Edge around Greater Oakland or Sacramento, it could be inside the Clear Edge around Tracy or Manteca IF the project created Balance at the Alpha Community Scale.

    What frosts EMR is that Mountain House put the right urban fabric at the Cluster, Neighborhood and Village scales in the WRONG LOCATION.

    Even worse they use words like “planned community” and “sustainable” to describe a project that could never meet the goals of either due to LOCATION.

    Larry:

    EMR does not have time do a Regional sketch plan for the Northern Part of California but the CITIZEN (FOURTH ESTATE)process would be a Wright Plan (that is Henry not Frank Lloyd) to allocate Urbanside and Countrysid.

    Larry G said…

    re: “Mountain House would not be a bad idea INSIDE THE CLEAR EDGE AROUND SACRAMENTO OR OAKLAND, not halfway between Tracy and Livermore.”

    (See above)

    re: Haymount

    What would you say EMR if Toyota decided to put a plant than employed 3000 people in Mountain House INSTEAD of an existing New Urban Region…”

    PLEASE! Mountain House and Heymount bothy are IN New Urban Regions. They are both in what should be the Countryside portion of New Urbnan Regions.

    ” – you know like they actually did for Blue Springs, Mississippi?”

    If Toyota is part of the 20,000 jobs “planned” for Mountain House that would be a step in the right direction.

    “If in doing that – a community became “Balanced” how would we know where the brand new “clear edge” should be (or not)?”

    NO because there is already vastly more land inside Clear Edges (not in Waterloo but elsewhere) that is vacant and underutilized.

    This land is vacant and underutilized due to speculation and failed Agency programs.

    “Bonus Question: Why do you think Toyota picked Blue Springs instead of an existing New Urban Region …say like Detroit or some other Rust Belt location?”

    Subsidy and the existing uneven playing field made that the best choice at the time Toyota made the decision.

    “Do you think that Toyota has the “right” to decide WHERE they want to locate – even if it totally screws up ideas about “balance”?”

    Absolutly, Toyota and all other Enterprises should do what will make the most return for the investors. That is what Enterprises do.

    It is the Agencies and the Institutions that are wraping the playing field. (more in note to NMM)

    11/18/08 8:35 AM

    NMM said…

    “Bingo Larry”

    Sorry, Larry’s card still has a number of blanks…

    “Asuuming EMR can somehow force people where to live (highly unlikely)…”

    Please can the Strawpersons, with the right information and a clear understanding of the costs and benefits of options, the vast majority would make the right decisions without any “force.”

    This is proven by the pattern of settlement pattern most highly valued in the market — by those who have a choice.

    That is why a fair allocation of cost is so important.

    “He is never going to be able to force Businesses where to locate. Proof the whole entire utopican perfectly balanced dream goes up in smoke.”

    Same story second verse. With a level playing field, Enterprises will locate where they have the best chance of the highest return. In this case near the labor market. Blue Springs had a lot of labor that could drive long distances on cheap gasoline. In today’s reality, they might make a different decision.

    It is the Agency responses to uninformed citizen pressures (See THE ESTATES MATRIX) that are one of the root problems, the other is unfair allocation of the true location variable costs. (See ROOTS OF THE HELTER SKELTER CRISIS)

    “Why do we need any of this again. Businesses choose where to locate for profitablility. People choose where to live for many reasons. That is what freedom is. The freedom of choice AND then being responsible and mature enough to deal with the consesquences of your choice.”

    Tell me about the Freedom of Mobility and Access and of finding Affordable shelter in an accessible location.

    The “freedom” afforded by Large, Private Vehicles and the settlement pattern they require is a myth. This the myth has never provided real freedom for the vast majority.

    Democracy and market economies cannot survive now that the limits of resouces are coming into clear focus.

    “Get government/planning out of this of course then EMR would be out of a job.”

    If you are talking about past Municipal Agency planning you are right. See “The Role of Municipla Planning in Creation of Dysfunctional Human Settlement Patterns,” 22 January 2008.

    EMR has not worked on an Agency staff since 1967.

    EMR

    NMM

  12. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    EMR I think I have a summary post ready short and sweet. Actually it might even be for the whole blog.

    You will never have a truely level playing field.

    That is why your system will never work.

    It is very well thought out. You are a very intelligent individual. You have identified the actors that influence the playing field. You have identified the eight root causes of destruction.

    However, unless you somehow create a giant EMR policy/governance body none of the needed changes are enforceable.

    Sure energy costs are helping somewhat but quality of life (education, space, neighborhood makeup, crime rate,) will always trump what makes the most economic sense.

    As a relatively young person in my 20s I have already changed my outlook. Personally I act like an economist I used to think most people would act that way too once they are presented with data. However, the majority of people still choose to behave “irrationally” from an economic standpoint due to the reasons stated above

    Thanks for the response

    NMM

  13. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    I just have one question.

    “Countryside portion of New Urbnan Regions.”

    what the HEY is this?

    I thought there were clear edges that separated the two densities…

    and now EMR throws this new term into the mix…

    Can we really have “countryside” inside a NUR..??

    I thought this was verboten..

  14. E M Risse Avatar
    E M Risse

    Larry:

    For your own sake,READ THE DEFINITIONS in GLOSSARY.

    You are making a fool of yourself. The Clear Edge is between the Urbanside and the Countryside. Most New Urban Regions — even coterminus ones that make up MegaRegions — are around 90 percent Countryside and 10 percent Urbanside.

    No wonder you do not understand.

    EMR

  15. E M Risse Avatar
    E M Risse

    NOTE TO NMM

    When EMR was your age he had many questions.

    EMR knew a lot of people, however, who were VERY sure they had THE answers and they sounded a lot like your answers.

    (Time frame: EMR had completed military service and was in the third year of law school when Barry Goldwater ran for president.)

    Given where they were and who their parents were, it was not surprising that some of the self-assured found ways to make a lot of money and / or achieve high status.

    Others crashed and burned but most just went with the flow and rode the tide that was raising all boats until the middle 70s. Even then most of the boats the self-assured were continued to rise until recently.

    NOW none of these citizens are at all sure that what they knew to be “the answers” THEN has anything to do with creating a sustainable future for their grandchildren, much less society.

    Good luck in finding happiness and safety base on what happened over the past 60 years.

    Check out the forthcoming Robert Samuelson book I recommended to Groveton in the More On Housing post.

    EMR

  16. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    re: vocabulary

    right you are…

    tell me again where I can find it EMR.

    so.. tell me again.. what is the difference between “countryside” and an “urban support region” ….

    what activities occur in “urban support regions” that cannot occur in the “countryside” and vice versa?

    is that in your vocabulary also?

    so here’s a reverse challenge EMR.

    I will submit that it is YOU that is being the FOOL.. if you continue to evade answering these obvious questions and further explaining to ALL of us the things that are NOT in your NOT easily-accessible ..so-called “vocabulary”.

    wise up fella ..

    I don’t see most of the other folks here.. understanding your vocabulary either…

    So.. if MOST folks do not understand …then does that mean that MOST folks are also making fools of themselves?

    so .. just so you don’t forget the question (or pretend to).

    Tell EVERYONE here what is the difference between the “countryside” in a NUR and an Urban Support Region.

    the ball is in your court guy

    you can swing.. and hit or miss.. but if you just stand there.. you’re not in the game.

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