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I lifted this from the end of my previous post:

Why on Earth would anyone be “worried” about this? Prices adjust. Entrepreneurs respond. Unless of course one can’t help but think that everything good in the world comes as a result of conscious policy choices. Drive around Rochester and there are already quite a few communities and developments popping up to satisfy those needs. Imagine this author writing in 1900: “today 40% of America lives and works on a farm but researchers estimate that by the end of the century less than 3% of Americans will live in this way. Today’s farm buildings are designed and built for a rough, rugged and hearty rural population – far from towns, with questionable plumbing and long rutted driveways, little closet space and nary an internet connection. How can tomorrow’s generation of connected, hip, “I want it now” people ever manage to survive in a country that was not built precisely for them, 40 years before they needed it? One can only imagine. But hopefully we can enact smart policies to ensure adequate housing for these future urbanites and figure out what to do with the enormous amount of silos, farm outbuildings and quaint farmhouses that just won’t suit the millions of new urban dwellers a 100 years from now. In addition to having to worry about the onset of a world war, a flu pandemic and the rapid deforestation of the American wilderness, add this menace to your list!”

One Response to “You Should Be Very Worried!”

  1. Harry says:

    File this one under central planning, too, WC.

    A few years back a township next to mine passed an ordinance to adopt something called the International Planning Code which allows the township to regulate small details of how people keep their property — for example, one is not allowed to have an old car on cinder blocks outside next to the garage awaiting restoration. I do not know whether pink flamingoes are allowed, but would not be surprised if there is a section dealing with their placement and size.

    The interesting thing is that the Supervisors who pushed this through were voted out of office in November, and I read in the local paper that the new Supervisors repealed the ordinance, not wanting to be tarred and feathered by an angry mob. For now, township residents are more free. Of course there are still ordinances prohibiting neighbors starting a hog operation in the back yard of their half-acre lot, but here is one example where freedom and justice has prevailed.

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