Some may have never heard of the term exurbia before now. According to the free on-line dictionary it means: The exurbs collectively; the region beyond the suburbs.
Exurbia to me is an expression that defines a free range lifestyle. Where I live there is space, nature surrounds my house, I can play music as loudly as I care to, trails connect me to beautiful places, when a recipe calls for lemons or rosemary, I can walk outside and collect whatever I need, and a seasonal garden provides all the abundance I require to make healthy and organic meals.
Getting around town is easy and I usually find everything I need in one trip. I used to live in an urban area and now feel grateful that I don’t have to cope with the inconveniences of that lifestyle any more. More on that later!
It takes about 20 minutes for my husband to commute to work every day. When the day is over and he comes home, he looks forward to propping up his legs, reading and smoking a cigar. We have neighbors and we like waving to them from across the way. Recently, we have been getting together to make wine.
We did not always have the privilege to live in this atmosphere of peaceful, quiet living. When we lived in the city, we were constantly fighting for parking spaces, we had to traipse up and down stairs to do laundry and then dry clothes on a line outside and risk icicles on the sleeves of our shirts and the bottom of our pants. The traffic was exhausting and the noise from the neighbors below us, behind us, and on top of us was annoying and distracting. Raising kids in this environment was tedious and kept us constantly vigilant.
The day we finally moved into our house in the exurbs was a great day! Unfortunately, our dream of retiring in this home, developing the orchard and the garden, and enjoying our new quality of life, may be directly impacted by a new trend in planning called sustainable development and smart growth.
As I research these new planning trends I have learned that what this force of change really means is a whole life plan. Sustainable development seeks to change the way we live, how we interact with nature, how we choose to use our land and our property (all property–even your own person!!), where we live and how we live! It is a massive propaganda piece to change our behavior and how we think.
We must educate ourselves about the truth behind the ‘green’ agenda, the urban consolidation agenda, the livability agenda, and any and all agendas having to do with sustainable development.
In order to recognize this whole life plan when you see it, you must understand the words they are using and the methods they are using to implement it. The planners, environmentalists, social activists, city, state and federal officials, media, and public relations firms are telling us what these plans are. We are not educated yet.
I want to share my exurban quality of life.
Check out Mary Baker’s new blog, Exurbia Chronicles.
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Located at the Stratton
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Regurgitation of Conspiracy-Mongering Links Make No Sense
First of all, I (msetty) didn't make the comments I quoted. That was a comment from "Greater Greater Washington."
"Your comments unfortunately revealed that you have no respect for the culture and values that separate America from the rest of the world. There is a reason Americans do not see pictures of the slums in Communist countries on the evening news."
The stupid b.s. about a conspiracy theory aside, the main point of the comments I quoted was that people like Mary and this stupid follow-up commenter wants the government and taxpayers to continue to subsidize their lifestyle. I for one simply want the vast subsidies paid out to subsidize the "exurbs" and other sorts of sprawl by eliminating auto subsidies and charging the act of driving for the various negative externalities it causes.
For a comprehensive discussion of this from a strongly FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE point of view, see http://www.strongtowns.org/, which essentially advocates returning to the pre-World War II way that the U.S. built its towns and cities, e.g., before America's ill-considered experiment with auto-oriented sprawl--which has been called the greatest mis-allocation of resources in world history by James Howard Kunstler...I agree with Kunstler on this point, though he's wrong on a lot of other details.
For the record, I live in a "deep rural" area of the San Francisco Bay Area North Bay for historic family reasons. Over the years, I've lived in a real, very walkable town (Pacific Grove, CA), an utterly unwalkable, sprawling low density rural enclave of retirees known for "mysterious" one-car accidents by seniors (Paradise, CA. (sic)), as well as "deep urban" Oakland, CA. Unlike denizens of most exurbs, where I live we simply demand that the County keep the potholes filled on our bumpy rural road--a cost that our property taxes barely cover...and unlike some other currently rural denizens, we don't mind a bit paying an extra assessment for Calfire!...but I digress...
Group Think & Bicycles For All
You didn't read any of the documents I suggested to help you get educated on your subject matter. There is no "theory" here.
If you are truly worried about taxes you should take comfort in looking at a single day:
You wake up in the morning and turn on the light: you're paying taxes on that light.
You walk into the bathroom to potty and when you flush the toilet, you're paying taxes.
You brush your teeth, more taxes.
Eat, more taxes.
Get dressed, you paid taxes on the clothes you wear and you'll pay taxes when you wash and dry them to wear again.
Whatever you take to work, your bike or your car, you paid taxes on it. If it's a car - as is your choice - you're paying taxes on the gas you burn on your way to work. Your vehicle of choice is deteriorating also so more taxes whether you fix it later or buy new.
While at work, you'll be gathering a tax burden to be taken from the pay you're earning and you'll owe it at every level.
And back at the home you aren't in while you're working, taxes are adding up for the day - whether you own or rent.
Taxes are also accumulating on the building you're working in.
Use the telephone: more taxes.
Warm your lunch in the microwave or go out: taxes.
Everything you touch throughout the day: taxes.
Etc., etc., etc.
Now multiply by every person and figure out how we got to be 15 TRILLION dollars in debt. Who is overspending? Oops, it's that tax monster with the 300 billion hands again!
To think we have people trained to believe we aren't paying the great and powerful entity enough! It's eating people's dinner now, taking food from children's mouths, taking homes from families and killing their jobs! Now, you think it should steal the rest of the homes along with the freedom to drive? That is radically extreme.
Try to relax. You're going to need your strength to peddle yourself around. And take my advice, stay away from Costco.
What State Do You Live In?
I suspect it is a "red" state that is highly subsidized by "blue" states like California and New York. That is, the red states generally get far more back in federal spending than they pay in taxes--yet these are the most anti-government places.
And every dense urban areas subsidize the rural areas with their taxes.
And for the record, I'm quite familiar with the various documents you claim I haven't read. I can give YOU a stack of references documenting how heavily subsidized the suburbs and driving are, but I doubt you'd ever bother reading them since they conflict with your preconceived notions and precious delusions that self-servingly conflate the culture of the auto and suburb-based, so-called "American Dream" with Constitutional freedoms.
As for the idea that we're overtaxed, what a load of b.s.! In the 1970's the rich paid on average 40% of their income in taxes, and overall the average person was relatively more prosperous! If average wages had kept up with the increase in productivity since the 1970's, the median family income would be $92,000 not $50,000. Don't argue with me, ignoramus, argue with this: http://nick-hanauer.com/
The Best Comment on "Agenda 21ers" Like Ms. Baker
From http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/03/the-agenda-21-nutbars.html#commen...
On that note, I would think a lot more of the “Agenders” if they would drop the idiotic canards about the UN takeover and just be honest about what they want.
“IMHO” what the “Agenders” are really saying is, hey we LIKE suburbia, we like car culture and we want government to do everything in its power to preserve and expand that lifestyle. We want government to give us cheap gasoline no matter what; we want government to build roads and sewers and water plants wherever the developers want to put up the next subdivision and strip mall; we only want to see large lot single family houses; and we DON’T want anyone telling us there might be limits to our lifestyle.
I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that because the alternative, that they really believe in a UN takeover, is completely idiotic.
Local streets are generally built by the developers.
The local streets in subdivisions are (in Texas at least) built by the developers and presented to the county. Also here we have a private water supply company, and use septic. Being in the unincorporated area means also you get to buy garbage service. So its only the arterial streets that county gov pays for and police and fire services (via an emergency services district). So its not always the case otherwise in Ca there is a thing called Mello Ross which is a special tax on new developments to pay for the infrastructure improvements. Closer in to big cities (in Tx)water and sewer are done by municipal utility districts which levy taxes to pay for the infrastructure. So in these cases most of the cost ends up on the people who live there.
Sustainable Development Agenda 21
My thanks to Mary Baker for her article about living in exurbia! It is obvious Ms. Baker has done her homework on the dangers of the "United" Nations "Sustainable Development Agenda 21" - the blueprint for living in the 21st Century - that calls for a massive paradigm shift in every area of human life.
Agenda 21 calls for a restructuring of the "human habitat" also referred to as "human settlements" as well as massively expanded "open spaces," "wildlife corridors" and "national monuments" where humans are barred from entrance.
For the human who posted the hate comment where name calling proceeded the rant against suburbia, the "car culture," etc., I have a few suggestions:
1) Read "Rescue Mission Planet Earth: A Children's Edition of Agenda 21" produced by United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Development Project (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)& Peace Child International. You will find an introduction from Boutros Boutros-Ghali the former Secretary General of the United Nations. On page 7, you will read statements from former Soviet Russian Dictator Mikhail Gorbachev which terrorizes children saying that saving the planet "will require changing the very foundations of modern civilization - the relationship of humans to nature." Also a statement from Al Gore: "... I strongly urged the establishment of a Mission to Planet Earth, a worldwide monitoring system staffed by children..." On page 81 under "Black Holes in Agenda 21" we read: "GOVERNANCE... We need a new way of governing the whole planet."
2) Read Agenda 21 by Earthpress. Chapter 5 is titled "The Management of Human Settlements." Chapter 8 is "Implementing AGENDA 21."
3) Read "Our Common Future" by the World Commission on Environment & Development"
4) Read "Our Global Neighborhood" The Report of the Commission on Global Governance.
5) View "Agenda 21 for Dummies" on youtube; visit FreedomAdvocates.org and DemocratsAgainstUNAgenda21.com.
6) Study photosynthesis and what happens to plants (a foodsource) without CO2.
7) Look out the window the next time you fly. 93% of America is unpopulated.
8) Notice that Albert Gore Jr. and your leaders have not stopped burning jet fuel as they travel from nation to nation telling others to cut back their own energy consumption before the earth is destroyed.
9) Read the "Earth Charter" crafted by Soviet Dictator Mikhail Gorbachev, Steven Rockefeller (billionaire) and UN leader Maurice Strong (billionaire). This document outlines the principles behind AGENDA 21 where the value of a man's life is no greater than that of a rock. Check out earthcharterinaction.org
10) Get on the UN's website and read E/c.19/2010/4 dated Jan. 15, 2010 "Study of the need to recognize and respect the rights of Mother Earth." On Pg. 15, Section VI, item 46 states that "inanimate beings have been endowed with rights..." Item 47 states "...What is called spiritual ecology also proposes a closer relationship between nature and mankind." The UN promotes the "Gaia Hypothesis" here: Earth Worship! Another doc dated Aug. 15, 2011 from the UN's General Assembly titled "Harmony with Nature" verifies the implementation of Agenda 21. Peruse to your heart's content - enjoy your freedom!
AGENDA 21 is very real and it is being implemented in the United States of America. Towing the group mentality from the Communist Party USA (see cpusa.org) risks making your children or grandchildren equal to the whales born inside the pool at Sea World. People from all over the world come to America to be free. (Didn't even work for the Prince Budda!) No other nation on earth has provided as much freedom or prosperity.
Your comments unfortunately revealed that you have no respect for the culture and values that separate America from the rest of the world. There is a reason Americans do not see pictures of the slums in Communist countries on the evening news.
Americans do not rely on their government to determine what is right for them. Here, it is the other way around. The only power we have delegated to our elected officials is the duty to protect us and our freedoms.
While it is your choice to live in the concrete jungle downtown and travel by mass transit or bicycle, it is not your choice to steal the rights of others to choose to live outside of that densely populated area. It is also your choice to leave America and seek your containment in another country.
AMERICA - LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!
It's your choice but if you need someone to make your decisions for you, no need to bother the group, I volunteer.