Geometric low density sprawl

[Michael]

Here's some cool looking pictures of low-density suburban sprawl in Florida.

These places seem to be attractive or popular with many people, but from the point of view of energy efficiency, global climate change and/or human dynamics, these neigborhoods subdivisions are enormously wasteful and seemingly non-functional.

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/swfla_09_30/s16_00000016.jpg

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/swfla_09_30/s22_00000015.jpg

There's a couple dozen more pictures like this at Landscapes in SW Florida (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/09/human_landscapes_in_sw_florida.html)

[The Drunk Guy]

When the shit hits the fan, I'm going to head down that way. Should be enough looting and plundering to live off of for ages.

[JHC]

When the shit hits the fan, I'm going to head down that way. Should be enough looting and plundering to live off of for ages.

I wouldn't if I were you. They/we are all armed to the teeth and living in those conditions makes people a little nuts.:erm:
I'm only half joking of course.

The problem is not as simple as it seems. All of those people have to live somewhere and in Florida, there simply are not enough resources to support them wherever/however they live. We are running out of water in our very thin watershed. Agriculture run-off is polluting the gulf, rivers and estuaries so that we are reducing our food from the sea. There would have to be fewer people in order to make this work. Stacking them up wouldn't actually help much here, in my opinion.

[Americano]

Sounds like an eventual Solyent Green (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green)scenario.

[The Drunk Girl]

In my horrible singing voice: :music: Little houses on the hillside and they're all made out of ticky-tacky. Little houses on the hillside and they all look just the same.

[The Drunk Guy]

I wouldn't if I were you. They/we are all armed to the teeth and living in those conditions makes people a little nuts.:erm:
I'm only half joking of course.

I'm banking on them all killing each other prior to my arrival. ;)


To be serious, I don't see what people find attractive about such circumstances. I would rather rent an apartment than buy a house that is only distinguishable by the number on the door. These sort of vast subdivisions are just one of the many signs of the zeitgeist: apathy.

[Michael]

To be serious, I don't see what people find attractive about such circumstances. I would rather rent an apartment than buy a house that is only distinguishable by the number on the door. These sort of vast subdivisions are just one of the many signs of the zeitgeist: apathy.

I agree that there is a large element of apathy here - lots of people just want their own plot of land with a white picket fence around it (and fuck the rest of the world, that's not my problem). :shrug:

[Americano]

I wouldn't if I were you. They/we are all armed to the teeth and living in those conditions makes people a little nuts.:erm:
I'm only half joking of course.

The problem is not as simple as it seems. All of those people have to live somewhere and in Florida, there simply are not enough resources to support them wherever/however they live. We are running out of water in our very thin watershed. Agriculture run-off is polluting the gulf, rivers and estuaries so that we are reducing our food from the sea. There would have to be fewer people in order to make this work. Stacking them up wouldn't actually help much here, in my opinion.

Here's (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Colorado-River-Runs-Dry.html) a very interesting article on the subject of human population overwhelming water resources.

[Michael]

Here's (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Colorado-River-Runs-Dry.html) a very interesting article on the subject of human population overwhelming water resources.

Here's the key quote from that article: McBride knew the delta was suffering, but he was surprised when he visited it for the first time. “I spent two weeks walking the most parched, barren earth you can imagine,” he recalls. “It’s sad to see the mighty Colorado River come to a dribble and end some 50 miles north of the sea.”

I believe the Rio Grande also fails to reach the sea these days.

And of course, this has been the fastest-growing region in the USA for the last 30 years. Nothing surprising at all - this is a very predictable result. This is the driest region in the USA and always has been.

[Americano]

I liked "The river has become a perfect symbol of what happens when we ask too much of a limited resource: it disappears. In fact, the Colorado no longer regularly reaches the sea".

The US has been quite successful at exhausting limited natural resources.

[JHC]

Here's (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Colorado-River-Runs-Dry.html) a very interesting article on the subject of human population overwhelming water resources.

Oh, yeah. My dad was a civil engineer whose specialty was water management. Growing up in Wyoming, I had a very good education in water resources. I remember Dad going on about our water being spent on golf courses in California.

[Americano]

Oh, yeah. My dad was a civil engineer whose specialty was water management. Growing up in Wyoming, I had a very good education in water resources. I remember Dad going on about our water being spent on golf courses in California.

In the 1970s California made repeated, formal requests complete with lobbying efforts to Oregon and Washington State in attempts to pipe water from their rivers into California. They were told not a chance in hell.

[Michael]

On the subject of fresh water supplies, I believe Canada and Finland, between them have almost 50% of the world's supply.