Footprint Tradeoff

In a recent Midtown Brews conversation there was talk about the reduction of land that is not covered/paved over. When a new store is built on uncovered land and a new parking lot is paved onto land formerly covered by vegetation we lose places where water is filtered and seeps into the water table, places that keep water runoff from building into eroding rivers.

Perhaps communities that are into building new businesses or acquiring existing businesses from other communities can make an effort to help the greater region by reclaiming land for green space foot for square foot when new construction takes place. That reclamation does not need to take place within their own community but can be made within another community that may not be able to afford to raze that abandoned drugstore or factory. Suburbs with their new malls can pay for the reclamation of land in the inner city.

Given that this practice would require no net gain in covered/paved space, there would be pressure to be more efficient in footprint usage. There would be more apartments and townhouses and fewer mansions, more parking garages and fewer parking lots, more live/work space and less retail strips.

Diminished Thought

Reaching into the brain
Searching for the connections that fail to appear,
Knowing of another night to come
Where sleep is fleeting and all too brief.

Avoiding the conversations that overtaxes what remains,
Drugs not being an option,
Rest seemingly the only hope.
Another day passes with no progress and much more falling behind.

Between the unavoidable interference,
Savoring the freedom,
Catching one’s breath,
Building strength for the next demand.

The physical and mental pain taking its toll.
Worry, fear not allowed to show their shadows.
Ever there being the hopeful expectation
That tomorrow will not be marred by diminished thought.

Do You Know Someone Who is Out of Work?

Do you know someone who is out of work? Take them out for some coffee and conversation. Introduce them to someone new. Let them know that you are there for support if needed. They do need get off the computer occasionally, get out of their houses, and talk to people who are not in the world of job searching, desperation, and depression, but rather are caring and listening.

You don’t always have to give them a network connection but if they ask, do so. Think about the times you met with coworkers and other employed friends and the pleasure you got from your interaction. Many unemployed have been disconnected from that resource and need to be offered that opportunity. You may be there at some point in your life.

Harnessing the Energy of Fear

The more we create and participate in trusted networks the better we are able to deal with the uncertainties and fear in our lives. Fear will destroy a community unless there is a way to harness that energy and move the community forward rather than backward.

One major problem that we all face is that there are those among us who harness the energy of fear but, rather than doing so to move us forward, doing so to create greater fear and more power to their own agenda. Many in the media are particularly good at expanding negative behavior as it exposes more to their paid advertising. There are politicians who are good at pandering to the fear so as to create support for their misguided agenda.

We need to be able to turn to trusted voices, share our concerns, and work through our feelings. In time of fear and economic woe, all of us, especially our leaders, need to help guide the conversations forward and dissipate the buildup of bile that poisons us all.

Our Money vs. Government Money

Once we give our tax money to the government it is no longer our money, it is the government’s money. That is what we as a community have decided through our laws by us and by our elected leaders. To believe otherwise guides us into behaving in ways that do not move us forward. to believe in that way leads me to argue that a government employee must behave in a certain way because I pay her salary or that I get to decided which policies and laws I can skirt because I pay lots of money to a government or person in the government.

Now, it is our government and they are our politicians, our elected leaders. How they behave is not controlled by us, but rather guided by us. If they do not seem to being doing whats best for the community they represent whether through incompetence, malfeasance, or through any other sort of misguided reasoning, then we need to make change to someone who inspires hope and encourages our voices to be heard.

The more open communication there is, the more likely informed decisions will be made. Remember that our government is a republic, not a democracy, we depend upon our politicians to make the best decision for us, not the decision that the majority of us want at a given time, not the decision that the person who will give them the most money or goods wants at a given time, and not the decision that is most likely to get them reelected.

And as citizens in a community it is up to us to speak our ideas and to be appreciative listeners in community so as to help guide our leaders and ourselves into making the best informed decisions. In order for a community to be sustainable there must be ongoing open conversation and sharing of ideas in all sorts of venues: in coffee shops, beauty parlors, grocery markets, libraries, schools, colleges, and on and on. There need to be ongoing civic gatherings where there is guided conversation. We need to listen, think, and talk in ways that move activity forward.

Voting

I voted today. It was voting day and I decided I was not going to vote absentee and I was not going to go downtown to election headquarters to vote early. I investigated the issues and the judges and the other candidates and listened to a lot of the talking heads. I don’t think I changed my mind on anything in the last three weeks but I can better explain to myself why I voted the way I did.

It was great to get up and get to the polls early seeing my neighbors doing the same. We were all there being accountable for our citizenship. There was excitement even before that first cup of coffee.

The line when I got there was out the door to the street but within fifteen minutes I was voting. The PTA did have a coffee cart outside to service the line but as the line dissipated before I finished the cart was back inside. I had gone on line last week and gotten a copy of the ballot so there were no surprises. It took five minutes to properly blacken all the appropriate ovals and then feed the ballot through the scanner.

I did get coffee and a Bialy bagel (If it’s not Bialy’s it’s just bread) supporting the PTA. It might be nice to sit around talking at tables after so as to break away from the solemnity of voting.

Isn’t it great to be able to vote and to have your vote mean something even in not supporting a winning side?

The Value of Community

Here in Cleveland a major employer has just been bought out by another in a neighboring state. As we watch the fluctuations in the value of our retirement accounts, we are also on edge about how all of the financial meltdown mire is going to bring change to our community. There seems to be little question that a large number of people will be displaced from their current work positions.

How the displacement affects the community is largely up to us. Will the community support those who are displaced? Will there be other positions available for making use of the years of experience? Will we think and behave in innovative ways to move the community forward? Or we will fall victim to the fear and sense of failure?

Now is the time to become engaged in conversation in the community. We need to talk through our fears being supportive of each other. We need to share the most valuable of our assets, our caring and our brainpower. Let us grow in community, celebrating and enhancing a legacy for our children and our children’s children.