Comments on Breakfast links: Moving right through - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by цarьchitect

Mon, 04 May 2009 14:29:10 EDT

Well, ah, Lewis' point was that when people get caught up in the notion that they can green everything in their lives with new gadgets and thermal chimneys, they miss the cheaper, easier (yes, easier in the long run) option of lifestyle change.

Comment by charlie

Mon, 04 May 2009 14:08:24 EDT

There is also a difference between violent crime, and property crime. Property crime is still orders of magnitude higher in the cities. It may not directly be related to violent crime, but when you come home and find your place ransacked, you tend to feel a bit more concerned about your personal security afterwards.

Comment by ah

Mon, 04 May 2009 13:20:13 EDT

The burger king/bike thing is just . . . odd. Talk about terrible customer service. At least tell the guy he has to come inside. What's up with that? That all said, I used to ride through the drive through w/o issue, but in a different time and place.

Comment by ah

Mon, 04 May 2009 13:19:17 EDT

I don't see why "green" housing is either/or. People are going to want to live in suburban areas as well--no reason not to have those houses be as green as possible, even while making efforts to allow more "greening" of urban regulations/limits.

Comment by MPC

Mon, 04 May 2009 12:45:37 EDT

Depends on what part of the city also. Trinidad /= Foxhall Rd. and the wrong-headed belief that acquiring more stuff increases happiness. Come on, that's a judgment call and you know that; you can do better than that. Just as not everyone in DC is a crack baby with AIDS, not everyone in the suburbs is miserable, has no socialization and is financially ruined from flipping a McMansion. Most of the thriving immigrant communities, for example, are in the DC suburbs, not the city itself. Just off the top of my head, we've got Bolivans, Salvadorans and Koreans in Annandale (going to AHS was like being in the UN), Vietnamese in Falls Church, etc. etc.

Comment by Cavan

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:58:41 EDT

Sadly, Salaam failed to realize that the "hollowing out" of our cities is what contributed to the high crime rates in the 1980's, not the other way around. Many middle class people had already moved out of the city in favor of car-dependent suburbs long before the crack epidemic and even before the 1968 riots. They were spurred on by government policies, cultural trends, and the wrong-headed belief that acquiring more stuff increases happiness. He deserves credit for pointing out that there is a higher chance of dying in a car collision in suburbia than in a crime in a city.