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[robsan (robsan]

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From: "Rob Sandelin (Exchange)" <Robsan [at] Exchange.MICROSOFT.com>
To: "cohousing-l [at] uci.com" <cohousing-l [at] uci.com>
Subject: RE: urban sprawl/anthroecotecture etc.
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 1995 13:04:20 -0800
Encoding: 35 TEXT



-----Original Message-----

Let me breifly summarize again where I am coming from:

I do not  beleive urban sprawl can be stopped.  I want to replace bad land 
use with cohousing land use.  I think doing housing clustering of 30 homes 
on 40 acres and leaving 25 acres as greenbelt is better land use than 
putting 80 homes on 40 acres with no greenbelt.  

I beleive that reasons for urbal sprawl are economic, driven by market 
demand.  I beleive that the economic forces of land development, at least in 
my area, are the driving force behind how land is used and how land use 
decisions get made.  

As long as huge profits can be made turning farmland into developments and 
selling homes I beleive that no matter how many studies you show about 
farmland, food production, etc it will NOT stop urban sprawl into converting 
farmland into housing developments. Therefore, I beleive cohousing groups 
should buy farmland first, before profit motive developers do, develop 
houses on it, and leave lots of the farmland intact.  I see cohousing as 
habitat/ farmland protection through development.  I beleive if we do not do 
this, then the for profit developers will develop land to maximize their 
profits and this will result in a worse outcome for the land and the planet 
as a whole.

Arguing about whether urban sprawl is good or bad is a waste of time.  Urban 
sprawl IS. And I see nothing to stop it short of total 
eco/environmental/social catastrophy, an event I hope not to live to see.  

Rob Sandelin