New England Charm (houses, to live, shop)

[Torrey]

I would encourage all who love New England and want to keep it the way it is for the future, to contemplate growth. Not only the growth caused by the influx of people, but big business. Do you really want what you love ruined by big business, and uncontrolled growth? It is time to tend your garden, and either get out the weeds, or put down weed killer to keep things in check. Here is a good link you may want to check out:

Numbers USA

[GypsySoul22]

Torrey,
I saw what urban sprawl did to Long Island first hand. As a kid it was suburban but just so built up. Now all we have is congestion, 'row stores,' and more supermarkets than necessary. For example, within 2 miles of my house, we have 4 supermarkets.

There is also a lack of affordable housing and people are leaving.

People shop for sport and 'therapy' when they would be better served going into nature, enjoying the lovely parks and keeping the land safe and clean for their grandkids. People seem to shake their heads at us here because either Saturday or Sunday finds us at the park, walking, teaching our son about nature, animals, whatever.

However, big business is a draw to an area that 'needs jobs' such as in NH and Vermont if they want to keep people staying there.

[WIMU]

When we lived near Cincinnati the population of 2 close townships grew nearly 30,000 people in 8-9 years. We had rows and rows of houses as far as you could see. Nature came last, malls and strip malls came first. As GypsySoul 22 said shopping was a sport and everybody headed to the malls every single weekend. There were only a few parks to do anything in and sports and malls were the only alternative. A lot of spoiled kids are growing up back there as they had all the latest clothes and then some. If clothes weren't needed then something else was bought for them--name it it was yours. NH, VT, ME especially must retain the rural look and the historic charm and the overall stunning beauty while allowing people to migrate here in a controlled fashion to keep the beauty and not have malls unlimited populating the most beautiful areas of the states.

[GregW]

The idea is not to stop growth but to control growth so it serves the needs ans desires of the people, not the needs and desires of the corporations. I think this applies to the whole country, not just a state or town.

We need, as a people with all our diversity, to define what we want and stop letting the international financial elite tell us what we want and how and where we want to live. Business should, through the market and government regulation, serve all of us. Not just the small portion of us fortunate enough to own most of the business but also the rest of us that either do not have the ability to accumulate wealth or just do not want to dedicate their lives to greed and acquisition.

[nicolem]

Originally Posted by Torrey

I would encourage all who love New England and want to keep it the way it is for the future, to contemplate growth. Not only the growth caused by the influx of people, but big business. Do you really want what you love ruined by big business, and uncontrolled growth? It is time to tend your garden, and either get out the weeds, or put down weed killer to keep things in check. Here is a good link you may want to check out:

Numbers USA

Agreed. I am a fequent visitor to Numbers USA and ALIPAC. I fax, email and call my elected officials on a frequent basis. I have contacted reps from my town rep all the way up to Pres and DHS. Yes I usually get the form letter back but if we all did it-they would have to listen. If everyone would let there voices be heard it would make a difference. If only a few of us call, write or fax, then our voice is not as strong.