Sunday November 20, 2005

How long can we hold the line?

This struggle is as basic as the one between man and beast. In fact, it sort of is the struggle between man and beast. Every single day, 800 people move to Florida. Some of them want to live in a 1920’s house east of Biscayne. Some want to live in one of the snazzy new downtown condos. Some want to live in an appartment that’s affordable, and close to their job. But the overwhelming majority want a nice, brand new house, with a two-car garage, a big lawn, and a swimming pool. And they’re willing to commit well over a quarter million dollars to get one. That, my friends, will buy a lot of political pressure.

So maybe our friends at Hold the Line are fighting the rivers of time. The only thing they have on their side is a good argument, which goes something like this: unchecked development will run roughshod (will? ney- it has!) over the everglades, gradually destroying the natural ecosystem, all the while contributing to our unhealthy urban-sprawl city unplanning. A low-density city, they claim, is bad for the enviroment, bad for our social lives, and bad for numerous other reasons. Well, putting reasoning and studies by some of the most respected organizations in our country against well-paid lobbyists is just not a fair fight.

Why? Well, lobbyists won’t argue for urban sprawl as a desirable goal; they argue for the one particular development that they’re representing at any given point. And, taken individually, we suppose any development might sound good. Well, folks, nine developments go befor the County Commission today, asking to have the Urban Development Boundary expanded—just a little, you understand?

The Sunday Herald ran two articles about this, one a basic summary of the situation, the other an editorial by Carl Hiaasen. Carl is great – he’s not afraid to say that the developers are out for themselves, and we, the people, need to stick up for ourselves. On this, the Hold the Line folks agree – anyone who can make it to the meeting this Monday morning should get down there. Just putting in an appearance will make a difference, but by all means register to make a public comment. The meeting will be held at the County Chambers, on the second floor of 111 NW 1st Street. More information, along with instructions for e-mailing your commissioner if you can’t attend, here. Hold that line, y’all. And in the meantime, support your existing infastructure and city history by living as far east as you can.

Update: This morning, the Herald added a more official editorial aimed at the commissioners themselves:

Developers eager go outside the UDB say that it is the only place with land affordable enough to build reasonably priced homes. But the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning says there is enough land to continue building homes within the UDB until 2018. More important, adding to Miami-Dade’s sprawl will increase costs for all taxpayers. The reasons are well documented in studies and books.

Fair enough, but Hiaasen’s please are more relevant to the reader – they are about what we can do: show up at the meeting and tell our commissioners what we want.