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Oh Mr. Hansen, come on now. And how do you suppose they got that
budget? Surely all those resources must have come from the
"Budget Tree"! They must be indiginous to RI.<br><br>
No, they accepted growth, Mr. Hansen. <br><br>
Grow or die - that is the bottom line.<br><br>
Now let's cut to the chase. Surely we can afford growth at 350 head
per year. That really wouldn't inconvenience you too much now would
it?<br><br>
There is one particular flaw in the logic about the threat to
"<b><i>our </i></b>quality of life" here in Moscow.
First, who is "<b><i>our</i></b>"? Most of the resident
population in Moscow these days are transplants from somewhere else
(including me - 1979). The folks that were here before most of you,
welcomed you with open arms and hearts. While I have had many
natives tell me that they had some misgivings about the
"growth", they accepted it, nourished it and have, for the most
part, embraced it. <br><br>
If I accept the premise that <b><i>our </i></b>quality of life is now
suffering as a result of growth and sprawl and too much this and too
little that, the question I pose is this - who brought that "change
in the quality of life" about? I wonder if it isn't the result
of all those transplants, all those "newcomers", all those
"progressives" - who now seem to live by the mantra - <b><i>our
</i></b>quality of life will be <b><i>your </i></b>quality of
life.<br><br>
I wonder if there is an alternative solution?<br><br>
At 03:13 PM 3/1/2006, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Mr. Harkins stated:<br><br>
"I hope those attending the Moscow New Cities forum will keep these
numbers in mind. As a benchmark for comparison, you might consider
the State of Rhode Island. RI enjoys a land area of 1,045 sq miles
(they also have about 500 sq miles in water). The population is
about 1,048,319. If you have visited Rhode Island, you know that
they have managed to preserve their growth, their green spaces, and their
rural area quite nicely."<br><br>
I can't believe that Mr. Harkins is actually comparing Latah County to
the state of Rhode Island.<br><br>
Other than a comparable geographical size, these two land masses share
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.<br><br>
Try comparing the budgets of the two.<br><br>
Without looking (and with my eyes closed), I am guessing that the state
of Rhode Island's budget is a couple bucks more than Latah County's
budget, which makes "sprawl" a little easier to deal
with.<br><br>
And another thing: I'm guessing that the state of Rhode Island's
economy allows for considerably more career advancement than a Wal-Mart
Super Center.<br><br>
Thoughts?<br><br>
Tom Hansen<br><br>
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