A road in search of a reason
Read Part One from Monday here.
IF YOU BUILD IT…
Opponents of the Olympian Drive project often point out that the area destined for industrial development sits on one of the three most productive soils in the world, the others being in the Ukraine and in Argentina.
That’s true, but productive does not mean profitable. For most of the first half of the 20th century, the most profitable agricultural county in the country was Los Angeles. [Today it’s probably some pot-growing county in northern California, or a southwest Kansas county with a bunch of cattle feedlots in it — it’s hard to measure.] So even productive and profitable doesn’t mean the land will be kept in agriculture, as the second half of the twentieth century in L.A. shows.
| Forget it, Jake. It’s Champaign-Urbana
It’s the 35th anniversary of one of the greatest American movies: Chinatown. It’s certainly in my top three; partly because it’s a brilliant negation of that durable American storyline: the lone wolf hero who puts a society steeped in corruption back to rights [the final lines emphasizing the futility: “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.“], and partly because it’s about the nitty-gritty: real estate, local government, economic development, business, infrastructure, land use and agriculture, and driving farmers off the land to get the “highest best use” on it.
The film compresses time in the service of brevity, but it gets at the essence of what allowed Los Angeles to become Los Angeles. Despite explosive growth through the 1920s (In 1890, L.A. was smaller than Evansville, Indiana, at 50,000 people; by 1930, it was one and a quarter million and the fifth largest city in the country), L.A. was still a bit of a backwater; its population density was ridiculously low.
The boom was from oil (in the ‘20’s L.A. accounted for about a quarter of all of American production), aviation (later defense), and climate: i.e. the film industry, retirement communities, and agriculture. The big industry where fortunes were made though, was real estate. It was a place striving to become a metropolis, but built on the grease of the cheap petrol, but it became the world’s biggest suburb.
People confuse their cars with their homes. I can understand that. They're lounging in a reclining chair, talking on the phone, watching a movie and cramming salty foods into their fat faces. Sometimes they fall asleep. But the car is not the home. And when you steer your car on to public roads, you waive Constitutional rights enjoyed at home. Police can stop you without probable cause. Police can stop you without even particularized suspicion — just to see if …
(Ed. note: We posted this under Editors, but it's just Caleb and Joel that wrote it. Carry on. And leave Trig out of this.) As a society, we have made a habit out of hiding people with developmental disabilities. We have institutionalized them, we have sterilized them, we have shown them that they are not important to the fabric of our society. Our collective choice to recognize those with developmental disabilities as human beings with unique and genuine value is …
Seth Fein is my editor here at The People's Republic of Smile Politely. Therefore, you can be certain that anything you read below made it past Seth Fein. A couple weeks back, Seth wrote a reactionary piece about DUI. That's not surprising. DUI is a reactionary concept: It's only contemplated after-the-fact. WHY WE PUNISH Deterrence, retribution, incapacitation and rehabilitation are the four goals of punishment. In Illinois, we call our punishment system the "Department of Corrections" which proves that people …
Not being an Illini fan, it's easy for me to hate on something like the Orange Krush, the student cheering section of our university's basketball team. As a Purdue fan, I get jazzed about the Paint Crew, whose numbers make the Krush look like an amateur co-ed softball team on a rainy day. But I don't live in West Lafayette, and I don't consider them as part of my culture. So, the Orange Krush is on the hook here. Student …
February 14–21 is National Condom Week, and while educating your child about the use and effectiveness of condoms around Valentine's Day might seem scary or inappropriate, recent research suggests many parents are long overdue in addressing safer sex with their teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that nearly 19 million new sexually transmitted infections occur every year, with 15 to 24 year-olds making up half of these cases. Even more alarming, the heaviest Chlamydia and gonorrhea …
Before I begin, a few caveats: there are a bunch of great people who work at the News-Gazette, doing the best that they can under resource reductions in a tough time for newspapers as a commenter noted on one of our snarky posts earlier this week, they're utilizing their Twitter feed (as well as many of their reporters') as well as any media outlet in town we surely haven't figured out how to make money at online publishing either, and …
I've done a "Super Bowl Life Lessons" column for the last few years and, to be honest, I'm beginning to wonder if the Super Bowl as a cultural spectacle has all that much more to teach us. Guys are still oafs. Violence is still funny (especially so when it involves sumo wrestlers). Talking flowers and babies are still funny. Classic rockers are still old. The main innovation this year seems to be that guys not wearing pants is funny. Perhaps …
When you were young did you ever dream about growing up and making the world a better place? Ugh, idealism. Well, pretend to entertain the notion. Take a moment, close your eyes, and cast yourself as a world saver. Now, run with it. Think big. Think bigger. You can abolish corrupt governments, punish evil corporations, provide affordable health care for all, even save Mother Earth. Okay. Now, open your eyes. How does reality jibe with your vision? Y'know, a second …
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The University does not subsidize the Airbus. For decades bus transportation to the airport was provided expressly for Institute of Aviation students. This service was paid for by the Institute of Aviation, not campus as a whole. Some of you may even remember the old orange or…
A book just published gives a very useful different perspective on the “growth for growth’s sake” model and its ecological unsustainability. It is “Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet” by Tim Jackson. The first chapter of the book can be downloaded via http://earthscan.co.uk/pwg . This…
I agree with most of the comments on the Orange “Krush.“ They are mostly immature, ignorant, college students who can’t wait for the next frat party so they can get wasted on Keystone light
“Since there is no congestion on 74, one wonders what he is talking about.“ - Duh. Perhaps the congestion is wishful thinking? And IL DOT is planning to spend $71 million taxpayer dollars widening I-74 between Champaign and Mahomet. I contacted IL DOT on the I-74 stuff. …
Great articles, btw.
Since 1994, the American Farmland Trust has had case studies which have shown that there is no net gain to developing farmland. On average the ratio of dollars generated by development to the cost of services provided by communities was $1 : $1.04. For farm land, the…
Stuart, Really a fantastic series of articles on this proposed road. The Chinatown analogy is very cool. I wouldn’t say that the local press has been lapdogs on this issue. One of the local TV news channels actually did a piece where they interviewed Mr. Ziegler, the…
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4961547 I stand by it all, except in that I should’ve used better language to describe the types of fools these folks are. Calling someone a douchebag, is kinda like, being a douchebag. Strike that one from the record. Everything else, well, yeah…
Due to some unforeseen circumstances, part two will actually run Wednesday at 10 a.m. Thanks for your patience; it’ll be worth the wait!
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Keep us posted on the latter!
I received 1 st mortgage loans when I was not very old and that helped my business very much. But, I need the short term loan as well.
Nice article, Emily! When I get to the CU area, I’ll be sure to give this place a try.
The marathon is certainly a tough distance, but I imagine that it compares to childbirth. In any event, having completed the former, I will agree that it is an excruciating tastk. Should the opportunity arise, I will let you know how the latter compares.
I’ve always suspected that there’s a direct correlation between projected land use for the Rt 150 corridor [Industrial / Commercial] and the drive to expand 74. See the CCRPC Future Land Use Map for details, and then take a look at who owns land there, and you…
Zelini, I really like this - I’ll try to follow the theory more closely. As they reveal more about Kate (possibly next week), it might give us more perspective. I agree with your observation about Ben and I think Michael Emerson has done an excellent job conveying his lesser stature.
Surprised you think it will take two wins. I think we have a shot to get in with another loss. The bubble is just a disaster this year, and we’ll float to the top even with one win.
What if the sideways alternatives are where Jacob actually grants them their wishes, but in ways they didn’t quite expect? The elimination of one regret. Sayid gets to be with Nadia - although through his brother. Maybe he ends up with her at the expense of his…
The link has been updated. Thanks for alerting us.
This also explains why I was starting to think Roses & Sake was a group of strange pagans from Vancouver. This is when it pays to be a local. My apologies to the true Roses & Sake, we’ll fix this ASAP!
Ahh, shame on me. I grabbed it directly off of Mike ‘N Molly’s website. I’ll see if I can’t get it corrected on here (and maybe pass along the word to them as well). Thank you, observant reader!
I’m with Brigham regarding the Acrylics set. Very XX-ish. Very good.
i think the roses & sake link is actually: http://www.myspace.com/rosesnsake
Dangit! Now I have to go home and try that cake. MMMmmMMMMmmmm looks goood. Cakey cakey cakey…
Very nice preview…I’m stoked to be seeing The Young Republic
I understood this totally differently than the other people that posted…this is what I got from it: - the more background you have going in, the more of the allusions you will understand when watching - afterwards, you can do a little research to fill in the…
Sorry about the lack of address and hours. All I can say is duuuh
Amen. When I told people I’ve lost 18 pounds since early October the number one response I get from women is concern. 18 pounds in four months is not unhealthy, quite the opposite for me. But don’t give up on sugar, or become a vegan, or do…
The whole self-acceptance idea is tricky in itself too. Are we supposed to self-accept by sitting around like bumps on logs, doing nothing but just appreciating and accepting ourselves? Life doesn’t happen like that. I like your point about pushing ourselves to do something greater. Self-challenge and self-reflection…
lindsey - i certainly understand where you are coming from on that one. and i just wanted to state for the record that in no way did i mean to imply that i am not a feminist (or a liberal) just that i find that whole…
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I’ve always suspected that there’s a direct correlation between projected land use for the Rt 150 corridor [Industrial / Commercial] and the drive to expand 74. See the CCRPC Future Land Use Map for details, and then take a look at who owns land there, and you…