I wanted to comment of a recommendation offered by Mark Uher down the page concerning a seminar on ?“SMART GROWTH?” sponsored by the Columbus Metropolitan Club of Columbus. The speaker was a Mr. Robert Liberty who is the senior advisor for the ?“1000 Friends of Oregon.?” This event was held on June 17th 2003. I was able to hear and see the event on the public access channel on Insight cable.
First Mr. Liberty is a very good speaker, however I oppose many of his views and he should return to Oregon soon.
I believe he was in town to promote the downtown ?“Re-development?” by Columbus Mayor Coleman. Clearly if we follow Mr. Liberty?’s directions we will all be living in high density apartments and taking the subway to work each morning.
He seems to be saying that the national freeway system has caused most of our Urban Sprawl problems.
He says out right that communities (like Pickerington) that want to control the density or their growth rate should not be given state and federal funds to deal with growth and the funding of our schools.
Mr. Liberty lives in a four-plex apartment unit.
He touts that Oregon has solved most of these problems. Now what is the population of Oregon? Besides Nike and Microsoft what else is there?
In short Mr. Liberty is a tree hugger.
I would say that Mr. Uher promoted a seminar that would go against the ideals of most living here in Pickerington.
I believe Pickerington needs, and I have said this many times, is to slow the rate of residential growth. That must be our first project. Mr. Liberty seems to forget that all or most of the jobs here in central Ohio are located in Columbus. They get a 2% income tax from every person living in Pickerington and working in Columbus. Those same workers must drive everyday to Columbus on freeways funded by our tax dollars as well as Columbus resident?’s tax dollars. The federal government also provides Columbus with additional government incentives to develop commercial properties. I believe as an Ohio tax payer some of Ohio development funds should be spent right here in the Pickerington area to develop jobs locally. If we had employment here, we could collect income taxes here and provide a better quality of life for our state resident?’s right here in Pickerington. Larger cities do cost more to live in. I have been in Toronto, Canada which many in Columbus want to copy. If you all want to ride a subway home from work each night because you can?’t afford to park your car then follow the preaching of folks like Robert Liberty. Mass transportation is not what is all cracked up to be. He complains that we must drive to get our daily services (like bread and milk) because we have zoned the properties around us incorrectly and we should be walking. I can slightly agree here but we still need the car to get to work.
I think we can find a better solution to our local problems instead of forcing us all to live in a commune.
First Mr. Liberty is a very good speaker, however I oppose many of his views and he should return to Oregon soon.
I believe he was in town to promote the downtown ?“Re-development?” by Columbus Mayor Coleman. Clearly if we follow Mr. Liberty?’s directions we will all be living in high density apartments and taking the subway to work each morning.
He seems to be saying that the national freeway system has caused most of our Urban Sprawl problems.
He says out right that communities (like Pickerington) that want to control the density or their growth rate should not be given state and federal funds to deal with growth and the funding of our schools.
Mr. Liberty lives in a four-plex apartment unit.
He touts that Oregon has solved most of these problems. Now what is the population of Oregon? Besides Nike and Microsoft what else is there?
In short Mr. Liberty is a tree hugger.
I would say that Mr. Uher promoted a seminar that would go against the ideals of most living here in Pickerington.
I believe Pickerington needs, and I have said this many times, is to slow the rate of residential growth. That must be our first project. Mr. Liberty seems to forget that all or most of the jobs here in central Ohio are located in Columbus. They get a 2% income tax from every person living in Pickerington and working in Columbus. Those same workers must drive everyday to Columbus on freeways funded by our tax dollars as well as Columbus resident?’s tax dollars. The federal government also provides Columbus with additional government incentives to develop commercial properties. I believe as an Ohio tax payer some of Ohio development funds should be spent right here in the Pickerington area to develop jobs locally. If we had employment here, we could collect income taxes here and provide a better quality of life for our state resident?’s right here in Pickerington. Larger cities do cost more to live in. I have been in Toronto, Canada which many in Columbus want to copy. If you all want to ride a subway home from work each night because you can?’t afford to park your car then follow the preaching of folks like Robert Liberty. Mass transportation is not what is all cracked up to be. He complains that we must drive to get our daily services (like bread and milk) because we have zoned the properties around us incorrectly and we should be walking. I can slightly agree here but we still need the car to get to work.
I think we can find a better solution to our local problems instead of forcing us all to live in a commune.
