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Auburn Hills Pistons
November 21, 2004
This story on Woodtv.com points out that people in the City of Detroit are trying to defend their image in the wake of the Pacers/Pistons brawl. I feel for the people of Detroit. The Pistons play in Auburn Hills, not Detroit. And, making a broad characterization, looking at the fans involved in the fight, I’d bet good money that the fans who took swings are not from Detroit themselves, most likely the more afluent suburbs. I know, I’m making a generalization, but aren’t generalizations based on some fact?
EDIT: I just read a story that identified the initial cup-throwing fan as a resident of West Bloomfield Township. I think this helps support my argument. :)
What I’m more saddened by is the state of sports and entertainment in this country in the first place. Why do we pay athletes and entertainers millions of dollars while we pay cops, firefighters, teachers and other public servants next to nothing? Also, what do these fans say about the current state of society? How about the Red Sox/Yankees game that included riot police along the outfield? Why do we let games take over our lives like that?
Posted by paul at 11:13 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Sustainable Storm Water Management
November 17, 2004
A strange occurance of events led to my attendance of a conference yesterday in Troy. I’ve only been with ALNM for three weeks, but my boss asked me to represent the company at the vendor booth. He had registered himself and another employee, but he could not go, and she has been very sick this week, so he asked me to go. I was happy to take the 10 hours out of my day to learn more about storm water.
The conference was put together by SEMCOG and various Southest Michigan governments. The topic of the conference was Sustainable Stormwater Management: Moving it forward in Southeast Michigan. Honestly, it was quite invigorating, and helped in solidifying my career goal of working with storm water management issues.
You may be asking, just what is sustainable storm water management? Sustainable storm water management works to reduce storm water runoff, to eliminate flooding risks, to save the environment by treating water as a resource, not a waste product. By capturing as much rain and precipitation where it lands, and keeping it there, we can reduce flooding and eliminate runoff that leads to poor water quality it rivers, lakes and streams.
Here are just a few important principles I took from the conference:
- “Treat water as a resource - not a waste product!”
- “Celebrate water as a precious resource!”
- Green roofs, rain gardens and porous pavements are key to developing water conscious buildings and properties, and need to be used more often.
- Don’t use conservation techniques as an afterthought when designing buildings and developments - Think about conservation from the start.
- Michigan is among the top ten states for building LEED accreditted buildings.
- Absorbing water is a key to environmental integrity.
- Wetlands should be the last place to put stormwater. They rely on clean, cool water; not dirty, hot runoff!
The main presenters at the conference were people from a company called Conservation Design Forum. This company specializes in conservation design for new and remodeled buildings and sites. They work primarily in Chicago and the Midwest. Last year they helped the Holland Garden Club design a green roof for the Herrick Public Library (which was in turn put on hold by the library, unfortunately). This company rocks!
Here are a few cool websites to check out:
- Conservation Design Forum
- Integrated Archicture
- West Michigan Rain Gardens
- Chicago Center for Green Techonology
- U.S. Green Building Council
Posted by paul at 10:57 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
No one wants to pay.
November 09, 2004
A fire in Wyoming yesterday left a garage and part of a home burnt. The fire department claims that their response time was slower because the closest fire station had to be closed this past summer because voters in Wyoming had turned down a millage request to keep the fire department and police department better staffed. Residents near the house fire, according to Wood TV, seemed to acknowledge that most of them had voted against the tax proposal, but now regret it… seeing what happened to their neighbors.
Some people might call that justice. I say, it’s a nice fact to use in promoting the increase again next year, but let’s not go overboard with claims. People only miss the fire department when it hurts. Services such as police and fire need to continually be well-funded in every community. That one extra fire house can save more lives and property than you’d realize.
Posted by paul at 07:40 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Who owns the beach?
November 05, 2004
“I’m just sayin, I’m sayin, if own the beach property, right, do you own like the sand, and the water?�
“Nobody owns the water. God owns, it’s God’s water.�
“what if someone like walks onto your beach, like, let’s say you do own it, right.�
“nah man, you don’t own the beach, well, you own to sand on the beach man,�
“what if there’s a naked girl on the beach?�
“you don’t own the girl…�
“what if she breaks her foot on your proprty?�
“she can sue me!�
Ever wonder about the opening lines to Super Troopers? (Yes, I transposed them as well as I could.) There is actually a good debate there; one that is currently at the Michigan Supreme Court, waiting decision. Michigan law used to be that you owned land up to the high-water level of the land - beach walkers could walk on the sand immediately next to the water. This summer, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that this was no longer ok… people must walk in the water. I believe the waterfront to be public property, and I hope the Supreme Court decides against the Appeals Court… we’ll see.
Posted by paul at 05:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Heavens to Betsy
Well, finally, a bout of rationality within the state GOP. Betsy DeVos is stepping down as chair! While, in reality, she is a nice woman and has done a few good things for the party (erased over a million dollars in debt that the state party had incurred in the past), she has been instramental in causing more than a few public fights with Governor Granholm. These fights, in my estimation, have never been won, and only caused the GOP to look worse than it already does on this side of the state (Ann Arbor and more).
We need a new state chair who realizes that picking fights over relatively meaningless issues will not cause the east-siders to vote Republican. Michigan once again went to the Democrats in the Presidential race, and if that’s going to change, we need smarter GOP politicians.
Posted by paul at 09:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October Job Numbers Up
Yay job growth! The chart is from MSNBC, by the way. The growth numbers were much higher than expected. And, you can tell by looking at the chart that 2004 has already been much better for job growth. Here’s looking up, economy.
Posted by paul at 09:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Can’t we all just get along?
November 04, 2004
Fillmore Township approved a tax hike on Tuesday to pay for their new water and sewer system. There are many things I find wrong with their desire to build a water system, and now it really seems like they’re going to go out and do it.
First off, the City of Holland could have control of their water system, had we not fought with the Township over water rights and annexation in the 1990s. Now, we’ll have to sit back and watch as Fillmore destroys its wonderful farmland in the name of economic development.
Secondly, they will be using groundwater, even though they are a couple of miles from Lake Michigan. The Lake’s water is much easier to purify, because it will be inherently more clean from the beginning.
Thirdly, the new water tower they are proposing will stand within a 1/4 MILE of Holland’s brand new tank. This is completely idiotic. Not only will we have to look at Holland’s when driving into town from the south, we will also be subjected to Fillmore’s anti-Holland tank. PISSES ME OFF TO NO END!
You can see I’m a little wound up about this, but from all the campaigning and public statements made in the past years, I can tell that Fillmore has no interest in smart growth, they just want growth. Holland could have subverted this by acting slightly more friendly back when the 425 agreement failed. This is just one more reason I get disgusted with the township system in Michigan.
Posted by paul at 07:54 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Open Space
November 03, 2004
How do you view open space? Do you think we should preserve as much farmland as possible? Do you want to live in a rural area? Do you want access to trails and parkland?
I’m writing a report for my final project for Genesee County. My partner Liz and I are writing a section on farmland and open space preservation and green infrastructure to fit into the final report. I’ve been studying these issues since I entered planning school, and I’ve come to realize a few things.
First, people often do not understand what they mean when they say they want to live in a rural area or want to protect farmland. Protecting rural character, as people put it, does not mean that people want to live in farmland. They want to live on large, 5 or 10 acre lots, with most urban services, but not the taxes. This just doesn’t mix… but people don’t realize it.
Second, property values often increase near preserved green space, such as parkland, trail systems, or the like. Publicaly, people love to support such initiatives, but when faced with financing such lands, they often back down, even if they realize the benefits of such land.
I write this asking for a response. Do you want government to take action in preserving more farmland or open space? Do you want more trail systems and parkland available for your use? What do you want?
Posted by paul at 07:36 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack