Planned Cities are vastly better than unplanned cities. The Joy of Columbia Maryland, Almaden and Scotia, CA and Reston, VA

I Lived in Columbia, Maryland and Almaden, California. I worked in Reston, Virginia and have visited Scotia, California.

Columbia is an example of a truly outstanding design. It is based on small "pods" of homes and businesses that are interconnected by bike trails and roads. Every home is within walking distance of stores that sell basic necessities. This becomes crucial during snowstorms when all the roads are undriveable. Designed by James Rouse. It is home to the Merriweather Post Pavilion concert venue in Symphony Woods. Across the street is a Shopping Mall and Lake Kittamaqundi... sail boats and canoes for rent. Columbia is home to Howard Community College and Hobbit's Glen golf course. Yes, he planned for everything... and it's all within biking distance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia,_Maryland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rouse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kittamaqundi
http://www.merriweathermusic.com/

Almaden: During the 1960s IBM built a disk drive factory in the rural farmland near San Jose, California. Then they build homes for the employees, a golf course and a swim and racquet club. They believed that they could attract a higher quality employee if the living conditions were ideal. It worked. The concept of a the database was invented there. One of those truly epic ideas...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaden_Valley,_San_Jose,_California

Reston was a city built by Robert E Simon. Note his initials in the name of the city. Located near Dulles Airport it is a popular location for corporations. It is easy to fly into Dulles and take a taxi to a meeting. Having an airport close by was convenient for shipping our finished products to the customers. I worked for a defense subcontractor and Reston is close to the Pentagon and Washington, DC. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reston,_Virginia

Scotia was built for the employees of The Pacific Lumber Company. Their plan was to harvest 1% of the trees every year and plant a new tree for every one harvested. That "100 year plan" was designed to ensure that there would be work for the mill employees forever. In a hundred years, the new trees would have grown up and be big enough to harvest again. Sadly, Charles Hurwitz used junk bonds to do a hostile takeover of the company, cut down all the profitable trees, looted the pension fund, hid the money in Texas and then declared bankruptcy. Now the company has been purchased by the Fischer family and they have returned to sustainable logging.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotia,_California
http://www.jailhurwitz.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Fisher

There is a lovely coloring book of The Headwaters Forest.
Link: http://www.jailhurwitz.com/pdfs/hfcb_cover.html

On a personal note: If you and your friends drive over Blossom Hill Road from Los Gatos, California at night and you put Pink Floyd's "Division Bell" CD in the stereo... when you crest the hill and can look down on the sparkling lights of the city of Almaden... the band sings...

The grass was greener The light was brighter With friends surrounded The nights of wonder

 it's all true and a really emotional experience...
You see, it appears that the lyrics describe what is actually happening... Cosmic...

I had the blessing of attending many rock concerts at Merriweather Post Pavillion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriweather_Post_Pavilion
The Grateful Dead played there Six times while I was living on the east coast and I went to all six shows.
One night there was a thunder and lightning storm at dusk. Torrential downpour... all the power went out and we were treated to a drum duet played by Bill K and Mickey Hart. It appeared that they were incorporation the thunder into their music. A traditional tom-tom fill is "da da da, de de de, du du du, boom". They used the flash of lightning to predict when the thunders boom would sound...

As a special blessing, half the audience on the lawn area went home... That solved the overcrowding problem. The rest of us stayed and danced in the mud.

Sadly, the audience forced management to prohibit the Grateful Dead from playing there. One time there was a concert near July Fourth and the members of the audience set off too many fireworks after the concert. Since it is possible to buy rockets that fly up into the sky and explode in South Carolina (not too far away), that year there was a danger of setting Symphony Woods on fire. Oh Well... it all worked out because about that time the Grateful Dead became really popular and needed RFK Stadium to satisfy the demand for tickets.

CITY OF THE FUTURE!(lyrics)

we are living in the city of the future

all of us have hi-tech jobs...

we don't give a dam about unemployment

that only happens to low tech slobs

be a nurd!

be a nurd!

I'm a high-tech wizard

BE A NURD!

They used to laugh @ me

when I was in high school

the social in set was so very proud

but now when those people

are searching thru the want ads

they say "I want to be one of the 

computer crowd

be a nurd

be a nurd

be a high-tech wizard

BE A NURD!

a song I wrote... after seeing the movie "Starstruck" a silly Australian Musical... 

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

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People that Live in Cities are Rioting. Rural People are Relaxing in the Warm Spring Weather... Going for a Hike in the Woods Down by the Creek...

I Noticed that People that live in Cities are Spreading Fatal Communicable Diseases Among Themselves... Coronavirus is a Crisis in New York City... Yep... A City! Not Many Cases Here in the Country... It's Pretty Easy to Maintain Social Distancing... The Neighbors are Way Far Away and Have Been for Decades! 

I Noticed that Minneapolis Has Troubles Between Black Men and The Police... and Minneapolis is... You Guessed It... A City!

If You Have Been Watching the News Recently... You Would Have Seen That There Have Been Riots in Paris and Hong Kong... Both of those Places are Cities... 

and Riots in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Jose, Seattle and Miami... Avoid Those Places! They are Cities and the People Are Going Crazy!

I Fled the City Over 20 Years ago and Have been Relaxing Ever Since. I Moved to Chico, California Where Almost Everyone is White... It Is True That Minority Groups Have a Lot of Troubles With The Police but I No Longer Actually Witnessed Those Problems Personally. I Only Saw Black People on TV... and Always Had The Option of Changing The Channel... Then I Moved to Eureka, California... Another Almost All White Town... I Almost Never Saw The Police... I Truly Believe that Black Lives Matter BUT... They Can Certainly Matter Way Far Away From ME... NIMBY... 

Cities Also Have Traffic Jams... Air Pollution... and Muggings... REALLY! Did You Know that There Are People That Think Graffiti is a GREAT IDEA? WTF!

People Say That There is a Lot of JOB Opportunities in The City. That is True. That is Unimportant for Retired People. Sadly, If You are a Young Person and have to Work... You May Be Forced to Live in the CITY... WHERE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY AND DANGEROUS. Practice Social Distancing BY RUNNING AWAY FROM THE MADDENING CROWDS! I Lucked Out by Finding Work in Small Town America... There Was a Plastics Factory That Was Hiring in Chico... and Going to College in Arcata Supported me for Four Years on Student Loans... and then I Got a Government Job in Eureka... No Actual Businesses in Eureka but... There was Work at the Welfare Office... Paid for by the Taxpayers... 

Here is a Photo of The Swimming Hole in Upper Bidwell park in Chico, California... A Much Nicer Place Than Downwind From the Riot Police and Tear Gas... 

Republicans are Killing Themselves in Record Numbers. Suicide, Alcoholism and Drug Overdose... Despair Deaths are Wiping Out Americans in Red States.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/03/28/how-and-where-growing-numbers-of-americans-are-taking-their-own-lives

How and where growing numbers of Americans are taking their own lives. The statistics of self-destruction The suicide rate in rural counties is 78% higher than that in big cities and those people vote Republican.

The Quality of Life and Hope for the Future are declining among Farmers and Factory Workers. Financial Ruin is the Main Factor. After a Farmer loses the Family Farm, the End is Near. Trump's Trade War has Made This Problem Worse.  Closing Factories Cause Despair Deaths. Veterans Suffering from PTSD are also at Risk. 

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

So, is there a solution? Yes. Voting Democrat has been shown to help as Public Officials that are Democrats Fund Help for People. Money Spent on Programs That Benefit Voters is Higher in Locations That Elect Democrats.  Republicans Pass Laws that Benefit the 1%... the Super Rich... 

Taking Student Loans and Graduating from College helps. For Example: People who have a BS Degree in Computer Science are Surviving. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa Working in an Office is a Long Lasting Career... Especially for people over 50 Years Old. Jobs like Fisherman or Logger wear out the bodies of Employees... After Years of Standing on a Fishing Boat, a Man's Knees Fail and He CAN'T work on a Boat... Then he is Out of Work and Unemployable... 

I got a Desk Job at http://www.mss.ca.gov/ Merit Systems. They Recruit for Government Jobs Working at the Welfare Office. It's Clean, Safe Work. Much Better than Working at a Lumber Mill. I live in Eureka, California a Rural Community... The Main Employers are Fishing and Logging... There are Many Dairy Farmers Also. 

The BIG U - a Seawall around Manhattan to keep rising water out. Climate Change causes increasing danger... The Ocean is Rising, coastal cities plan for flooding...

The Plan is to build a giant wall to keep the Ocean from flooding Manhattan... No action is planned for New Jersey, Queens The Bronx or Brooklyn...

Big U Seawall to protect NYC

In collaboration with New York City, The BIG U proposal was developed to protect Lower Manhattan from floodwater, storms, and other impacts of a changing climate. The BIG U calls for a  protective system around the low-lying topography of Manhattan beginning at West 57th Street, going down to The Battery, and then back up to East 42nd Street.
http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/our-work/all-proposals/winning-projects/big-u



Manhattan plans to build a massive $1 billion wall and park to guard against the next inevitable superstorm...
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-flooding-manhattan-coastal-barriers-2018-4

Detail of The Wall around Manhattan NYC