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Why is it that so many of the people that move out of town, to a rural setting, put up a street light before they’ve even started the house; and then keep it up and burning throughout the night every night of the year.
Why is it that given the same location, people insist on major earth moving and landscaping that, if left alone, would be overrun by native vegitation.
Why do we as tax payers put up with all the idiots that build or live in flood planes, unstable slopes, fire-storm prone areas, etc. If someone chooses to live in one of these places, shouldn’t they also carry full responsibility for it?
Food to chew on.
Replies
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Why #1. Because it gets dark and lonely in the country at night and the electric co-ops give a good deal on photo controlled "yard lights" - about $7.00 per month here. Nice to come home and find the drive lit up and visually safe. The light usually goes up when the power line is run in. Country does not equal safe and secure.
Why #2. Because people want what they want. Can not tell if you advocate or do not not advocate site development or what. Your point please.
Why #3. Think this attitude is changing. After the most recent Mississipi floods the move has been to buy out people and not to subsidize rebuilding. However, there is risk in building everywhere and it would be impractical to require everyone to live in some kind of OSHA approved environment. The problem is not so much the risk but those poor souls who do not insure and come begging when a reasonably anticipatable natural disaster comes along.
*ChadDid a lot of work some years ago for a city slicker who had an i apartmentbuilt in the barn of his rural acreage (no house). Local utility sold him on the idea of a photo controlled yard light for those late night arrivals from the city. First week of vaca, whines to me about not being able to see the beautiful starscape anymore. . .eventually has me replace utility company light with similar fixture on a switch, now the light is on all the time when he's not there, but off when he is there. . . oh well, tain't nuthin stranger than folks
*Chad
Joseph FuscoView Image
*Hi Y'all,Lots of good reasons not to have those lights running all the time.How about a garage door style 'clicker' to turn the light on when you hit the driveway?Lots of wildlife is messed up by all these lights, including turtles on our South Carolina beaches.Check out International Dark Sky Association:http://www.darksky.org/ida/ida_2/These folks have good suggestions on fixtures that keep light on YOUR property, and lots of other good information.A while back Consumer Reports did a study on effective security measures.#2 is a big dog.#1 is a nosy neighbor.I live in a rural area and have no appreciation for all night yard lights.Good health, Weogo
*Chad, point well made. If streetlights = safety. Then it stands to reason that Cities are safer than all other places. It's dahk heah. You can see all the stahs too.As to your other points, the advent of "Naturalscaping" is a possible solution, where a homeowner can spend 2x normal, for that "blended in" look. Feng Shui will take care of the rest.
*I moved out here 20 years ago and I wanted to shoot all those damn lights out, but I never got up the nerve. Now there are too many- I'd never get them all. Then they built a Kwik Trip 4 miles south of here and it lights up the whole sky and I'm not kidding. And traffic, Jesus more every day faster and faster and they hate me cause I'm going into town 50 miles an hour. I don't even drive my Studebaker any more cause they REALLY hate that going up Big Hill. And now I hear sirens all the time, at least once a week. And all the old geezers keep selling their land to be divided up into 5 acre ranches and they are all trying to expand the rural water district so that the place can really take off. Then I saw a show on cable about killer asteroids.
*I think people do this for the same reasons yuppies flock to suburbia and then cover it with fast food joints and video rental outlets. Then of course we all have to pay to improve roads so the yuppies commute time isn't burdensome. In about 30 years someone will notice how spacious and vacant the cities are and re-develope themGood Luck,Stephen
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Stephen, Too late for the vacant city here. In addition to suburban sprawl the yupps have come to the historic downtown section and turned the average bungalows into a McMansions. Funny how families use to only need 1800-2000 sq.ft. or so. Also don't know how we ever got along without a drive through drugstore (latest rage) on every other corner.
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As to #3, I have long and repeatedly complained to my insurance company (a mutual) about them continuing to insure houses built in hazardous areas like hillsides, shorelines, wild fire zones, etc. I think the insurance industry is coming around. If only some homeowners would get it straight that having insurance isn't a "right," any more than having a driver's license.
Since my rates are also affected by the size of other people's claims, I have advocated that there be a limit to coverage such that those who build the mansions and drive the expensive cars have to self-insure to a degree. I sometimes tremble when I'm behind a $60,000 car, knowing I'm liable for all $60K if the driver suddenly hits the brakes. Putting such a car on the road should require some shared responsibility. Same for the mansions with all the specialized rooms -- exercise, study, media, recreation, computer, etc. -- and expensive details.
*The phenomenon is a huge problem by me. The area was originally a few large properties, and over the years they were broken up as people died off and suddenly houses sprang up. Nothing wrong with that, but...the people moved into the houses and suddenly our quasi-rural area became an ugly suburbia. And soon, it wasn't enough that they polluted the night with their airport lights, but the woods disappeared and became manicured lawns, and the old split rail fences became stockades, and they wanted to change the street signs into gold gilt glitzy crap, and then change just about everything to remake into what they left to come here.But even that wasn't enough, and one day they realized that there were more newcomers, in their Range Rovers and McMansions, then old timers, and they showed up to vote one day and took over the Village. And now, everybody hates everybody else and place has turned nasty and ugly. I think this is what they call manifest destiny. All good things ultimately get reduced to the lowest common denominator.SHG
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Barry,
Not that this has anything to do with building, but....
I've long advocated the idea of insuring the "driver" not the vehicle. What if liability insurance was based on experience, age, driving record, etc., rather than on what make, model and year of car was being driven. Likewise, why should we have to have liability insurance on every vehicle we might own when they're not being driven. I have to admit I'm kind of a transportation & car nut & have more cars than I need to commute to work in the morning. A couple of my older (vintage?) cars don't come out in the winter either.
I also believe what Dr. F. Porsche said decades ago: "The safest car in the world is one that is easy to control and has the power and braking needed to maintain control" (it was something like that). I'm in Montana and our wise and able legislators finally enacted a speed limit law, try to argue with the highway patrol that your Porsche is just as safe at 110 mph as a Buick is at 65 mph! They just won't buy it, but given an open road without traffic- it is!
I think some consideration needs to be made in regard to the vehicle being driven as far as comp. & collision coverage goes, but the liability part should strictly by with the driver.
What does everyone out there in internet land think?
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Chad,
You're absolutely right! This has nothing to do with building....
*Chad,I agree. My wife's grandmother at 90 years young is a much better driver than many of the people that almost run into me on a hourly basis. Like many of us posting here, I work in a trade (HVAC tech) and drive the company van from site to site. People pull out, turn left across my path, tailgate and just generally drive badly not taking into account that my 9800 pound Chevy 30 van means that I will be the more fortunate participant in any sudden encounter - not them in their 2200 pound Geo Metro.A liability-based insurance plan considering just the driver could also benefit the contractor with employee-operated company vehicles. Their insurance rates could conceivably be adjusted according to the driving record of the employee. Therefore, safer drivers = lower insurance costs = lower overhead = better profit margins (or bigger year-end bonuses... I like that one better!).I also would like to point out that all drivers of company vehicles should strive to be the most courteous, helpful and aware people on the road. Being a rotten driver of a vehicle with the company name plastered all over it is a sure way to lose business - both current and potential customers. I know it works that way for me.
*I kinda think that we ought to use the "big cities" for landfills. After all, didn't they use the suburbs, and outlyng farms for their garbage dumps?I think Detroit would make a fine midwestern ski mountain!Blue
*I'm more concerned about the impact the removal of garbage from big cities is having on the rat population. I believe that they may be an important bio-indicator species in metropolitan areas. This practice should be stopped until lengthy environmental impact studies have been completed. If you're in a coal mine ya gotta pay attention to the canary.From spotted owl country, JonC
*Chad S., I live in a flood-pronei andhurricane-prone area, and I will politely give you something to chew on, as soon as I calm down, in a couple of days. : ) Obviously, you are unfamiliar with all the ways of the insurance industry. By the way, your rates are unaffected by the fact that I live where it floods and have insurance fori some(very few) of my losses.Now... I guess we have to un-insure all those irresponsible, uh,i idiotsin tornado country (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, etc.); in hurricane country (most of the Eastern Seaboard, and the entire Gulf coast); in California (earthquakes); in a straight line running from Chicago to New Orleans (another big earthquake fault)... uh, Chad, & Barry, where did you say ya'll live? ; )As for the damnable, filthy cities, well, we keep our rats right here in New Orleans, thank you very much. They live five deep in the riverfront warehouses, where the health inspectors check on them every month or so. For true.Weogo, yeah, DarkSky is really a neat site! BTW, what part of the SC coast? I spent summers at Edisto when I was growing up in SC.Patty, who likes those 24-hr. drive-through drugstores, especially at 2:00 in the morning, when you have a sick child, and no sitter
*fiyo,In my case, my premium is reduced by a dividend if and when one is announced -- a mutual company, as I mentioned before. And it's a nation-wide insurer, so mud slides and wild fires in California affect my dividend, as well as smashed condos in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I live in western Wisconsin on the Mississippi, which has been flood controlled in my area by the Corps since the middle 60's. We just dump it all on St. Louis downriver. ;-)
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Fiyo,
Here Here! Us irresponsible idiots who live in tornado land deserve whatever we get! :-) Quite frankly, I don't understand what the hubub is about twisters. They're fearsome, but density wise, not all that bad. And besides, you can see em coming and get out of the way - try that with an earthquake.
I agree that people who insist on building in proven, frequent floodplains and on beaches (destroying the dunes and wetlands in the process) should have to shoulder a lot more of the burden, but in general, a well constructed house that uses appropriate materials and designs that consider the local elements and extreme conditions will weather a hurricane or blizzard. Earthquakes, tornado's and floods aren't so easy, but it can be done. Insurance companies go bust when they spend years insuring badly built, poorly designed garbage and then wonder why it all falls down in the rain (earthquake, etc). I don't pity em at all. I do get mad when they think that they should make up their insane profit margins at my expense though, they are in the business of gambling, they should expect some losses...
And yeah, I like drugstores for that reason too, I just wish they would turn the lights down a bit.
Sometimes twisted, Lisa
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Back to the bright light.......
About 5 years ago FHB had a picture on the back of the most white-trash trailer home you can imagine, along with the high flying banner of the American country: the hideous Mercury-vapor lamp! It turns out it was a model about a foot long. I think there was also a toilet in the front yard disguised as a flower box. Anyway, that's what I think of when I see the bright street light in someones yard killing the view of the stars.
*I recall that photo and it was quite funny - wasn't the model in the Smithstonian or something?The 'bright light' phenomena is easily explained. These folks are simply SCARED OF THE DARK! They never camped out in the woods as kids, with a flashlight that ran dead or a campfire that got soaked in the rain. Their idea of camping is at a campground with, guess what, a mercury vapor light at the front.Here in the Adirondacks there averages less than 10 people/sq mile. I laugh when my NYC friends visit - all are scared of the dark (bears out there!) and can't sleep because it is 'too quiet'.Of course the tables are turned when I visit in NYC- that place makes me one paraniod country mouse....Fear is a funny thing....
*We use lights but try to be modest -- about 75 watts total, two of which are compact fluorescent. Motion sensors may appear soon, but the false triggers make me jumpy ... the neighbor's used to turn on every time I went to the kitchen at night ... they reaimed it ... now it flicks on and off in the windstorms.I like a little light for walking down the street, coming home to some light, etc. This area is densely populated. I like dark in the country. Am trying to conserve and reduce light pollution.A city-suburb hybrid, ad
*Chad, some info on flood insurance: I live in the lowest part of New Orleans, and am insured by FEMA (as is the rest of the city, and most of the parish). My house is raised, so I have never had water in the house proper, only in the garage. I have made two claims in 15 years, one for about 2,000., to replace doors and drywall in the garage (which also houses the laundry room and a workshop/studio), and another for about 1,000., to replace a washer and dryer and water heater. Both amounts were insisted upon by the claims adjuster. I actuallyi turned downmoney on one adjustment, for an old fridge and a new washer, due to the fact that they both worked just fine (and continue to work just fine). FEMA's new policy is to only dole out the money as specific repairs are made, which I think is good. It also keeps people out of jail, as in the case of the lady down the street, who made the same claims twice, and made no repairs; the adjuster treated her claim as business as usual, and she thought she had pulled a fast one, until she got arrested. She didi timein a Federal prison, I might add. Most people around here would rather risk pi**ing off the IRS than tangling with FEMA.There are now parts of New Orleans that FEMA is desperately trying to de-insure, so to speak. These are outlying subdivisions, most about 20 years old, that did not have proper sewer systems to begin with; the residents, who are primarily retirees on a fairly fixed budget, have been trying to sue the developer for years, as regards the improper sewer system put in when the place was, uh, developed. FEMA has offered to buy out the residents, which could be a fair deal, except that the offers are based primarily on market value, which sucks, due to the flooding problems. New Orleans has finally rousted up the money to improve it's ancient pumping stations, some from the Feds, some locally. Less dollars will be spent by the government to upgrade (update!) these stations than FEMA has all ready paid out. There have also been improvements over the past five years paid for by the city (read: taxpayers).Most insurers have pulled out of the Louisiana area "south of I-10." This is not due to flooding, but to the expectation of the "Big One," a monster hurricane that will travel up the Mississippi to the Port of New Orleans and virtually destroy the city by inundating it under 20+ feet of water. The great irony of this kind of thinking is that this castastrophe will be considered ai FLOOD,not a hurricane; damage from the winds of past hurricanes have not been an enormous problem - it has been the flooding. So... FEMA would end up footing the bill, not the insurance companies.I pay ridiculous homeowner's premiums, which basically cover fire and theft. My detached garage, which is 25 feet from my house, is insured for $40,000., and my house is in insured for $90,000. The whole of my property was appraised at $175,000., and the bulk of that was for the house, not the friggin' one-story frame garage. You take what you can get. By the way, what we used to call "high risk" insurance no longer exists; I, along with many other New Orleanians, did withouti anyinsurance at all for anywhere from six months to a year. I pay FEMA for my flood insurance. The funds from FEMA come from the people who pay the premiums to FEMA. This in no way affects my homeowner's policy, nor does it affect anyone else's. Amica and Allstate have both told me this. BTW, don't get me started on Allstate; their profit margin isi fargreater than any other insurance company of comparable size, and they have royally screwed the people of this city in the most underhanded, despicable way imaginable. But that's another story...So I try to be responsible, and take some control of the situation. I put my washer and dryer and hot water heater on platforms, above the water line, and store things where they won't get wet, and park my car on higher ground when the sky looks funny, and I pay the premiums, and will continue to pay the premiums, because Ii chooseto live here, and I usually don't complain - unless somebody stirs it up! ; )Patty
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Why is it that so many of the people that move out of town, to a rural setting, put up a street light before they've even started the house; and then keep it up and burning throughout the night every night of the year.
Why is it that given the same location, people insist on major earth moving and landscaping that, if left alone, would be overrun by native vegitation.
Why do we as tax payers put up with all the idiots that build or live in flood planes, unstable slopes, fire-storm prone areas, etc. If someone chooses to live in one of these places, shouldn't they also carry full responsibility for it?
Food to chew on.