Tag Archives: dancing

Affordable Housing, Role Playing Games, Legal Wranglings, Inspiration, Tragedy, and Everything Since Friday

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Yeah, apparently I’m skipping Friday updates more often than not. I should stop that. Actually stick to my own schedule.

One of the big topics that ended up being discussed today in the stream was the whole rich/poor divide and the idea of affordable housing… spawned by an article about a new building in NYC that’s going to have a separate entrance for it’s less privileged residents (who they agreed to take in so they could get a tax break, mind you).

The topic of “affordable housing” comes up frequently here in Maryland. Particular in Silver Spring. The issue is a little different than it is in places like NYC.

Here we have the problem of people building a lot of expensive housing that is then bought/rented by people who mostly work and play in DC. This leaves people who work in Silver Spring (which has a wide diversity of jobs and pay rates) unable to afford to live there (in some cases), pushing them farther out where public transportation is less viable, leading to a bit of a traffic problem and a bit of a parking problem (which leads to all sorts of other problems… like local businesses being able to do solid business because people can’t get to/part at them easily or actual residents not being able to find parking/get around easily during the day).

A number of members of the community here are very interested in trying to build and maintain an actual community. One that’s vibrant at all times during the day…. not just during rush hour. What’s been in place has been slowly slipping away as development has boomed and busted a few times. (Most of what’s being built are one or two bedroom apartments/condos… not conducive to people with families, encouraging more transient people who go elsewhere to put down actual roots.)

It’s an interesting situation. A problematic one. And one I know I haven’t come up with a good solution to (mainly because I’ve got some very mixed feelings about all the affordable housing solutions I have seen–some of which were laid out in the article that Nancy shared–but some of those concerns are at odds with my desire to have poor people actually treated as people, since I’ve seen that be one of the best ways to help someone get back on their feet).

Needless to say, a number of people disagree with me on a lot of those points.

I’m okay with that.

Like I said, I don’t have an answer, so the discussion obviously needs to keep going on somewhere.

Here’s the extra long feed (which contains a few interesting discussions or starting points, so you should check it out)…

More than a few days worth of stuff (Including science, cats, politics, Fathers Day, and a whole lot of Johnny Cash)

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Not much of an intro today. It was a low-key weekend (after the out-way-too-late game night, at least) and a busy Monday.

It’s going to be hot and humid the rest of the week. Can’t say I care much for that combination. Hopefully, the A/C unit can handle it.

Anyway, on with the catch-up feed…

Guns, Crabs, “That’s not cutting a rug”, Dancing, Homeless Jesus, and SCIENCE!

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Today’s stream of stuff, plus a few from over the weekend… the most popular of which was quite the discussion about the Second Amendment.

I’m at the computer far later than I’ve been trying to be lately. Mostly because I was at a Silver Spring Citizens’ Advisory Board meeting earlier in the evening. That always throws my schedule off. (Though not at much as those good ol’ town board meetings I covered when I worked for the paper up in rural NY… some of those ran until near midnight.)

There’s a lot that goes on in the Silver Spring area. There’s a lot more that’s going to be going on in the next decade or so. There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding–and distrust–of the process. I’ve seen that before (re: the aforementioned board meetings way back when). That’s a common problem when it comes to the public and government. I don’t have a good solution to offer, but it’s would have to involve the government finding time and money to more actively engage the public than it does while cleaning up any actual incorrect information. Of course, that requires people not being so paranoid about the government lying to them… which, of course, is a sadly earned reputation the government has acquired over the years.

So, here’s the thing: If you’re even close to being a concerned citizen when it comes to any topic, make an effort to look not just into the situation that has you concerned, but also get familiar with the process it goes through and check out other projects that have gone through that same process. Then, at least, you’ll know if you should be paranoid or not. You’ll also be able to (nicely?) let your officials know if they’re screwing something else or saying things that could confuse others.

Or, y’know, everyone can just continue to shout at one another… whatever… 😉