I live in the extreme north part of Eugene. When my family moved here, we were pretty much surrounded by peaceful countryside. Behind our house is a horse pasture. North of our house used to be horse pasture too. Across from us used to be a single house with a big grassy yard surrounded by tall fir trees.
A few years ago the pasture north of us was converted into a little suburb with houses and an actual street and a sidewalk and everything. Ok, not that bad, but still not as cool as what we used to have. I've become used to it, and it is actually nice having your own street and everything.
Well, the greedy developers are back. They're tearing down the gorgeous trees across from us and putting in a few houses in that yard space. The way things are going, our area will soon be full of nothing but houses everywhere you look.
I don't know about all of you, but I personally enjoy having green spaces to look at. Nature is good, especially when you live in a suburb. Our nature is slowly slipping away. There's nothing to do out here. There's really nowhere to go. Soon there will be nothing pretty to look at, unless you count people's front yards. Front yards, though, aren't as cool as natural green spaces - spaces where there's nothing man-made.
Basically, I'm really worried that my area of town will lose the very qualities that make it a desireable place to live. Maybe the rest of the world thinks a vast sea of nothing but houses is desireable, but I certainly don't.
What will I be able to photograph if all the natural areas around us disappear? All there will be is houses everywhere you look. That's not good for art. These aren't even historic or interesting houses. They're just houses, and they're just there to increase the number of taxpayers and put money in the pocket of developers and real estate agents.
I expected more from an area known for its natural beauty and environmental friendliness. I don't want this area to become Los Angeles. I want it to stay as it is, while it's still good. Quality of life should include nature, and when you replace nature with too many houses, everyone loses.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
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3 comments:
I know what you mean. We all need the beauty of nature around us, not more housing or roads.
sorry to hear they're doing this in your area. i guess they don't leave you much choice but to move and that sucks.
Oh, we're not moving. But the way things are going, we'd have to if we wanted to be around actual nature and not just hundreds of houses.
I'm not opposed to people actually having places to live, but can't we have a balance between man-made stuff and stuff that was already here before us? Guess not.
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