[thechat] balancing old and new (was re: Knife-man found in BusinessWeek)

[Erika]

Well water.   I grew up on well water.  When I was around 22 I can 
recall going to a meeting to fight water systems.  (Part of the area 
ended up with community water in the end; our road did not.)

If you had a larger parcel of land, you'd have to pay for TWO community 
water systems... this also makes it much easier, and more desirable, to 
subdivide your property, and build two houses where there was one. 
Quality of life goes down.  Besides that, we lived butt up in a redwood 
forest, and the more it got developed, the more troubles we had with 
bears and mountain lions who were being pushed out of their habitat. 
Not to mention, city people are stupid about wildlife, leave dog food 
out and stuff.

Well water kept us independent and fed my fantasy of being able to live 
off the grid if the whole damn system crashed. Plus, peole are forced to 
be more careful with a lot of things (like where spetic tanks are built) 
when they are drinking untreated water from under their own damn feet.

Development was prodded by those damn southern Californians.  Who don't 
even wave when they drive by.  So my hatred of southern Californians was 
totally justified.

So I pity the Oregonian who dares accuse me of being a "Californian..."

Erika