Fin-man, I’m a homeowner and my heart just don’t quite bleed for ya. Yes, it probably sucks that they’re putting the sidewalk in at an inconvenient location, but one thing you must realize is that the risk of government intrusion (rights of way, eminent domain, etc.) is part of the bundle of risks, liabilities and rewards that we all acquire when we buy property. When you buy property, you don’t buy a thing, you buy a dynamic, which you hope works well but equally can bite you in the ass.
Equipoise, I’m a homeowner and my heart just don’t quite bleed for ya. (I’m just an unsympathetic home-owning bastard, I am.) One of the consequences of your refusal to buy a home - your consumption decisions - is that your home will exist only at the grace of others, who can change their minds within the bounds of contract (lease) law. What you ain’t got, you don’t have. You may not like that, but in a market economy that’s life. You’re a grownup, and that means being prepared to make unpleasant choices: consuming in a way that’s personally unsatisfying, or being forced to move at short notice. You may only pick one, there is no third option, thank you for playing.
Regarding locating schools - without knowing more all any of us can do is speculate. But one of the problems in using former industrial sites for schools is that they tend to be pretty toxic, and people generally don’t like the idea of kids spending hours and hours of the day right above industrial waste. So you’re talking about spending lots on some sort of abatement, which may make the overall idea completely uneconomic.
All the more reason to make sure they don’t have money to play with…
I actually checked on this and the sidewalk would be 11-15 feet in. I have a big yard so this is not too horrible a thing.
However, what I am railing against is the way city government and people like in this thread are completely uncaring about people. They are so willing to sacrifice time/energy/money of others and actually seem gleeful about it.
I’m sure the people responsible for the school in the OP didn’t give one thought to all the people displaced. No sacrifice others make is too great in their eyes.
People like this make me sick. I hope they get back 10 times what they wish on others.
I think you’re confusing Fin-man with andymurph64.
I do understand all that. I wasn’t asking for sympathy. I was just venting. Just as everyone has to do, we made our choices and must live with them. We’re extremely happy with our lifestyle choices. I have a grown son from an earlier marriage and he’s a home/2 car owner. He’s doing the best he can for his family, but has ulcers and fights depression. He envies us but we don’t envy him.
We knew we were going to have to leave. We knew years ago that they were going to build a school. If the construction crews were going to be coming we wouldn’t be quite so peeved. It’s the knowledge that the buildings will be standing vacant or they’ll be weed and trash-strewn vacant lots for (probably) the next several years that upsets us so much.
Btw, I do not accept that homeowners are safe from this sort of thing. Just ask the many homeowners on this block who have been/are being/will be forced to sell out for less than market price how safe they thought they were.
Unlike you, I don’t believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Government on a personal and public works level can do wonderful things for people and communities. The bad they do does not negate the good.
Maybe the difference between left and right comes down to the fact that the right sees everything in black and white and the left sees all the colors in between.
And you think a hard-core right-wing/libertarian government would care MORE?? With that kind of government, there would be chaos, anarchy, far more crime and far less services that help people. Oh, I don’t even want to get started about how much I loathe and fear the thought of a libertarian government.
There are always going to be beaurocrats and people will always be displaced by public works projects. I hate being one of them, at least earlier than I need to be, but I’m not going to rail against the entire government! It seems you gained a sidewalk and lost your common sense.
As Equipoise said, you are confusing me with andymurph64. I’m all for the government taking part of my front yard if they are going to put in a sidewalk. Sidewalks are necessary sometimes.
The difference between left and right, as you call it, is that the right believes in individual rights. The left thinks that individual rights should be sacrificed for the good of others or the group.
I don’t think its as simple as that but you grossly simplified in that way.
You know what you get with too much government? People with no rights, tyranny of the majority. 1984.
