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January 31, 2006

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I'm a grad student in Urban and Regional Planning and this has been a topic that we've been discussing at length in one of my classes. If this is really interesting to you, try reading "Land in the American West," edited by Robbins. It's a great collection of essays about the meaning of land and ownership/rights. Definitely one to check out.

Interesting perspective, but one really at odds with how the laws of scarcity and, therefore, human nature works.

Your car analogy for ownership fails miserably. For one, although you don't own it, the dealership does and you have a temporary leasehold of that property. Therefore, laws are set up to treat you like an owner during your tenure, but the dealership owner has to be protected also. So you still haven't avoided the issue of ownership, even though you're leasing.

Cars, also, are depreciable assets. They start out shiny and new, but over time corrode, wear down, etc. and can be recycled in part, to make a new car. Land is a scarce commodity, but it appreciates because demand for it will always increase due to population and need always increasing. It can be redeveloped many times over, but always to satisfy the needs of location for more and more people for work, live, etc.

Until the nature of land, human need, and human nature given scarcity of resources is understood and is reflected in the land use debate, any conjured solution will be unrealistic and impracticle. And yes, no political solution is perfect.

were you a Native American last lifetime? *s*

I don't disagree with anything you said, but this is a culture of possession-- own my wife, my husband, my land, my my my. It's all about greed and profit.

We obviously impact others by our actions and your example of the lake view is a good one. To say that if I turn my land into a garbage dump, it won't impact anybody but me is nuts. But this is a profit driven culture for the time being at least. Very frustrating for those of us who believe there is more to enjoying life than acquiring things.

Oregon had the land use laws put in place to begin with because people saw what was happening in California and didn't want it here. It worked for a long time until we got a group of people in power who only see value in dollar signs. If you go around the west now to states with no planning, you see the folly of that view-- except once again somebody made money off that helter skelter development-- or thought they did...

you are a flippin' socialist.
buy more land , move if you have to, if you dont like the garage.

oregon....ugh!

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