Blog-IT-o ergo sum

	4/3/2006

Heart of Triad Charade - Night 1

A scam to shake county taxpayers down for an unnessary light rail line between Greensboro and Winston Salem: that's my premonition after having attended the first public session tonight of the "Heart of the Triad (HOT)" charrette being put on by PART.

Lots of clues to the theft of property rights underway as indicated in the phrases used by the smart growth consultants from HDR doing the presentation:

"Relentless suburban sprawl", "protecting the watersheads" (editor's note: unless they are in the path of runways), "Apocalyptic environment" (in reference to suburban tract housing, "Cars need to be controlled..."

Near the outset of the presentation, we were informed that our community has three options before us for the HOT region.

1) Maintain the status quo - (editor's note: risk the horrors of the quasi free market.)

2) Plan to become a trucking and warehouse center.

3) Plan to become an R&D center.

After stating that, "The final plan is your choice," the consultants went on to explain the many glories of effective integrated government planning using Soviet era terminology for creating "village centers", "employment centers," etc. Never once did they again refer to maintaining the status quo as an option.

The clincher for me was one of the closing slides of the presentation showing a well dressed woman in a dress holding a picket sign on what looked to be courthouse steps. The image was in black and white and had a 50's look to it. The placard read, "Collaborate or Die." This was not a comic relief slide. The consultant was dead serious as to the terms we, the unwashed proletariat, should be thinking in.

Look for a totally predetermined report and recommendation to be put out at the closing presentation on Friday. The public input sessions on Wednesday that they are calling a charettee will be just a charade put on to give the appearance of public support and "transparency".

Sandy Carmany was there and I expect she will have a more positive developer/land use planning take on things.

9:35:44 PM

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