Z.Monkey’s Blog

Alright, so I was reading the latest issue of National Geographic and in it I found where I want to live. It is Poundbury in the UK. Why, you may ask, do you want to live in a cold, dreary place like England? Well, here is a brief list:

• An emphasis on pedestrians not automobiles. (Down with the auto!) Many of you know that I hate driving and that, in an ideal situation, I’d walk everywhere. This emphasis includes making roads twisty-turny to keep speeds down and encourage people not to drive them regularly
• Interspersing places of employment with housing. This means… wait for it… no strip malls! Woo! People can walk to work and people can walk to shop. I’d also think less drunk drivers (but more people pissing on your flowers) as you can also walk to and from bar.
• Did I mention England is going smoke-free? Well, sort of.
• A de-emphasis on lawn (both front and back!). I’m not the biggest fan of lawns… they end up being a pissing contest with black Labradors being the main victim. Anyway, the homes are built with smaller lawns but close to large public recreation areas. Woot. Team sports are more fun… which reminds me, I am still having no luck with finding some place to play soccer.
• Affordable housing is integrated into the community. There are no projects so there can be no ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality about social class differences. In addition, lower income individuals will, hopefully, not feel as ostracized or shit-upon and thus be able to make a better life for themselves. Either that or you can walk to you drug dealer.
• All in all it encourages a sense of community, because you know everyone from working, shopping and playing with them. I could call this the opposite of a gated community. A good summary of what the community is trying to be can be found here.

Now I just have to stop brushing my teeth and punch myself in the face over and over and over again, and I’ll be able to fit right in. NGM article is here. (note that you will, “Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.”) Dan if you happen to be heading out that way check it out… assuming you actually read this before or while you are out there.

Also, if you are interested in reading a well written editorial in our local news paper check out End-of-year testing doesn’t reflect growth found halfway down this page. Found by Heidi and about a topic that most of can agree on (though maybe not the conclusion); our education system is fuck. [Hehe… I did notice that fuck should past-tensized but the mistake amuses me somehow.]

I’m going to continue to play with the look of the page until I like it. And no, Old Man, my page does not look like this.