If they call it Bruns-tucky does it mean there are or used to be a lot of people there from Appalachia, or was it just a poorer, rural area?

Think it was called B-tucky . :roll: it was "backwards" before its renaissance couple years ago..

This story could have been written about Strongsville ten years ago, or Streetsboro (also once known as "Streets-tucky") five years ago.  It's really no big deal.

 

Neither is "sprawl".  It's basically what people do when left to their own devices.  They make individual decisions based on what's best for themselves and their families.  When there's no governmental entity restricting it (as is the case with Cleveland where the inner ring of suburbs enclosed the city during the early 1960s), it's what happens. 

 

Central city politicians shouldn't be allowed to get away with blaming those who vote with their feet.  It's a lot like the old communist nations blaming their economic ills on their escapees.

Are they blaming them, or are they not placing the blame on a State Department of Transportation that thinks the only mode of transportation is roads and builds newer and wider roads to accomodate more and more unsustainable sprawl? Or what about all the other federal and State dollars that give to the suburbs over the city just 'cause? That's why I'm glad Strickland is revamping the way state funds are shelled out focusing more on established urban areas, not subdivisions named after the forest that was there before houses were built.

Are they blaming them, or are they not placing the blame on a State Department of Transportation that thinks the only mode of transportation is roads and builds newer and wider roads to accomodate more and more unsustainable sprawl? Or what about all the other federal and State dollars that give to the suburbs over the city just 'cause? That's why I'm glad Strickland is revamping the way state funds are shelled out focusing more on established urban areas, not subdivisions named after the forest that was there before houses were built.

 

The word "unsustainable" is IMO quite often overused, and in this case it's not supported by past history.  Previous "boom" areas like Strongsville, Aurora, and Macedonia are doing fine.  It's the central city and inner suburbs that are allegedly hurt by "sprawl".  Whether or not sprawl is a partial cause or entirely an effect of the real problems is debatable.  I would suggest that it's bad politics, particularly in this area.

 

As for ODOTs funding of freeways, why shouldn't they focus on the obvious preferences of people in general?   The roads are usually added after the "sprawl" takes place and traffic gets heavy in those areas.  It's not always immediate either.  Look at 303 in Brunswick or 82 in Macedonia as examples.

 

As for mass transit, it simply isn't seen as a viable day to day option, particularly for families.

 

You can't really blame government for responding to the actions of the taxpayers. To be fair, you have to blame the people themselves.

^^When ODOT builds more roads more sprawl and subdivisions come, that's why were even talking about Brunswick and is the nature of sprawl.

 

The exurbs are doing fine now, but what about when gas is $7.00 a gallon and people in the exurbs can't afford to even drive out to their homes. If the current trends continue the decay that's creeping its way into the inner ring 'burbs will be in Solon, and Stongsville and Westlake, but no worry, by then people will have built new sprawl in booming Conneaut, Ravenna and Lodi, sickening really.

 

Mass transit was a viable option, up until americans abandoned it 50 years ago because of affordable cars and cheap gas. Times changing. Neighborhoods used to be built near stores and neighborhood retail, not ten miles and no sidewalks away from the nearest Target and Applebees. People didn't have to touch a car to go get the things they needed and at least in Cleveland it was only a short bus, rapid or streetcar ride away.

 

Why would we keep spreading out resources in a region that A) isn't congested and B) is stagnant population wise? 

^^Strongville, Solon, and whatever other hell hole you want to throw out there are nearly built out.  They have peaked and will start the "decline" that first Clevland expereinced, then Parma and the like.  And when that happens, the growth stops, leaders shit the bed, their housing stock isn't getting any younger, and get pissed that new malls are being built 4 exits away.  This is only 10 years away for these cities.  So Strongsville will have what, 20 or 25 years of prosperity and then decline.  That seems to be the average life span for a suburb.  It's only a shame that it is generally the same people moving from suburb to suburb to ignore the ills that they are creating.  God bless America.