Stucco, stucco everywhere...
I just returned from a short visit to Washington County. Unfortunately I had to drive because St. George isn't on a passenger rail line.
Washington County is beautiful and nauseating at the same time.
I love the red rock mesas and plateaus that form the area's backdrop, but I could never live in St. George or any of the surrounding municipalities. If you think that the Wasatch Front is bad when it comes to car-dependency, Washington County is even worse.
The tragic thing about St. George is that it could have turned out much better had people done some careful planning as little as 25 years ago. Instead of the sprawling monstrosity that it just recently became, St. George could have been developed in a more sustainable, tight-knit fashion with a focus on pedestrian-friendly development and mass transit.
While I was there it was a relief to go through the old town section of the city (which is laid out on a nice, orderly grid system) and to see the temple and other handsome historic buildings. It's ironic that a beautiful landscape was created when the people had very little, whereas millions and millions of dollars have now been used to create an unsustainable crapscape.
The seemingly endless cookie cutter subdivisions, strip malls, restaurant pads and big boxes really get to me after a couple of days. Why do people choose to live there again? Are golf courses, snow-free weather, endless shopping opportunities and outdoor recreation really worth the absence of community and any sort of sustainable lifestyle?
It will be interesting (or maybe I should say frightening) to see what happens to Washington County as peak oil realities set in. What happens when the trucks stop coming? How the hell could the area grow enough food to support its current population? How can you get out of St. George if you can't drive out? Remember, there's no rail through St. George. How enraged will the people become when they recognize that their real estate investments aren't worth very much in an energy-scarce world?
Of course the problems that face Washington County aren't unique to that area, but I think they'll be worse there than in most other places in the state.
Washington County is beautiful and nauseating at the same time.
I love the red rock mesas and plateaus that form the area's backdrop, but I could never live in St. George or any of the surrounding municipalities. If you think that the Wasatch Front is bad when it comes to car-dependency, Washington County is even worse.
The tragic thing about St. George is that it could have turned out much better had people done some careful planning as little as 25 years ago. Instead of the sprawling monstrosity that it just recently became, St. George could have been developed in a more sustainable, tight-knit fashion with a focus on pedestrian-friendly development and mass transit.
While I was there it was a relief to go through the old town section of the city (which is laid out on a nice, orderly grid system) and to see the temple and other handsome historic buildings. It's ironic that a beautiful landscape was created when the people had very little, whereas millions and millions of dollars have now been used to create an unsustainable crapscape.
The seemingly endless cookie cutter subdivisions, strip malls, restaurant pads and big boxes really get to me after a couple of days. Why do people choose to live there again? Are golf courses, snow-free weather, endless shopping opportunities and outdoor recreation really worth the absence of community and any sort of sustainable lifestyle?
It will be interesting (or maybe I should say frightening) to see what happens to Washington County as peak oil realities set in. What happens when the trucks stop coming? How the hell could the area grow enough food to support its current population? How can you get out of St. George if you can't drive out? Remember, there's no rail through St. George. How enraged will the people become when they recognize that their real estate investments aren't worth very much in an energy-scarce world?
Of course the problems that face Washington County aren't unique to that area, but I think they'll be worse there than in most other places in the state.
posted by Utah Peaknik at 8:01 AM
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