If there is one single message to convey to our new local government representatives it’s that the cost to refactor our land use to; 1) enable us to live within our means and 2) sustain our quality of life (gross national happiness) will be huge.  Furthermore, we’re late to the starting gate and we’re running out of time.

I’d love to see the BoS task the staff to develop an online Gross Local Happiness survey and to provide a database front-end and download site for reviewing the results.  I’m sure there are many local statisticians who’d love to review the data.  Maybe the BoS can work with the school system to survey all high-school seniors to insure that all classes income-levels are surveyed.  The survey must include the address of the respondent, the year the home was built, and one or more tags that describe the home type.

By the way, this piece was inspired  by James A. Bacon’s, The Era of Foreclosed Possibilities.  Bacon credits the Piedmont Environmental Council for sponsoring his work.  No wonder the PEC is so hated.  The PEC works in a reality-based world and they are guided by common sense.