oh, and you don’t EVER have any natural disaster in Wisconsin now do ya.............
shezzzzzzzzzzzzz... WI geniuses... try MYOB...
Kellynla:
I wasn’t always a native of WI. And we are not allowed to build in flood & wetland areas here. When we are hit by tornadoes in teh summer and heavy snows in the winter, we (or our insurance companies) pay for the damage — not the taxpayers. Why should Californians be allowed to build in fire areas and slide areas where they are repeatedly hit by disasters? I am a native Californian, dating from a family that settled there in the 1880s. The disaster areas are well known to the natives.
And no, I didn’t know that Californians weren’t allowed to clear their properties by law. I thought they were just stupid! Perhaps Californians should elect people to pass different laws, if that is the case.
That’s a smart aleck remark, I know, but I did grow up with people who don’t think very far in the future — “the brush is pretty, the trees enhance my lot and protect my privacy, I don’t want my neighbor to cut his trees, I like the shade,” ad nauseum! My mother had trees peeling the roof off of her house a while back. It took my husband a month to repair the damage. When they’d all grown back, and more, on our next visit, we hired a tree cutting service and removed the offending trees.
I have an old friend in Berkeley who has sued to force his neighbor trim his trees (for the Bay view) and has also sued the same neighbor to prevent him from cutting his trees that might expose an unpleasant view. Go figure! This same man (an attorney) at one time purchased that same neighbor’s house (from a different owner) and carved up the lot to add 10 feet along the side of his own house to park an extra car. In addition, he got the telephone company to move their pole from his house to the neighbor’s house because it intruded on his view. Then he sold the house with the reduced lot and offending pole to somebody else at a higher price than he paid. I don’t know if the buyer is the same person my friend keeps suing. Same house, though.
I had many friends who lost their homes when the Berkeley/Oakland fire swept down the hills about 15 years ago, destroying everything in its path. Thank God I had moved away years before, but that did not stop me from shedding tears over the tragedy. People can be very protective of their vegetation, I know. I used to be one of them. But, it is not a good idea in an area prone to fires with no fire station on the corner.
I’ve often wondered how the American pattern of building and landscaping developed. If you go to England, or Ireland, you will notice that people do not allow vegetation to encroach upon their houses. Gardens are out by the roads with courtyards or terraces up next to the house. In many areas there are no foundation plantings, especially on the really big houses and castles, but even on the little cottages. At first that looked strange to me, as I drove by miles of cottages both in town and in the country in Ireland; but eventually I decided that it was a pretty good idea — no dryrot or termites destroying your foundations, no leaks in the basement! And the people looking OUT of the house enjoy the gardens, rather than the other way around. The only vegetation near the houses, all the way around, is in pots and containers. It’s lovely when you get used to it.
We don't have hairbrained leftist policies either.
Our natural disasters are mostly snowstorms and the occasional tornado.
You guys border the largest ocean in the world, for crying out loud.