Will your city shrink to fit?

[M Paquette]

maybe you can explain why there would be a navy base in the middle of florida?

Coastal defense. There are some good sized lakes there...

There was a Navy 'boot camp' along with the nuclear power training school there. Oh, the school taught theory. No live nucleons...

Ah, but there's the old Navy facility in Idaho. Defending against Russki subs coming up the Snake River!

(INEL declassified this recently. I spent many days pushing neutrons in S5G)

 

[Gumby]

If I am thinking of the same one, it was a training center in Orlando.

To my knowledge, it had Navy Recruit Training (i.e. boot camp) and Navy Nuclear Power Training School. I was there for the latter.

 

[Nords]

maybe you can explain why there would be a navy base in the middle of florida?

To my knowledge, it had Navy Recruit Training (i.e. boot camp) and Navy Nuclear Power Training School. I was there for the latter.

Yup.

Cheap land and even cheaper entertainment...

 

[Kroeran]

how many years were you below sea level?

 

[Goonie]

maybe you can explain why there would be a navy base in the middle of florida?

Probably because there was already one in Illinois....Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago.

 

[Nords]

how many years were you below sea level?

I had [-]six 90-day[/-] five 90-day patrols plus a bonus 93-day patrol, and over five years of sea duty including "extended training operations among international waters", but I never counted up the individual days. It was a big deal in the boomers but the attack sailors are much more casual about it.

The boomers actually have a "Neptune Award" handed out to the guy with the most submerged days. It usually goes to some master chief who has nearly 30 years in the military with well over 20 years of sea duty and a solid 10 years or more submerged. Personally I'm not sure if that's an award or a diagnosis...

 

[Michael Moore]

There was a story on NPR a few months ago where they were talking to firefighters in the Detroit area. They've got many abandoned buildings there now and they'd recently lost a person fighting a fire on one of them. What they were starting to do was go around and mark the clearly abandoned (and often extremely dilapidated) buildings so they'd know they fall into the "let it burn but not spread, don't risk anyone" category.

Of course, those abandoned buildings are all in tax arrears and doing fire/police activity on them is a drain on the cities which are already in fairly tough situations.

When things get that bad it seems like it would make more sense to tear them down than to let them be fire/crime magnets. You might even generate some jobs from the demolition/salvage operations.

It doesn't seem to be significantly different from a company deciding to close and demolish an unused factory (for which there is no longer any use) rather than letting it deteriorate while you pay taxes/insurance on it.

cheers,
Michael

 

[Kroeran]

There was a story on NPR a few months ago where they were talking to firefighters in the Detroit area. They've got many abandoned buildings there now and they'd recently lost a person fighting a fire on one of them. What they were starting to do was go around and mark the clearly abandoned (and often extremely dilapidated) buildings so they'd know they fall into the "let it burn but not spread, don't risk anyone" category.

Of course, those abandoned buildings are all in tax arrears and doing fire/police activity on them is a drain on the cities which are already in fairly tough situations.

When things get that bad it seems like it would make more sense to tear them down than to let them be fire/crime magnets. You might even generate some jobs from the demolition/salvage operations.

It doesn't seem to be significantly different from a company deciding to close and demolish an unused factory (for which there is no longer any use) rather than letting it deteriorate while you pay taxes/insurance on it.

cheers,
Michael

by the way, you make funny movies! ; -) [sorry if that's an old joke here]

 

[missionfinder]

That's encouraging, Martha. I think people will be better off living in a city that can afford to pay for its services. If it's smaller, more affordable, with reasonable tax structures, it might even attract new businesses and residents. It could even happen in Flint!

Part of the problem is the tax burden in Michigan. A city changing its taxes won't compensate for the state. Companies have been fleeing the state for a long time, as have the people, and it started long before the current economic situation. They need to learn from the Irish flight and Irish Miracle if they want to turn it around. You can't polish a turd.

 

[Michael Moore]

by the way, you make funny movies! ; -) [sorry if that's an old joke here]

Actually, when I've been asked "are you that commie pinko movie maker?" I've replied "no, I don't have a movie camera."

I understand there's a slightly younger fellow who makes movies that has been trading on my good name, but you should insist on getting the real thing, not some johnny-come-lately substitute.

cheers,
Michael