“Just Another Santa Maria”
I turned the car down Dalidio road, a stand of eucalyptus trees on my right blocking out the bright afternoon sun. The SLO Promenade shopping center sprawled to my left, making the newly paved road seem small and narrow. The stand of eucalyptus soon gave way to an open field, rows of crops spreading as far as the eye can see. This huge field comprised the Dalidio farm, 131 acres of type I Salinas soil adjacent to Highway 101, ideally suited for producing 13 different crops. This farm is the first thing that greets visitors from the south, a landmark of San Luis Obispo’s agricultural heritage. As I gazed out at the farm, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of irony. With the 175,000 square foot SLO Promenade sitting just yards behind me, San Luis Obispo’s past stretched out before me, and what could very well be its future spread behind. It staggered me to think that this past could soon be erased, paved over to build yet another large shopping mall. If this project were completed, two massive shopping centers sitting side-by-side would be the first thing that greeted visitors to San Luis Obispo. Gone would be the rich agricultural heritage, replaced by nearly 80 acres of big-box commercial stores. This proposed project would not only irreparably harm San Luis Obispo’s image, but it would be incredibly costly to the city in the long run.
Located between Highway 101 and Los Osos Valley Road, the Dalidio farm is a 131-acre piece of land, currently owned by South County Farmer Ernie Dalidio. In 1992, faced with declining agricultural profits, Dalidio was looking for a new way to make money on this parcel of land located just 4 miles from downtown San Luis Obispo, writes Daniel Blackburn[1]. ...
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... The Dalidio Marketplace would have an immeasurable negative impact on San Luis Obispo’s economic and cultural future, one that is currently very bright. The citizens of San Luis Obispo will have the final say on the Marketplace, and the election on April 26th will be one of the most important the city has ever witnessed.
[1] “Field of Dreams” Daniel Blackburn, New Times, April 4, 2002
[2] “Field of Dreams” Daniel Blackburn, New Times, April 4, 2002
[3] “Why the Dalidio Marketplace Development is a Really Bad Deal” http://www.savesanluisobispo.org/christine.htm
[4] Why the Dalidio Marketplace Development is a Really Bad Deal” http://www.savesanluisobispo.org/christine.htm
[5] “To Save A Town, Why Did They Destroy It?” Chris Kenton, BusinessWeek, August 31, 2004
[6] “The Marketplace is Bad For Downtown.” http://www.savesanluisobispo.org/whybad.htm
The Crossroads development has dominated the local conversation in Mahwah for the past 9 months. Over the past few years, the Crossroads Developers had put forth various proposals for development of the site, only to have them rejected by the Mahwah Township Council. This past March, the Developer once again came to the Council in order to ask that their property be rezoned from office use to mixed-use/retail to allow for the construction of a complex of retail stores, restaurants, a movie theater, hotel and office space. Over 400 residents attended the March 31 meeting to express their opposition to the development. This unprecedented turnout by Mahwah residents, unlike any the Council had seen before, should have been enough for the Council to realize that a decision to rezone the property may not be in the best interests of Mahwah residents. Instead, the Council voted 4-2 to allow for the property to be rezoned.
In “Wal-Mart vs. Pyramids”, Laura Carlsen questions the super franchises business tactics and opposes their attempt to build on the sacred, holy land that was once Teotihuacan. In her argument, Carlsen suggest that building in this area would infringe on the country’s cultural heritage, one that goes back thousands of years. Laura Carlsen gives a compelling argument against Wal-Marts’ practices in Mexico by displaying effective uses of ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as her successful use of other rhetoric appeals.
The topic the essay is mainly talking about is whether to initiate the San Joaquin River Project. I am with Bill McEwen on his article, “River Plan Too Fishy for my Taste Buds.” I chose this author because I do not think the government should spend more money on the river rights project. The author convinced me that he is more credible and can be trusted by all the experience he has. The article was published in Fresno Bee on March 26,2009 and is surrounded by farms so the people there know what will happen if big businesses were to start a project. McEwen demonstrates how this project will impact the city in a negative way by stating ethos, logos, and pathos.
Hines’ article, though not possessing a clear purpose, provides a thorough history of the entire Elysian Park Heights project. He summarizes Chavez Ravine, the architects and their vision, and the downfall of the project due to fears of socialism and a desire for baseball. Hines’ writing effectively triggers a number of emotions, mainly anger and shock that the situation took place. While he provides no introduction to the reader, by the conclusion, Hines definitely provides reason for response.
Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA is the TED Talk video selected for this reaction paper and the talk tells us how one man was resourceful enough to take what he called "home of the drive-thru and the drive-by" and a "food desert" and build food gardens for all to share and be changed by. On stage, Ron Finley is clearly a man with a sense of humor and knack for keeping his message real. For example, when city planners attempted to rebrand South Central Los Angeles to South Los Angeles, he simply went through his slides with photos of the neighborhood again, calling it South Los Angeles with liquor stores, fast food, and vacant lots. A great ice breaker for the audience that let us know that he knew that more than a simple name change was needed to fix what’s wrong with his food desert.
Mottram, Jamie. “Why St. Louis is a terrible, no good place.” Misterirrelevant.com. 11 November 2013. Web. 11 November 2013.
Starting with creating a Law to strip Jewish immigrants from Poland of their German citizenship. Then moving on to pass a law allowing for forced sterilization of those found by a Hereditary Health Court to have genetic defects. They also prohibit Jews from owning land, also from being newspaper editors. Jewish people are also banned from the German labor front and stripped of national health insurance. The Jews where also prohibited from receiving legal qualifications. The Nazis ban Jewish people from serving in the military. Hitler was trying to form his version of a perfect race by not only stripping Jews of their rights but also Gypsies, the mentally ill, homosexuals, and Jehovah’s witnesses. The name for the plan of the mass extermination was called “the final solution”. The Jews where sentenced to death there was really no escape for them. Some people where very lucky, some people of Jewish ancestry were sometimes able to escape being sent to the Nazi death camps if their grandparents had converted to Christianity before the date of January 18, of 1871. This date marked the start of Germanys unification and the start of the German empire. After the beginning of World War II, N...
At least 1.2 billion people live in areas of physical water scarcity and another 1.6 billion people confront economical water shortage, that is when the countries do not have the infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers (UN http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml) as shown in figure 1. Besides the scarcity in drinkable water supply, there are other problems such as water pollution (harming biodiversity of rivers and lakes, and transmitting diseases) and other water usages such as food production, management of human wastes and dilution of pollutants.
Beautiful scenery, delicious foods, and desirable accessories at your fingertips along with other enticements and wishes the mall offers as described by Carolyn Merchant as the modern Garden of Eden in her writing of “Eden Commodified.” Merchant is an award winning writer and professor at the University of California covering the subjects of environmental history and philosophy, making her an expert in the subject of human nature and our connection to the environment. She characterizes the combination of gardens, goods, and ornate architecture as heaven on earth a peaceful, clean, and orderly destination for rich and poor, old and young; however, is this really all she is saying?
There are potential buyers, who are interested in the industrial uses of the properties, for the couple of Industrial properties southeast of the Oxnard/Reseda Intersection.
McCullough presents a meticulously researched, detailed account of the Johnstown Flood of May 31st 1889, which provides arguments for why the disaster was both “the work of man” and “a visitation of providence”. However, it is apparent that McCullough believes that man was more responsible than nature/god for the extent of the catastrophe. In McCullough’s opinion, the storm that caused the flood was no more than the inevitable stimulus of the disaster, whereas the deferred maintenance and poor repairs on the dam were the primary reason that Johnstown was devastated in 1889. McCullough exposes the failed duties of Benjamin Ruff and other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, whilst simultaneously questioning the responsibility of the Johnstown folk who were concerned about the safety of the dam but complacently trusted the wealthy, powerful club members to fulfil their responsibilities. McCullough clearly explains the debate that took place immediately after the flood, on what or whom was to blame for the disaster, by explaining the views of the press, the townspeople and the lawsuits that were filed.
Jacobs, Jane. "12-13." The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House, 1961. N. pag. Print.
On Thursday night of Parents’ Weekend at 7pm, I went to the Farmer’s Market, located in downtown San Luis Obispo down Higuera Street between Osos and Nipomo Street. Many food stands, local businesses, and live entertainment were set up outside on the sidewalks, which were blocked off to cars. It ranged around 3-4 blocks long, with barbeque stands on both ends. Many students, families and children attended, creating a large crowd a people. People walked up and down the streets, browsing for food and other things to buy. It would be a good public place to people watch and observe a crowd’s behavior at night, as opposed to daylight. I was also curious to see how differently vendors and local businesses interact with patrons in an outdoor setting as opposed to in a storefront. It would be interesting to see if and how different social identities came together and performed in this laidback, informal, vendor-style setting. As a main attraction here in SLO, I wanted to see how the atmosphere and the people in the town contributed to making this a successful weekly event.
MailOnline, 2012. Massive underground reserves of water found in some of Africa's driest areas. [Online]
This gigantic project is important because there are concerns that the new USC Village will displace local community members, many of which are Hispanic, low-income families, and raise the price of housing in the area, making it unaffordable for local residents (Saillant 2012). This would contribute to the idea that USC is slowly gentrifying the surrounding neighborhood, which would force less wealthy local residents out of their homes into less desirable neighborhoods, while bringing in relatively wealthy college students.