The phenomenon of sprawl has passed into history
Sprawl is dead. It’s roadkill, you might say.
And unlike movie zombies, the growth phenomenon that once defined the metro region is not going to spring back to life. In Atlanta and most other places, the sprawl era that began with post-war Levittown, N.Y. and eventually redrew the American landscape and mindset has now passed into history.
Now, that doesn’t mean that the suburbs created by sprawl will disappear or even decline. To the contrary, for many they remain great places to live and raise a family, and that won’t change. Once the economy recovers, a lot of suburbs will resume growth through infill development and increased density, although they will become increasingly urban in the process.
However, the conversion of vast tracts of far-flung greenspace into suburban housing — that has ended. The larger postwar demographic trends, economics, lifestyle choices and government subsidies that drove that trend have all petered out, and without them, large-scale sprawl will end as well.
The evidence of that transition is stark. Today, if you fly over or drive around the outer suburbs of metro Atlanta, you’ll find tens of thousands of vacant lots, cleared and ready for houses. Many of those empty lots — some complete with paved roads, sewer, water and utilities — will never see development and are destined to be reclaimed by nature, reverting to pasture or forest.
The industry that generated those lots has vanished as well, never to reassemble in such numbers. The mortgage brokers who stood ready to close loans in those subdivisions are instead collecting unemployment or selling shoes. The developers who bet their futures on those home lots have gone bankrupt, and the Hispanic carpenters and laborers who would have built them have gone, disappearing as quickly and mysteriously as they appeared. Many of the commercial banks that financed those projects have also gone under.
Now, it’s tempting to dismiss all that change as the temporary result of a deep recession. If that were true, the sprawl industry would likely reassemble once the economy picks up. But it won’t.
Even before the recession hit, the sprawl model of growth was showing serious strains in metro Atlanta. Admittedly, it was hard to see at the time. The U.S. Census Bureau, for example, reported that from July 2000 to July 2008, six of the 15 fastest growing counties in the country could be found here in the 28-county Atlanta metro region.
By the end of that eight-year stretch, however, the Atlanta boom had cooled considerably. By July 2007 to July 2008, none of the 15 fastest growing counties were in metro Atlanta. The only two metro counties to even make the top 50 were Forsyth at No. 16 and Paulding at No. 40.
The boom machine, however, was too busy making money to notice that slackening of demand. By July 2007, almost 240,000 lots were coming on line for development in north metro Atlanta alone, according to Metrostudy, a real-estate data and analysis company. This, in a market where annual new home sales barely averaged 30,000, even during the boom.
What accounts for that shift? A lot of it is the free market at work. Younger people forming households of their own are more interested in urban living than in recreating their suburban upbringing, and many older Americans are also looking to downsize their living arrangements. The rising cost of commuting and energy to heat and cool large homes are having an impact as well.
Government’s declining ability to subsidize farflung suburbia has also had an effect. In Atlanta and other areas, the transportation infrastructure needed to shorten commuting times and thus extend the suburban model still farther from the core is no longer practical or affordable; it has become a struggle just to service already developed areas.
For a while, the flood of easy mortgages, cheap immigrant labor and big profits disguised those profound changes taking place nationally. Here in metro Atlanta, it disguised something else as well.
Long before the recession began, the metro region’s job-creating capacity was already more myth than reality. A lot of people were moving here, but jobs weren’t. According to Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, by 2008 the 28-county area had produced an average of just 1,400 premium-paying jobs a year since 2002.
No doubt many of those jobs were generated by the sprawl industry, the result of a boom that we now know to have been based on a false foundation. Metro Atlanta’s economic challenges, in other words, aren’t likely to end when this terrible recession does.
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234 comments Add your comment
getalife
November 20th, 2009
9:35 am
The t baggers are turning on each other now.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
9:37 am
getalife
i read that….lawsuits about where the money went….
i’m more interested in where it cam from.
SOUTHERN ATL
November 20th, 2009
9:37 am
Good article…maybe we can get Sonny Perdue to pray that the Georgia economy grows strong before he leaves office!
Bubba
November 20th, 2009
9:38 am
“the Hispanic carpenters and laborers who would have built them have gone, disappearing as quickly and mysteriously as they appeared.”
LOL, Jay. Do you ever leave your office?
Joey
November 20th, 2009
9:38 am
Noah;
This trend, the desire for a small easy to maintain yard or a yard maintained by the HOA, is being satisfied in the suburbs. The trend is almost exclusivly driven by people over 55. They want to live close to their grandchildren.
When the gas price goes up it causes people to change their behavior for a short time, but as soon as they can adjust they go back to driving their cars.
Tall
November 20th, 2009
9:40 am
That’s what recessions do, Mr. Bookman. But, no, sprawl is not dead nor will it ever die. As long as the general population expands by 2% – 3% per year, it will come back. I lived in Manhattan before I moved to Atlanta. It was fun at the time, but it is a hard place to live. Mid-town Atlanta is less frenetic, but not a good place for a family.
I like being part of the Sandy Springs sprawl. My kids have a yard and a pool and room in the basement to play and I don’t have to worry about being uncool. Have fun in midtown!!
You can get AIDS from the toilets at Piedmont park
November 20th, 2009
9:41 am
Count me as one that avoids downtown. It’s scary! I have the Gwinnett Braves and the Gwinnett Gladators to entertain me. I have a Wal Mart, a Publix and Kroger too……What I don’t have is thugs and men dressed as women and I praise the lord for that.
Bubba
November 20th, 2009
9:42 am
But Tall, wouldn’t you rather pay $1 million for a 2-bedroom bungalow intown than $500K for a 5-bedroom, finished-basement home with pool OTP?
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
9:43 am
Bubba,
Chances are that $1 million 2 bedroom bungalow intown will be standing a long time after the 5-bedroom sawdust box OTP is gone.
Balance Our Budget
November 20th, 2009
9:45 am
Congressional Democrats could be careening toward a head-on collision with the White House over $200 billion in leftover bailout money — money that Republicans think should simply be returned to taxpayers.
The Treasury Department is pushing for fiscal prudence and wants to use the money to pay down the deficit and keep a small rainy-day fund in case of economic catastrophe.
But Democrats are salivating over the possibility of $200 billion in unspent money.
Like kids in a candy store .Spend baby spend.
Bubba
November 20th, 2009
9:45 am
No Bosch, it won’t. Unless the owner decides to tear it down and build something even better. All for less than your $1M bungalow.
RK
November 20th, 2009
9:46 am
Sprawl is ending? Not without the expansion of MARTA.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
9:48 am
OH NOES!
Using leftover TARP funds to create jobs!
Oh the inhumanity!
pat
November 20th, 2009
9:48 am
“For a while, the flood of subprime mortgages to dead beats who can’t or won’t pay trying to live waaaaay beyond their means, cheap illegal immigrant labor and big profits disguised those profound changes taking place nationally.”
There, fixed it for ya.
Doggone/GA
November 20th, 2009
9:48 am
“And this came from the Liberal Left?!!?”
My understanding is that it came from some of the Tea Partiers actually carrying the little bags of tea around as a symbol and someone realized they didn’t know the OTHER meaning for those tea bags.
Noah
November 20th, 2009
9:49 am
Joey:
I agree with you. When I think of additional sprawl it means new, cheaper subdivisions on the outer edges. I just think that less people are likely to opt for the really long commutes (say exburbs) then they were 5 or 10 years ago. Quality of life is important to people as well as how nice their home is plus they want shopping close by and the exburbs/newer areas may not offer that. Those that live in established suburban areas and are near to shopping etc are not the target of his theory I don’t believe.
I do know many people under 55 who want smaller places (easier to maintain, less work, cheaper utilities etc). Its a lifestyle choice.
Paul
November 20th, 2009
9:55 am
Mrs. Godzilla 9:29 ABM 9:31
Thanks. For me, sometimes ignorance is bliss!
Tall
November 20th, 2009
9:56 am
Bubba:
If I move ITP, where I am going to put the BBQ smoker? That’s the problem with condos. When I lived in NYC, I was on the fifth floor of a five floor walk up building. Just up the stairs was the rooftop. You can do some good BBQ’ing(it is a verb up north) on the rooftop.
samuel
November 20th, 2009
9:56 am
I’ve lived in the city of atlanta, and-more specifically- Southwest Atlanta my entire life. I can say that I’m perfectly happy living in my neighborhood. I’ve never witnessed a shooting, no home that i’ve ever lived in has been broken in to, and I’ve never felt the need to own a gun. People in black neighborhoods have the same amenities in their homes that white, Hispanic and Asian people have in theirs, including satellite TV and internet access. Now I’ve never been to Paulding, Fayette or Henry counties, and I’ve only seen Gwinnett County from the windows of a Greyhound bus on my way to New York. But I have been to the Eiffel Tower, I’ve sat in the gallery of the House of Commons, I’ve been to the top of Mount Corcovado and I’ve been inside the Sydney Opera House. So the thought of never having seen the Mall of Georgia does not faze me in the least. I love cities in general and I love living in the city of Atlanta!
Zeb
November 20th, 2009
9:57 am
Georgia is among the most beautiful places on earth. Mountains, rivers, pristine beaches, huge swaths of open countryside. But for decades Georgia has been the poster child for runaway, ruinous development, fueled by short-sighted, greedy, self-dealing politicians and “business leaders.” These people could care less if their grand children breathe air full of coal particulate, if every fish in the rivers is laced with mercury, and if Georgia is completely raped and pillaged by developers. To them a strip mall is a thing of beauty, coal-fired plants spewing spewing tons of pollution are the very definition of “progress.” Even our southern neighbors like N. Carolina, Tenn., etc.now realize that they must move into the 21st Century with new technology, light & high speed rail public transit, solar power, etc. But Georgia–No Way. Our Paleolithic leaders are still stuck firmly in the 1960’s where asphalt and belching smokestacks, and endless tracts of McMansions are symbols of their power & prestige.
What They Are Saying: 11.20.09 | AnnotatedOpinions.com
November 20th, 2009
9:57 am
[...] The end of sprawl: The phenomenon of sprawl has passed into history [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] [...]
Paul
November 20th, 2009
9:59 am
Bosch
[[I don’t think it was the liberal left, but someone whose interprets thing in a much more grotesque manner than you or I.
]]
What do you expect from people who don’t appreciate the grand meanings of Battlestar Galactica and Twilight?
DoggoneGA
Good morning! That was kinda my question – did those opposed to the people holding the rallies, who’d given themselves an acronym name, have a grotesque sexual slang reference brought in by those opposed to their views? No response necessary -
Cherokee
November 20th, 2009
9:59 am
Normal as usual I get to the party late, but you are absolutely correct about the total lack of leadership in
Atlanta. Up here in Cherokee we’re represented by the slimy Chip Rogers, who is busy fulfilling the goals of the tenthers, making sure that Georgians don’t have access to the public health care option.
Loser.
Boogers for the Children Fund
November 20th, 2009
9:59 am
tscali
November 20th, 2009
9:29 am
Holder is full of shyt/himself. If called to testify, Bush and other persons on Holders hit list should take the stand, reply to whatever Holders first question is with “Kiss my ass”, then laugh at him and finally plead the 5th.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
9:59 am
Paul
I can remember telling mom what some of the slang meant in the 70’s and 80’s and NOW…..when my kids tell me what some of the current slang means – I look in the mirror and see my mom’s face.
Really nothing new under the sun……
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
November 20th, 2009
10:00 am
@@
8:20 am
“Timing’s right for me. 5 or 6 more years….I’ll be looking at Sweet Home (south) Alabama. 40 acres and a horse or two.”
Just let me know whn you look for that horse. We have royally bred cutting stock with over 40 yrs invested in tinkering in their blood. Most go back 60 to 75% to Mr. San Peppy, all go back to Kingsville.
Fall is a beautiful time to picnic at our country home. The turning leaves, really offset, in a most picturesque way, the babbling streams and beautiful sorrel horses knee deep in the meadows. I could have Aunt Nettie, whose family has cooked our Thanksgiving dinners since they were welcomed to our farm in the late 1700s, cook some quail and prepare a nice lunch. A horseback tour would be fun and, while we discuss Sarah’s new book and the way the America has gone to hell under the liberals, you could become aquainted with my breeding program as I show you the brood, young ones, and the breeding shed.
Could make for a delightful day.
wyldbyllhyltner@gmail.com
Cherokee
November 20th, 2009
10:01 am
You are correct Zeb – how many strip malls do we need, for crying out loud?
Balance Our Budget
November 20th, 2009
10:02 am
Godzilla How much did unemployment rise after TARP was passed .Jobs LOL .What jobs?
jconservative
November 20th, 2009
10:02 am
Really nice piece of writing Jay.
Nothing Is Free
“JAy You may accept that America is in a decline.”
No where does Jay say or hint that America is in decline. And America is not in decline. Ways change. Habits change. What is desired changes. America is just changing. His opening reference to Levittown
was an example of America changing sixty years ago.
Is it changing for the better? Some say yes, some say no. Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. But I will suggest that the changing America will be one of the driving engines of the American economy in the next 50 years. (Not my idea – I just borrowed it from Warren Buffet).
American history is a history of changes. Every 2 or 3 generations the country changes and goes in a different direction. This is what has made us the greatest country in the world. And, I trust, will keep us there.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 20th, 2009
10:04 am
Let me guess, we should move into a midtown tee pee and all huddle up to keep warm.
If thirteenth century Islamic lunatics have to live in a cave,who are we to be sleeping up off the ground?
Or we could pretend like this is the land of the free and it should be no concern of any whiny liberal as to where we choose to live.
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
10:06 am
RIP UGA VII – what a great dog.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 20th, 2009
10:07 am
Al Qaeda gets all excited thinking of us crowded together in the cities and so do liberals.
Coincidence?
david wayne osedach
November 20th, 2009
10:10 am
Talk about urban sprawl in California. One huge city between Los Angeles and San Diego is materializing! That’s a couple of hundred miles long!
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
10:11 am
Mrs. G.,
I feel the same way. I feel like such an old Puritan sometimes, I hear things and think “How on the Earth did people think to even DO such a thing?” and “There’s actually a WORD for that?”
Paul,
“What do you expect from people who don’t appreciate the grand meanings of Battlestar Galactica and Twilight?”
For real man. Some people.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
10:12 am
Balance our Budget
Those apples connect to those oranges just how?
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
10:14 am
Mrs. G.,
Come on, it’s important to have a balance of fruit in your fruit salad.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
10:15 am
Boogers for the Children Fund
**I consult The National Enquirer!**
I live inside the perimeter so the mags I see in the checkout are XXL and Ebony.
Buzzed
November 20th, 2009
10:15 am
Interesting, but baseless. Sprawl will be back eventually. Maybe not with the same intensity, but back nonetheless.
Paul
November 20th, 2009
10:16 am
BoB
Any idea what the unemployment rate would have been without the TARP funds to stabilize the situation and restore confidence and the stim funding?
Higher? Lower? The same? Any idea by how much?
Tall
November 20th, 2009
10:17 am
JConservative:
America has been badly mismanaged and that IS resulting in decline. However, things could be turned around in ten years if the political will is there. For starters, politicians of both stripes will have to come to their senses and learn to use the word “No”. It will be much tougher for Democrats, obviously.
You do make some good points. There is no reason this country can’t continue on it’s path of greatness. The upside to the current dollar destruction, no growth GDP, 15% unemployment, confiscatory government fiscal policies is that younger generations will become weary of the pain and act accordingly.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
10:18 am
SOUTHERN ATL
**maybe we can get Sonny Perdue to pray that the Georgia economy grows strong before he leaves office!**
or we could get the libs to check their astrology charts or maybe have a woman’s chant circle. I hear that chanting is very effective.
Balance Our Budget
November 20th, 2009
10:18 am
So what part of town does Jay live in.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
10:18 am
Bosch
Fruits and nuts……a regular Waldorf Salad!
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
10:19 am
OOOH Paul,
Speaking of Battlestar, ’cause, ya’ know I like to and all – I saw another cast member scoring a job – I saw the guy who plays the creepy lawyer Romo on the show Supernatural last night. I didn’t actually see the show, just past through and saw him on the tube – but it’s good to see people who were part of television greatness move on to other things. And congrats on seeing Number Six using her natural God given talents in the show you saw. It’s almost enough to bring tears.
You can get AIDS from the toilets at Piedmont park
November 20th, 2009
10:20 am
We dont want marta in Gwinnett!
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:22 am
Bosch;
Yes many of us were unaware of the multiple meaning of T-B*gger until it was reported here and on news networks. But that was in March or April.
Why did Jay wait until November 18 or 19 to ban the word. He waited 7 months for a reason. Is it because people are no longer offended by the term and he can appear to be some gentle caring soul?
Boogers for the Children Fund
November 20th, 2009
10:23 am
Ms Godzee…Rachel and her fem partner. Are they the lipstick lesbians? Im hoping so!
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:24 am
SPRAWL, a good thing.
Successfully Providing Residences, Amenities and Workplaces Locally.
Doggone/GA
November 20th, 2009
10:25 am
One thing we’re going to have to learn…and business AND government is going to have to learn…is that growth can’t always be exponential. We’re getting to the point where “growth” is going to be more natural, in keeping with population growth. Which means a steadier, slower growth.
Even in developing countries, growth isn’t going to be exponential forever. As their economies improve, their education levels improve, their incomes improve…they will gradually catch up with the more developed world. And then their growth, too, will change to slower and steadier.
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
10:25 am
Joey,
I have no idea, ask Jay. I didn’t know about the nerfarious nature of one of the definitions of the word until I heard some people mention it here.
Anywho – maybe Jay got tired of hearing about it – nefarious or not – it is his blog after all – so he can block any word he chooses.
But again, ask him – not me.
theboogins
November 20th, 2009
10:26 am
Thanks to Pat Swindel (sp?) the ITP types soon won’t have a place to go to buy bootlegged, knock-offed and “hot goods.” Thanks Pat. Sheesh.
JB
Paul
November 20th, 2009
10:28 am
Bosch
You should have seen Charlie Sheen’s dream sequence when his fiancee asked him to comfort Six in her hour of need…..actually, it was more like they both were….
Left wing management
November 20th, 2009
10:31 am
This New Republic article by Alan Ehrenhalt is must reading on this subject and puts a whole range of assumptions about cities such as Atlanta in question.
http://www.tnr.com/article/urban-policy/trading-places
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
10:33 am
Tall
I always wanted to live in Manhattan, for about three or four months and have the money to enjoy the city. I once had a NYC cab driver bragging about all the things there were to do in NY. I asked him what he and his family did. He said that they watched a lot of TV.
I like Atlanta. I used to love it. I also used to live in Sandy Springs when you could get from 400 to Roswell Road along Abernathy in less than 5 minutes during rush hour. When we moved it was taking about an hour for that trip.
jconservative
When Atlanta starts choosing leaders because they are smart and forward thinking instead of,”which democrat do we pick” we will start cleaning up the massive crime infested ghettos and start developing the land that is now occupied by the remnants of the great Society. At that point, the sprawl should start to slow down. Democrats love poor people and they love having them in those ghettos. That way the buses to the polls don’t ned to go so far.
Viva la poverty. It makes the democrats really strong.
jconservative
November 20th, 2009
10:36 am
“Or we could pretend like this is the land of the free and it should be no concern of any whiny liberal as to where we choose to live.”
Exactly what Jay said in his column. Market forces at work here.
Market forces drove the development of the “sprawl” and market forces are driving the “death” of the sprawl. Where will market forces take us? That is the question.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
10:38 am
joey
did Jay not respond to you when you told him it offended you?
Jake
November 20th, 2009
10:39 am
Clearly the Obama administration needs to take over the formerly private housing industry, appoint a close personal friend and contributor as housing czar, and all will be well.
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:40 am
“Ask Jay.”
I did ask Jay and anyone on the blog.
You responded and I responded to you, then you responded, then I responded…….
I release you from any obligation to respond again
But it is still a puzzle.
Banning a term after it has run its course accomplishes what?
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:42 am
Mrs. Godzilla;
When I responded to the term by using similar offensive terms he deleted them and posted a warning to me that further use by me of those terms would result in my being banned.
Paul
November 20th, 2009
10:42 am
And this guy is sanctioned by the government to carry a gun….
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/1118091taser1.html
you don’t need an IQ test to have a kid… but maybe you should if you’re charged with arresting one -
jewcowboy
November 20th, 2009
10:43 am
What developement the economy didn’t kill, the lack of of water resources will. Now might be a good time to either move or choose a new career if you are in the construction business.
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:44 am
By the way Mrs Godzilla, I believe it was you who advised me 5 to 6 weeks ago to get over it. I took that advise. Thank you for that.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 20th, 2009
10:45 am
Market forces drove the development of the “sprawl” and market forces are driving the “death” of the sprawl. Where will market forces take us? That is the question.
Jcon- I happen to live “intown” myself and not way out in the boonies and is doesn’t anger me to think other people choose to do so.
Is there any stone that a liberal will leave unturned in the lives of others?
Nosy little busy bodies.
Besides, you can see empty houses in downtown ATL if you choose to look.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
10:47 am
Joey
So you didn’t….
A hint:
below this post it says “Link / Report this comment”
I have successfully had several comments I considered over the top purged using that tool. And I mean waaaay over the top.
(Doesn’t seem to be effective outside of normal business hours)
Bosch
November 20th, 2009
10:47 am
Joey,
“I release you from any obligation to respond again”
Thank you.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
10:48 am
Joey
and he does have a email address so you can directly address your concerns.
Normal
November 20th, 2009
10:50 am
Jewcowboy. The water angle I forgot about. Maybe it’s time to invest in some drilling equipment.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
10:50 am
Paul
I’m pretty sure that was not the first problem the mother had with the little brat.
It’s a shame that she had to be tazed, but this is why I don’t understand the outrage about what most libs consider torture. Someone posted an article saying that the CIA had tortured some al Quida by making them stand for a long period of time. And the abu grabe pictures of the guys being scared by the attack dogs. Not attacked, but scared. Doesn’t anyone ever watch COPS? They don’t scare people with attack dogs. They attack people with attack dogs.
Scooter
November 20th, 2009
10:53 am
It could be those young people who moved into the City to start a family will not raise a family there. You see, young people typically move to affordable inner city areas. Unfortunately, the culture and mind set that has been fostered in these communities is not something responsible parents want to subject their children to. There’s nothing like playing with your little one in the front yard when a car drives by with various vulgarities about sex and violence spewing from the window. Or a young man walking down the sidewalk free styling about the same type crap. It simply is not a culture I want to raise my child in, but I’ve had a wonderful time here and hopefully improved the direction of some lives.
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:55 am
Mrs. Godzilla;
Thanks. Another bit of knowledge that I did not have.
Frankly I am probably more offended by Jay’s decision to ban the T-B*gger label at this late, very late, date than I was by him allowing it to be used for 6 or 7 months.
But as you will not doubt suggest, I will now let it go.
See. Gone.
jewcowboy
November 20th, 2009
10:57 am
Normal,
Looking towards a new Governor, I’m inclined to go with Sam Olen’s. Water resources (or more properly, the lack of) for Atlanta has been his mantra ever since I’ve heard him speak. If something is not worked out as far as Lake Lanier is concerned in the next 3 years, you won’t just see Atlanta stop growing, it will actually have to shrink, and with it revenue for the rest of the state.
This isn’t just about Atlanta, and it’s time for the rest of state to recognize that. Unfortunately, the rural side of this state is so short-sided when it comes to Atlanta, they won’t do anything until their Atlanta subsidies dry up, both literally and figuratively.
Joey
November 20th, 2009
10:58 am
Mrs. Godzilla.
Not quite gone. I contacted Jay at his AJC email weeks ago and several times about this subject. He did not respond. And he continued to allow the term.
Why now?
jewcowboy
November 20th, 2009
11:01 am
Jo3y,
Wh@t is the use in b@nning w0rds, wh3n they can be man1pulated with ch@racters to still g3t the g1st of the w0rd acr0ss?
Paul
November 20th, 2009
11:02 am
NIF
Re: the taser issue: I wonder what cops did with ten year old kids before they had tasers? I’ve heard just too many stories of cops using in extremely questionable circumstances. There’s on police chief in a Ft Worth suburb who absolutely refuses to get them for his department. Seems to me a fair number of officers are losing their professional edge -
Grumpy
November 20th, 2009
11:03 am
Bookman forgot to blame Republicans for all of this. He must be slipping.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
11:04 am
jewcowboy
We can elect new local politicians until the cows come home and it won’t help our water problems.
It is a federal issue. The passage that says that only Gainesville can take drinking water from Lake Lanier was directed to the Army Corps of Engineers that built the dam.
Only the fed can change that and considering that Georgia is a Red state, the chances of this Congress helping us is slim to none. The only prayer Atlanta has is if we flip Congress next year. Like it or not, the people you support are not about to help us.
getalife
November 20th, 2009
11:05 am
t bagger is a 2009 word of the year and President Clinton has used it.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
11:06 am
paul
Thanks to the libs, in many parts of the country, Parents can’t even spank their children. I couldn’t imagine being a cop. I would shoot everybody.
Joey
November 20th, 2009
11:06 am
j-c-b;
Why indeed?
Especially why after they have lost their negative impact?
Common Sense
November 20th, 2009
11:09 am
Question:
Is God a capitalist ?
P.S.
Jackie …….. are you out there ?
Joey
November 20th, 2009
11:09 am
But Clinton was likely making a request of an intern at the time.
I hated writing this, but some thing it would just be wrong to pass up.
Willie
November 20th, 2009
11:14 am
OMG! What are you people talkign about? I need healthcare now. I have not been sick in years but I need healthcare right D*mn now. I have a food card, pell and hope pay for my college, I got a brick gov. house, and somebody pays my light bill. Sure thats important but I dont have healthcare. I need healthcare rigth now. I do not need a job for goodness sakes. What is wrong with you people? If I do not get healthcare I may become muslim.
getalife
November 20th, 2009
11:14 am
Joey,
Good one,
nif,
“I would shoot everybody.”
More proof the DHS should watch rw extremists.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
11:17 am
getalife
I win. I bet a woman here in the office that you would post a snide remark within five posts. Exactly five posts.
Thanks.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
November 20th, 2009
11:17 am
Well, I for one am glad Bookman banned that word. Whoever heard of such a thing? Bunch of preverts. And they’re all in the downtown area. And the worst part is they want to get married to each other and make our marriages worthless.
Have a good day everybody. Would write more but I’m scrambling to get all the places stocked so you drunks can enjoy tonight and keep my beer stocks going up.
Paul
November 20th, 2009
11:18 am
NIF
[[I couldn’t imagine being a cop. I would shoot everybody.]]
On behalf of me and my family, I would like to sincerely thank you for selecting a different career path.
Tall
November 20th, 2009
11:18 am
Nothing is free:
Everyone should live in New York for a year. There really is no place like it. The last apartment I had was on 47th street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. That section of Ninth Avenue is or was home to numerous food stores. There were several times when I ran down the street to puchase a forgotten ingedient while the meal was cooking on the stove. That was then, though. I really do like Sandy Springs.
As for the traffic, I’m used to it.
getalife
November 20th, 2009
11:19 am
nif,
Blogging on company time?
Get to work.
jewcowboy
November 20th, 2009
11:19 am
Nothing Is Free,
“We can elect new local politicians until the cows come home and it won’t help our water problems.”
Judge Magnuson told GA that Lake Lanier was never authorized to use Lake Lanier’s water for Atlanta, and to work out a deal with Florida and Alabama until long term solutions can be realized. That is not a Federal job, but a state job.
Atlanta’s problem was made by Atlanta and the State of GA, and is up to Atlanta and the State of GA to find a long-term solution. Yes, Congress has to ok a deal, but it is up to State officials to work with FL and AL to ink a deal that Congress will approve.
If one would make the assumption that a blue Congress would not help a red state, wouldn’t it logically follow that a red Congress wouldn’t help a blue city?
Mrs. Godzilla
November 20th, 2009
11:20 am
NIF
at the risk of……
I know MA, tried to make it illegal to spank a child but I don’t think it passed.
jewcowboy
November 20th, 2009
11:20 am
“Is God a capitalist ?”
No, but much capitalism is done in His name.
Finn McCool
November 20th, 2009
11:24 am
The Audit the Fed ammendment introduced by Ron Paul and Grayson passed…even after Barnie Frank tried to shut it down.
ew lah lah
stands for decibels
November 20th, 2009
11:26 am
More proof the DHS should watch rw extremists.
They don’t have to. the O of O has them all covered.
Common Sense
November 20th, 2009
11:28 am
To jewcowboy:
Then why does the Bible teach that those who accepted His salvation will be rewarded according to how much they worked for God here on earth. The more good works ………….. the greater the rewards (”that you may receive your reward in Heaven”). Likewise it teaches that those sent to Hell will be judged on their works (”beaten with many stripes”).
AmVet
November 20th, 2009
11:32 am
jewcowboy, one of my favorite songs about these self-appointed spokesmen for their deity is from a song called Godsaid:
You are not serving me, you’re serving something else
Cause I don’t need to be pleased, just get over yourself
You can’t suck up, up to me, I know you all too well
But I don’t dwell upon you, so get over yourself
Cause you’re not praying to me, you’re praying to yourself
And you’re not worshipping me, you’re worshipping yourself
And you will kill in my name and heaven knows what else
When you can’t prove I exist, so get over yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djc6dldCk3U
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
11:32 am
jewcowboy
Florida might be a temp solution, but to build a pipeline and buy water from a neighboring state would be rather stupid with Lake Lanier being in place and the lines and treatment plants are already in place. The solution is to get Congress to reject the water use rules. We are using Lake Lanier right now and it is above level.
Only Congress will be able to fix this problem. Florida has it’s own problems. We have the water. We are using the water. The democratic fed just decided that we can’t use it any more.
There is nothing that they won’t do to hurt any state that doesn’t support them.
Like every single issue, it is simply about politics.
I’m writing FOX News about it almost every day. I hope it becomes another giant hammer for the Republicans next year.
Angry Black Man
November 20th, 2009
11:32 am
Paul
In defense of the cop, I would have done the same thing. First, you try to gain compliance thru non-force methods like talking and strong suggestions. Once I’m kicked or punched in the nads, all bets are off. I don’t carry a Taser, but I do have pepper spray. I think she was better off kicking him than kicking me. That stun wears off in a few minutes, but the oc sting can last almost an hour.
Nothing Is Free
November 20th, 2009
11:34 am
jewcowboy
**wouldn’t it logically follow that a red Congress wouldn’t help a blue city**
The entire state uses that water.
Normal
November 20th, 2009
11:35 am
Been out getting hot and sour soup and a couple of eggrolls.
Gotta ask, Paul. The taser incident. Loery, I’da loved one when my kids were teens. Any Jim Kirk used to put his Phaser on stun, so why can’t we? HaHa.
Jewcowby, Jim Olen, huh? I’ll take a look at him, thanks.
Grumpy…it WAS all Bush’s fault…
Normal
November 20th, 2009
11:36 am
Paul, that’s Lordy and anyway Jim…can’t multitask anymore…