Stylin'


Style's cover story for the February 7th issue is on the problems of aging suburbia.

Many post 1950 houses were built for speed, not longevity. Run-down and inexpensive homes attract a high number of people who don't give a damn, and what used to be thought of as "urban blight" sets in, in neighborhoods with 1/4 acre lots and curving roads and cul-de-sacs that make routine police patrolling more challenging.

Meanwhile, the cost of fairly sturdy, often attractive city homes goes up and up. Style cites a recent Brookings Institution study of 100 metropolitan areas. Of Richmond, one of the areas studied, a co-author of the study (Elizabeth Kneebone) noted "'it's the only metropolitan area in the study where the poverty trends in the city and the counties moved in opposite directions.'" The number of poor people in Richmond went down; the number living in poverty in the counties went up.

The rest of the article considers the service needs of poor people and the readiness of local governments to ensure that the health, safety, and education needs of all area residents are met.

Also in Style, an editorial about Second Life. I mentioned to a co-worker that I was already sick of hearing about SL, and she didn't know about it. The back page piece gives a pretty good idea of what it's all about, yet in a way, it is what I am tired of hearing or reading: someone explaining this Cool New Thing to me, the Clueless, and exclaiming that it will change (or that it has changed) The World We Live In.

Capital City weather: the big snow storm making an east coast appearance this evening is scheduled to be rain, here.