[Vision2020] Syringa, harbinger of the future?

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of today’s (May 31, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Nils Peterson.

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Letter: Syringa, harbinger of the future?

The final act of the Syringa Mobile Home Park drama filled the paper May 25. A place that has been a home in our community over the past 50 years is about to be abandoned.

The demise stems from lack of maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure.

As someone prone to driving old cars into the ground, I understand my father's saying, "A quart of oil is cheaper than a new car." It's easier to run things out than do maintenance.

Last fall, I wrote a letter to the editor in support of Brandy Sullivan's candidacy for City Council, encouraging her suggestions to invest more in infrastructure repair and not in the Third Street bridge.

The city budget spends $800,000 for road repair toward an estimated $1.4 million/year need.

To spend more, we'd need to cut other city services or raise taxes.

In Syringa's case, water, sewer and the mobile homes owned by the park are all deteriorating, which makes it hard to attract new tenants and investment.

New investment might require raising rents, which is hard. The park was valuable to its residents because it was affordable.

Various people have ascribed motivations to the owner for this under investment.

The hard fact is infrastructure is expensive and getting more so.

I think one of the reasons is rooted in the diminishing returns on fossil energy. The net energy yield from a barrel of oil goes down as we spend more effort getting each barrel.

With less net yield, society can do less work - it becomes more expensive to maintain infrastructure.

We need to ask if the infrastructure we depend on is affordable. The road, sewer, roof, transportation and all the other stuff that supports our lifestyle.

If not, can we transition to use less or do we abandon it?

Nils Peterson
Moscow

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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