Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by William Ladd on October 17, 2010 at 3:52am

So I just read the article you posted Ann. Whai I got out of it is that the rich will get richer and the poorest will be forced to pay a higher price for what they do have already! The rest of of us will fall somewhere in between.

I suspect that more folks will be forced to live in their cars or even in paste board boxes on the streets.

Priorties seem to be all out of whack. It does not seem to matter if elderly friends, neighbors or even parents have enough food to eat or have enough fuel to cook it with and keep warm during cold weather anymore.

What seems to matter is these moneyed people can go on fancy and expensive vacations, own million dollar plus homes and cars.

Does not seem as if many folks look beyond their own comfort and pleasure. They certainly do not look at the misery they have caused for other folks who were unable to to enjoy even a warm place to sleep.

Bill L.
aka Bummy

Permalink Reply by Ann Ticopa on October 17, 2010 at 5:26am

The shortage of low cost rental housing is one, but not the only concern. I took the main point to be that, in addition to addressing immediate concerns, we should be planning for the post-gasco future. It's not like they are building assembly plants, distibution centerrs, etc. here ... providing jobs that might survive the boom.

It's similar to much of the timbering in TC. Yes, there are some jobs, but the "value added" jobs, making consumer products from the hardwoods are somewhere else.

Permalink Reply by William Ladd on October 18, 2010 at 1:02am

The "Throw away" attitude is a very poor way to use our resources. Lets have quality instead of quantity! You buy a car and it is often recalled before you get home with it. Buy a TV set and it quits working a month after you turn it on. You buy toys for your little kids and it falls to pieces the first time the kid plays with it. You buy a ballpoint pen and it fails to write the second or third time you need it.

If your car needs spark plugs changed. it is often a major operation. you have to take it to a garage, have the air cleaner removed, disconnect a major portion of the electrical wiring system and who knows what else needs to come out before you can even locate those plugs. After all of this your mechanic discovers that he needs to buy some very special tools before he can finish the job, tools that he may never use again.

We need quality. We need items that will last a lifetime. I mean the lifetime of a human being, not the lifetime of burning match or a pesky fly.

Someone once said that a cat does not know what he wants, but always wants more of it! This thought applies to most people.......especially those people who are in charge of the financial system. Look at all the wrangling going on over the marcellus shale deposit.

Bill L.
aka Bummy

Permalink Reply by Lynn Wigglesworth on October 18, 2010 at 2:10am

Ann; that's what I got from the article, too. Building a whole infrastructure around a finite resource is going to lead to a crash someday. Rather than buy that new pickup or all the expensive toys, people should be paying off mortgages and doing repairs with the money, so they (or their children) are in a better position when the money runs out. Local governments, likewise, should be investing the money wisely. And investing in some kind of income-producing business. I've noticed that they most successful people here are the ones that find a niche, and fill it, like the 'value added' jobs (building things from local hardwoods, making the soap or cheese or whatever, selling pastured meat or free-range eggs, etc We need to encourage more of that.

Permalink Reply by Ann Ticopa on October 18, 2010 at 4:41am

I hope it doesn't get to the place where Marcellus Shale development defines Tioga County. Credit to the Williamsport hotels/motels that rented to gasco workers with the condition that they'd have to find another place to stay during the Little League World Series. We shouldn't buy into scare tactics that the gascos will go away if they don't get everything they want. The fact is, the gas is here; they can't drill for PA gas in WV, OH, NY, etc.

"Marcellus Shale gas: A blessing or curse?
Upstate farmers [Tioga County] eye cash for drilling, fear water pollution, loss of workers."
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/301805#

Lynn, have you ever been to the Janowski Gardens farm in Elmira? During the growing season, their stand is open daily, honor system. I think what keeps them going financially is the weekly Ithaca farmers' market. (More people there willing to pay a little more for locally grown vegetables.)

http://janowskigardens.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elmira-NY/Janowski-Gardens/9659083328...

Permalink Reply by Lynn Wigglesworth on October 18, 2010 at 6:50am

There have already been some changes for the worse...the traffic in Wellsboro is horrible, and people regularly block the cross-streets and run lights. I've lived here a long time, and that kind of stuff never used to happen. I used to enjoy driving through town; now I go around it if I can.

I've never been to Janowski Gardens, but the Ithaca Farmer's Market is incredible! Too bad we don't have that kind of local support. A friend and I started a Farmers Market in downtown Wellsboro a few years ago. Not only did we not get ANY official support, but there were constant obstacles in our way. All in all a very bad experience. I did much better with my own farm stand.

Permalink Reply by paleface on October 18, 2010 at 7:41am

If you open a mexican diner all those texans love that food?