Terry: Stroller Woman, that’s me. I’ll ring the doorbell next time I’m on the prowl in the neighborhood!

Thanks for your thoughtful comment. You have summed up the sentiments of many in the NWC. We don’t want this to become another Fairfield County.

However, as you will see in next week’s (Jan. 11) print edition. There are two distinct camps with differing reasons for sharing that vision.

Middle-income people such as you and me don’t want the cost of housing to soar to the point that we have to move and our town becomes 75% weekender. We badly want affordable housing and are looking for answers.

Others, who tend be people of greater means, are more focused on open space preservation and making sure big-box stores and strip malls are kept at bay.

As you will see in a story that’ll run next week, the Salisbury Housing Trust has its eyes on some property behind Town Hall as a site for 5-6 affordable homes. But some people who live in the neighborhood are objecting on the grounds that their property values will likely go down, the visual impact will be too great and the environment could be adversely affected.

This is the clash of cultures we are seeing. Both sides mean well and share some of the same goals (e.g. this shouldn’t become Darien) but their desired outcomes are remarkably different.

BTW I am happy to have someone as insightful as you as a neighbor. Are you the one I see taking the toddler for a stroll in the babyjogger? Do stop by for coffee someday soon.

Terry

P.S. David Grossman was the guy I interviewed for the story you referenced (and there was also an editorial). You might want to hook up with him sometime. A great guy who started out as a weekender but is very concerned about the direction we are headed.

I agree wholeheartedly with the conclusions in the article and found myself nodding and exclaiming, “Yes!” as I read it. My family’s recent experience bears witness to the fact that what happening in Cornwall is happening in other locations in the NW corner.

My family is solidly in the demographic cited as being in flight away from the area: 35 - 45 years old with children. We moved to this area this past year for a job and a salary that, in nearly any other community, would be considered very healthy. I am appalled that, even at an upper-middle class income, well above the median for the state of Connecticut (source: http://www.census.gov), most housing in the Lakeville/Salisbury/Sharon area remains firmly out of reach (despite the efforts of an excellent real estate agent), leaving us to question whether the community could feasibly be home for us in the long term.

I grew up in Darien, CT, in the ‘70s and ‘80s (oh, yeah, and went to Hotchkiss - does that make me elitist? :-)) and saw that community become so expensive and exclusive that all but the wealthiest fled to other communities. As a result, Darien lost a lot, including a kind of vigor that other, more economically diverse towns (Fairfield, for example) preserved. It is always a shame when those who make up the backbone of the community – teachers, police, firemen, professionals and trades people – cannot afford to live in the community they serve.

The very things that make the NW corner a hot real estate market attracted us: peaceful, rural living, abundant natural beauty, good schools (public and private) and a slower pace of life. The fact that the real estate values have gone up 85% in five years attests to the area’s attractiveness. I am all in favor of free markets; they have a beautiful way of regulating themselves and generally are the very best way to serve the greatest good.
However, I urge the local communities to seek out ways to make the area attractive and affordable in the long-run for middle-income families or else risk becoming a homogeneous, über-exclusive community, devoid of the diversity, the way that much of lower Fairfield County has.

PS: As an illustrative footnote, allow me to introduce myself: I belive I am your neighbor - renting a house up the street from you in a neighborhood I would LOVE to stay in (quiet, cul-de-sac, low traffic, etc.). But, unfortunately, in this neighborhood, even a moderate ranch or cape has become exhorbitant - and these aren’t the Salisbury mansions, ya know!

So, Geoff, what is a “decent job” for someone?

Fred, no one has blamed the teachers for all the ills.

However, why is our educational system in decline? Yes, there are many factors. But, with all the money spent on various programs and teaching methods, try Chicago Math for an example, why can’t kids do basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division? Why do children use calculators for their math tests?

Why do people in the education system send their children to private schools in the area?

Fred, how much faith do you have in our public school education system? Would you send your children to Sharon Center School?

My daughter and her husband, on the way back to the airport after their Christmas visit here, asked me a question that nobody has directly posed: “What do people DO here for a living?”

No matter how good the schools are (and we have more GOOD options here than almost anywhere I can think of), no matter how superb the quality of life is (and it is really good), no matter how affordable the housing is (and, relative to plenty of other places it is still downright cheap here), if there are no DECENT JOBS with the possibility of growth, then people with kids simply aren’t going to live here.

Face it, folks. No decent jobs for parents = no kids in schools.

It’s really pretty much that simple.

Happy New Year to all!

Geoff Brown

The money extorted from the tobacco companies was to be used for programs to reduce and eventually remove smoking from Amerika. I don’t know of any state that has not taken tobacco money and used it for other purposes. Yes, a portion is used for its intended purpose, but the greater share is for political gain. Just like the CT Lottery.

Regardless whether you base teacher salaries on “school year,” which does inflate the salary and benefit, or calendar year, you cannot escape the fact that 80% of every “education” dollar goes to salaries and benefits. Debt service chews up about 5%. Mainteneance costs about 5%. So, out of every dollar for “education,” about 10 cents goes for education.

IF a charity came to ask for a donation, and said that 90% of your money does not directly aid those in need would you give? That is why when people start with “more money” I get annoyed.

Fred, based on your comments about the various CEOs making such salaries and bonuses, it would seem that YOU are the one that is having fits. As I asked, how many jobs have you created? How much opportunity have you given someone to better their life through job advancement, etc?

People bash large companies all the time, yet these companies do spread the wealth. In your eyes, it may be “not fair.” Too bad. That’s life. If WalMart, Exxon/Mobil, Ford, etc are such terrible companies to work for, why do people spend their lives working for them?

As an aside, Ford recently offered buyouts to about 60,000 employees, as well as the option of continuing to work for the company. One woman took the buyout, about 100k. She thanked Ford for the opportunity to work for them, which allowed a single mom to raise 2 kids, and pay for one to go to college.

In order for Ford to pay that kind of money to its work force, there had to be something that the public wanted. Apparently the stockholders did not find the salaries and bonuses a problem, so why do you?

Or would you prefer the Beijing method? Their economy is growing about 20% per year. Yes, my 401(K) is there, as well, courtesy of WalMart and other AMERICAN companies that are investing in China. However, the leaders fear inflation, leading to a slowdown because their finished goods will be more expensive. Their solution? No company can increase their production of goods next year, UNLESS sales this year exceed prior sales by more than 20%. In effect, they are limiting the amount of goods available for sale.

Want this bet? Prices for goods in China and their exported goods will rise because of the government intervention. The artificial limit on production, with the economy, domestic and export, growing, will create shortages of products people want to buy.

Remeber the Carter oil shortage? Inadequate supply of oil, higher prices, higher inflation, and so on.

A government monopoly is a program doomed to failure. For more information look at Social Security.

BTW, why can’t I determine where that money goes?

I think there are pros and cons. I haven’t made up my mind where I come out on the issue.

To be continued.

–Fred–

- Paul, your points are spot on. Particularly the point about 401Ks. If you have a business I can patronize on my next trip through the NW Corner, let me know. I’m there.

- Fred, what’s the matter with education money “following the student”, rather than the school? “Follow the student” education funding has produced the best university system in the world here in the States. Similar systems have produced vastly superior secondary schools in other countries (Belgium, for example). Our centralized, politicized and top down (dare I say Soviet style) secondary school funding system has produced one of the worst.

The great irony in all this is that many who object to “vouchers” are the very people who exercise “choice” by sending their kids to private school. Does it bother you, Fred, that Democrat politicians are keeping vouchers out of the hands of African American mothers in Washington DC while the politician’s kids are attending St Alban’s or Sidwell Friends? (Can anyone say Chelsea?) I know this is really about Democrat=Union, but is there no shame?

Unless you are willing to make public school attendance mandatory, how about letting those less fortunate have the same choice that people with money have.