Comments on: Greetings From Wasilla

By: Sarah Bell

Sarah Bell — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:51:30 +0000

Oh! By the way, I grew up in a small town in Washington, where folks hunt and fish. I'm very outdoorsy, and familiar with the "government, get out of my way" attitude. However, as an outdoors woman myself, I can say that this woman does nothing to ignite our demographic!

Thanks again for your video!

By: Sarah Bell

Sarah Bell — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:49:33 +0000

I hope, for your sake, that you do not become the "crawford of the north." I am sure that Wasilla and Crawford are both lovely places. Both cities most likely would like to be known for their beauty.

Thanks for taking the time to make this video!

By: RecumbentMan

RecumbentMan — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:45:35 +0000

Unfortunately, this town looks like Republican heaven--lots of free money coming in from someplace else (a treasury awash in oil royalties which eliminates the need for taxes), land for almost free, very little in the way of ethnic or cultural diversity, and a landholder paradigm that by definition excludes anyone who can't afford several acres and a 4WD to get from point A to point B.

I don't think I have a problem with small town America. I have a really big problem with small-town Americans who've created these Potemkin villages (whether gated communities or exclusionary suburbs). These folks have been able to push reality out of city limits and have no understanding of the complications of a lot of real-world issues.

By: Steve P.

Steve P. — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:09:31 +0000

Looks like the ideal Republican community. A place free of European socialist ideas like light rail, bike and bike lanes yoga studios, zoning, historic architecture, coffee houses, used bookstores found in urban hellholes like San Francisco or Portland.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:06:17 +0000

The more insightful opportunity cost comparison is between the Hockey Rink and the sewage treatment plant. Apparently the Hockey Rink is worth borrowing to build and to operate and the sewage treatment plant had to wait. What a choice! Its actually a case study in why the Federal Government must be the decider in environmental policy. Local citizens prefer sports and entertainment, casinos, coliseums and convention centers to clean water and safe sewage. There is plenty of room to shit in the woods up there apparently.

Also, the borrowing to build and operate state infrastructure in the face of a tsunami of oil lease state revenues and handing out the money to the citizens. Those revenues represent transfer payments from the oil consumers. Fiscal conservatism?

By: Braddy

Braddy — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:18:31 +0000

Yuck! The town's most prominent feature seems to be its fugly architecture. I guess when you have vast expanses of nature 6 minutes away, you don't pay attention to details like that.

By: Charles Siegel

Charles Siegel — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:17:28 +0000

Fort Worth is known for the traditional urbanism of Sundance Square and new traditional architecture by David Schwartz. Check out their new concert hall at http://flickr.com/photos/patrickoconnell/2500206413/

By: Rich Wilson

Rich Wilson — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:56:22 +0000

Just say "No!" to Libraries and Museums, and "Yes!" to a sports complex! We may not get any Nobel Prizes in our next generation, but just think of all the Olympic medals we'll win!

By: drosejr

drosejr — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:51:53 +0000

BicyclesOnly,

You didn't need a passport to go from the US to Canada until 2007. Driver's license worked up until then.

Remember Spitzer's driver's license controversy? I think that was kindled by new Homeland Security laws that also required a passport to go back and forth to Canada. So no way of really telling if she went into Canada or not before then.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:47:02 +0000

Wasilla has the same population as 4 rush-hour subway trains. ( Sadly: no joke. http://images.nycsubway.org/cars/datasheet-r160.jpg )

By: BicyclesOnly

BicyclesOnly — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:44:05 +0000

Hadn't heard before that Palin's first passport was issued in 2007. A bit of a surprise given that Canada separates Alaska from the rest of the U.S.

By: Max Rockatansky

Max Rockatansky — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:18:32 +0000

Fort Worth has the same population as the entire state of Alaska.

By: Kevin Buchanan

Kevin Buchanan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:33:54 +0000

Err...

"Fort Worth without the glamorous bits?"

While I'm glad he acknowledged those, I'm a bit put off that he thinks this suburban nightmare of 8,500 people is in any way similar to a city of 700,000+ with a *real* downtown and rapidly revitalizing urban neighborhoods.

Sigh.