Urban Sprawl

The Sierra Club recently listed the nation's worst examples of urban sprawl, and southeastern Pennsylvania did not make the top 20. Which must come as a surprise to those thousands who daily sit in traffic jams on 422, 202 and the Blue Route. Yes, it could be worse, as anyone who drives in Southern California or northern Virginia could testify. A commission appointed by Gov. Ridge to set environmental priorities for the 21st century last week underscored the danger, calling urban sprawl the commonwealth's most serious environmental problem.

Pennsylvania has been growing slowly for decades. The Brookings Institution's report "Back to Prosperity" says urban sprawl and too many local government units are the problem. It could not be more wrong. First: Pennsylvania's slow growth is not unique. It is typical for the Frost Belt states of the Northeast and Midwest. Most of the nation's growth has gone to the Sun Belt states for decades. The weather is better, taxes are lower, and labor costs less. Lower costs are attractive in an increasingly competitive global economy.

Both candidates for the 31st state House District seat say they want to help local businesses and control urban sprawl if they are elected next week. They would simply take different approaches to the tasks. In a race that lacks much publicity or debate, Democratic challenger Joe Hunter is running against two-term Republican incumbent David Steil. A Yardley electrician, Hunter, 48, said he wanted to lower taxes for small businesses and give tax rebates to companies for every new employee hired, with larger rebates for hiring welfare recipients.

With its wonderful 1850 fieldstone building, the Kaufman House is far enough out in the country to retain its rural atmosphere despite the urban sprawl that is engulfing that part of Montgomery County. The charming 19th-century setting 10 miles west of Lansdale includes a small bed-and-breakfast operation and a public restaurant that offers excellent cusine. Each of the four dining rooms has its own unique charm, but I prefer the spacious Americana Room, particularly when the setting sun pours through its recessed windows, where one wall is fieldstone, one rough-plastered, the other two glisten in knotty-pine paneling.

When the Ghost showed Scrooge a tragic future, he said it was not necessarily what "will be," but what "may be" if Scrooge didn't change. The old miser altered his course, but what if he had made only token changes? We're reminded of the classic Christmas story because Pennsylvania seems poised to make only token changes in the way it guards against sprawl. The Legislature has voted to set aside nearly $646 million to save farmland, and aid state and local parks. Sounds like a lot, but it's modest compared to what's being spent by neighboring states.

By Charles L. Baum Mayor Nutter's proposed soda tax didn't end up going anywhere, but it did contribute to an unfortunate myth: the notion that any class of food or beverage is particularly fattening. That was the stated motivation for Nutter's proposal. A ranking city health official declared that "there's good evidence for sugary drinks' being a major culprit in the increase in obesity. " And public-health activists claimed that soft drinks contribute disproportionately to the government's obesity-related costs.

As the owner of a taxidermy business, I respond to Gloria Feldscher-Cohen's Sept. 11 Letter to the Editor. Why is there a relentless effort to increase pheasant numbers? To offset the declining numbers of pheasants due to changing agricultural practices is one reason. Besides raising pheasants, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is also trying to get farmers to change their methods of farming. The almighty dollar has caused farmers to plow up their hedgerows, thereby reducing habitat.

In another of the split-the-difference, stay-in-the-pack decisions for which he has become known, Gov. Ridge has put off taking bold action against urban sprawl, named the commonwealth's most pressing environmental problem by his own 21st Century Environment Commission. Instead, Ridge has ordered up a few more studies - and will establish an environmental data clearinghouse. At this rate, we'll be hailing the 22nd century before Pennsylvania gets serious about controlling the almost random construction of strip malls, housing developments and industrial parks.

Water pollution. Urban sprawl. The plight of the rain forest. They are issues that can be tough to swallow for many adults. So imagine trying to get a bunch of 8-year-olds to sit through - let alone understand - a lesson on the ills of the environment. With the help of some creative thinking and lots of props, Ed and Joyce Knorr do. Seven years ago, the chairman of the township environmental commission and his wife started the Green Club Kids, an environmental awareness program tailored to the elementary school level with the slogan: "Kids Can Make an Environmental Difference.

Growth, yes - but not at the cost of sprawl Wendell Cox, in his Sept. 7 commentary, wants you to believe that urban sprawl is not the problem in Pennsylvania. He's right! Relative to Atlanta, Dallas and Houston, Pennsylvania's got very little sprawl. It has to do with these other cities' strong economies, low costs for houses and apartments, etc. But beware! Urban sprawl is terrible to live with on a daily basis. I was born and raised in Houston and spent five years in Dallas.

By Charles L. Baum Mayor Nutter's proposed soda tax didn't end up going anywhere, but it did contribute to an unfortunate myth: the notion that any class of food or beverage is particularly fattening. That was the stated motivation for Nutter's proposal. A ranking city health official declared that "there's good evidence for sugary drinks' being a major culprit in the increase in obesity. " And public-health activists claimed that soft drinks contribute disproportionately to the government's obesity-related costs.

NOXEN, Pa. - Residents and visitors in northeastern Pennsylvania spent the weekend developing a relationship with rattlers. The Rattlesnake Roundup in Noxen Township has been held for almost four decades, and the local fire company uses it not only as the year's biggest fund-raiser but as an opportunity to teach people about snakes. Becky Buenzli of Nazareth went on the snake roundup with friends and with some help managed to catch one and wrestle it into a bin. "The adrenaline rush of just seeing a snake just right there in your face was crazy," she said.

The Pennsylvania Wilds, a block of a dozen counties in the north-central part of the state where officials have carried out an intensive tourism effort, won an award yesterday from the nation's largest association of travel writers. The Society of American Travel Writers announced that the Pennsylvania Wilds project was one of four winners of its annual Phoenix Award, honoring major conservation and preservation efforts. The project "involves unprecedented cooperation between several state agencies, as well as a unique partnership between state and local partners," said Peggy Bendel, chairwoman of the awards.

Proof that this city is a magnet for artists can be found at Projects Gallery's exhibition of mixed-media paintings and masks by Henry Bermudez, one of the more intriguing shows that this pioneering Northern Liberties gallery has mounted. Not only is Bermudez's work absorbing and original, he's a Venezuelan artist who represented his country in the 1986 Venice Biennale, and is now living in Northern Liberties and working with Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program. Bermudez creates fantastic, complex worlds that draw on a variety of mythologies - Incan, Mayan, African and Celtic among them.

Growth, yes - but not at the cost of sprawl Wendell Cox, in his Sept. 7 commentary, wants you to believe that urban sprawl is not the problem in Pennsylvania. He's right! Relative to Atlanta, Dallas and Houston, Pennsylvania's got very little sprawl. It has to do with these other cities' strong economies, low costs for houses and apartments, etc. But beware! Urban sprawl is terrible to live with on a daily basis. I was born and raised in Houston and spent five years in Dallas.

Pennsylvania has been growing slowly for decades. The Brookings Institution's report "Back to Prosperity" says urban sprawl and too many local government units are the problem. It could not be more wrong. First: Pennsylvania's slow growth is not unique. It is typical for the Frost Belt states of the Northeast and Midwest. Most of the nation's growth has gone to the Sun Belt states for decades. The weather is better, taxes are lower, and labor costs less. Lower costs are attractive in an increasingly competitive global economy.

Is immigration an environmental issue? The question is fueling a nasty power struggle for control of the Sierra Club, the nation's most influential environmental organization. In voting this month, the 700,000-member club will choose five board directors, who could transform the direction of the politically active organization. With such high stakes and several feuding factions, the electioneering has turned as ugly and divisive as the most contentious union election or school board race.

ith a whoosh and a roar, a propane burner shoots the final dose of heat into a balloon made from 1,500 yards of brightly colored polyester fabric, and we leave the earth. It feels like a quick elevator as we rise from a point near Route 100. I hold my breath, worried I'll be scared. Nope. Too busy. I'm looking for West Chester. Not just "downtown," as in the borough, but the bigger place. Zip codes 19380, 82 and 83. The West Chester that people say they're from even if it's technically East Bradford or West Goshen or Pocopson or any of the 12 municipalities that make up the patchwork of this place that more than 97,000 people call home.

In Los Angeles, the saying "If you build it, they will come" might well have been followed by "and if they come, the water, somehow, will always be available. " No longer. The problems associated with the L.A. equation of water and sprawl are beginning to emerge in places that never thought they had a sprawl problem, let alone a water problem. These include places like Philadelphia and other parched areas of the East. People in Southern California can tell Philadelphia a thing or two about water and sprawl.

In the days before refrigerators and convenience stores, the icehouse on South Delsea Drive was the place to stave off summer heat. Long lines of people awaiting shaved-off bits of ice would form outside the adjoining warehouse before Sunday afternoon barbecues. Today, the icehouse area is abandoned, the water pipes are rusted, and brambles climb the 100-year-old brick buildings. Painted on the brick wall is a faded blue-and-yellow sign: "Welcome to Glassboro's Central Business District.