Little help with a letter or two....and a boycott.......and some righteous indignation.

[TalkingDog]

Why you should boycott Cheap Joes Art Supplies

I have nothing against art, art supplies or even artists.

I do have a problem with greed that destroys people’s lives, small towns and the meager unspoiled green space we have, habitat for struggling wildlife and the natural beauty of the Appalachian Mountains.

There is a small Appalachian town about 10 miles outside of Boone NC. It’s called Todd. Todd is so small it’s never even merited a 2-lane road. When you go there you will see 2 SUVs traveling in opposite directions trying to daintily pull into the ditches so as not to get their tires muddy.

There is a general store and a small bakery/craft-goods store. And that’s about the extent of Todd. People like to visit, people like to stay. And so far those people have respected the small, quite space that Todd creates in the world. They have created a small park for music and visitors. They have held local parades where, in a town of 90 people, you’ll have 100 participants. There is a sense of community and shared goals.

But now Joe Miller, owner of Cheap Joes Art Supplies and 3 other “developers”, including one fellow known as “The Godfather of Boone” want to sell “exclusive” home sites that put Todd “at your (the buyers) feet” in a development called Elk Creek Mountain.

“Some of the sites are literally on top of the mountain with every view spectacular.” says the sales pitch. And that is part of the problem. One of the blights on the scenic Appalachians is view-killers. People who feel they deserve an unfettered view of the mountain vistas and in the process destroy the view for anyone looking at the ridgeline.

Another blight is over-development. This area is under environmental stress already. The headwaters of the New River, the second oldest river in the world, start in Todd. The smog is killing the trees. The wildlife habitat is disappearing and there is a persistent drought over the South East that is so bad that the government is offering natural disaster assistance. Development for the sake of development is part and parcel of the problem.

This housing is not needed. Most of the homes in this county, including these, are 3rd homes. Yes, you read that right. THIRD homes. Or as Joe’s sales pitch puts it: “This development is not for the masses, but for those select individuals…” These will be houses that sit empty from November to June.

These houses are a waste of our resources. They are a waste of our environment.

They will drive up property taxes on the people whose families have lived there for generations. Those people will have to sell their birthright property because they can no longer afford to live there. And if Cheap Joe, The Godfather and his cohorts think that this development will not spread, as they claim, then their greed is blinding them to the realities of life.

The residents of that gated acreage (you know the acreage on the mountain that the residents of Todd can no longer hike on?) will not be content to shop at the General Store at the foot of the hill. They will want a posh grocery. They won’t want to drive the 10 miles to the nearest gas station; it takes too much precious time and their Hummers and Escalades won’t make it that far.

And before you know it, Todd will be just another strip mall in the mountains.

Write Mr. Cheap Joe and tell him he’s made enough money selling his art supplies. Ask him to consider what he is really doing to Todd, it’s people, the New River and the environment. Just so he can be even richer than he is now.

Greed is destroying our way of life.

[e-mail]
http://www.elkcreekmountain.com/



(Thanks. And pass this along to all your artist friends.)


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[mntleo2]

1. Most People Are Lucky To Have ONE Home

...gawd these freaks are just beyond help aren't they? From having grown up in a mountainous area where, if it had not been changed from "wilderness" (meaning you could still stake out a claim) to "national park" when I was a child the whole thing would by now be a blight because of people who think they are entitled to it.

One of the things these people should remember about land: It was there billions of years before you were and it will be there billions of years after you are gone. To destroy it permanently during a blip in history for your own pleasure because somehow you feel "entitled" to do what you want with it is not only selfish and greedy, it is irresponsible and should be a crime. Would that the future generations could haul you off in chains and make you live what you condemn them to live!

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle

[TalkingDog]

2. And when you see the locals houses, it just adds fuel to the fire.

They are little 4 or 5 room wood frame houses perched on the worst part of the land, so the farmable acres are left open.

There has been work on land trusts, but these people only have so much money.

My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[stuntcat]

3. I forwarded it ty

My mom lives near Boone and knows some people who have third homes in the area. The Appalachians are the most beautiful place in the world to me and I'm planning to move back there sometime, to a cabin not a mansion, I just hope I can find a few acres of nature :(

[passiveprogressive]

4. you definitely have my support

I live in the Eastern part of NC, and we have similar problems with big developers buying out local farmland to build disgusting subdivisions with these gargantuan houses all sandwiched together without any trees in the yard...I've always hated them, but, in the mountains? That's too much. Sometimes it's OK for a small town to just STAY a small town.