Let's improve quality of life with some changes

 I say lets ditch some of the old symbiotic relationships and create new ones that are completely consistent with national goals of prosperity and betterment.
 
And there are many examples where we have done this already:
-Many forward-looking cities and counties have created 'sign laws' that prohibit large tall gaudy or temporary advertisements in front of businesses....
-Flood-prone counties in Texas have mandated water-retention ponds for new businesses and water retention set-asides along creeks and bayous....
-Local government entities along with state and federal governments have mandated trash-pick up along highways .... and many municipalities have trash-handling codes that prohibit dumpsters in front of businesses, and mandate tall fences around containers
-State laws mandate enclosures around auto salvage yards
-The state of Texas seeds the greenway along many highways with wildflower seeds ...which is a beautiful spring-time spectacle
-Every state has set aside parks ....
The fed govt has stopped development in wetlands and protected forests (at least for now) ...
 
All these initiatives were enacted to improve the quality of life for people ... and some clearly infringe on individual property rights
 
These examples show there is precedent for the government to act on behalf of 'beauty' and 'nature' and the protection of 'quality of life'
 
Why not then require each big-box retailer to 
1. Plant trees in parking areas that will eventually provide cooling shade over the cement
2. Require a wetland marsh over of a percentage of parking lots. Frankly I think most retailers would find people gravitate to businesses that offer park-like atmospheres, why else do they poof-up little fountains and gardens inside the mall.
 
Why not also
3. Require the development of walking trails along waterways (and mandate a high-school career-based curriculum that would center around the maintenance, building and policing of these natural park and wet-lands. This initiative could include hydrology and water-preservation strategies that would interface with real-time science by NASA to track the world's water resources)
4. Allow homeowners to dedicate a percentage of their yard to wild habitat (of course this is allowed in my semi-rural area but not allowed in many cities and towns) ... oh hell, and mandate a few bird houses per block too
5. Mandate strict mileage and weight standards on personal vehicles, and heavily tax work and industrial vehicles that need to be heavier
6. mandate the application of permanent breathalyzers to anyone's vehicle that has more than one DWI or one alcohol-related crash ... treat them more aggressively than so-called sex-offenders because drunk drivers cause more mayhem and destruction
7. Revoke parking lot access to roads, or revoke the culvert permit to any bar whose customer has caused an accident
8. Paint a red stripe along any section of road that is historically prone to accidents. Red-zone accidents would be handled in court as strict liability cases on par with someone allowing their cow to escape and gore your cat


Gene Haynes