[OFB Cafe] Tech Buzz: Who Deserves the Tech Vote?

[Timothy Butler]

On Aug 26, 2008, at 10:59 AM, Derek Broughton wrote:

>> On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 12:21 AM, Timothy Butler <tbutler at ofb.biz>  
>> wrote:
>>>       The midwest is wide open. That's what often confuses me.  
>>> Here in
>>> St. Louis, we have some of the cheapest home prices and cost of  
>>> living
>>> costs of anywhere in the country. (Cheaper than, say, Florida). We  
>>> also
>>> don't have hurricanes.
>
> But you have floods - and seems to me it's pretty near impossible  
> not to live
> on the flood plain in St. Louis.

	We do have floods, yes. Most of the area is above flood plain though.  
In the metro area, the majority of flood plain development is business  
and light industrial (and farms, of course). If you saw the levee  
failures this spring, you surely noticed that most of what was being  
swept under was farmland. Most homes in the floodplain are elevated on  
stilts, hills, etc. In the city itself, very few people -- poor or  
otherwise -- are at risk with the river. The poorest parts of St.  
Louis were never hit by flood waters in 1993 or this year. After 1993,  
the Feds bought out most of the homes in at risk areas, and even whole  
towns moved to higher ground.

	And, if disaster does strike, its a lot easier to get back on your  
feet when gas is cheaper than any place else nationally, housing is  
cheaper than virtually any place else nationally, unemployment is  
relatively low, and there are a multitude of well regarded (but  
relatively affordable) education opportunities...

	-Tim

---
Timothy R. Butler | "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window- 
panes,
Editor, OfB.biz   | The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the  
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tbutler at ofb.biz   | Licked  its  tongue  into the  corners  of  the   
evening,
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                                                                 --  
T.S. Eliot