By Pat Orr
Apple Valley Review
The recent issue in Victorville of increasing lot size and creating neighborhoods with more room and open space is purely about money. Five houses per acre means the developer makes more money per home because land costs are low.
Can you link less expensive high density housing tracts to increased crime statistics? Yes you can. The reason we in Apple Valley went to great lengths to make sure we don’t look like Victorville is because we chose to invest in a better lifestyle for our residents. Interestingly enough many of the developers who built the tract homes slammed together in other parts of the desert lived in Apple Valley and none of them complained when we went to half-acre lots.
The natural questions is, “How did we get all the duplexes and multi-family units north of Highway 18, sometimes referred to as ‘felony flats?’ ” These units grew and were filled by quality individuals from George Air Force Base for years. When the base closed, the area started going downhill and quickly. Having Town Hall and the Cop Shop around the corner has helped, but we have a way to go still.
There’s no question that high density makes sense only in terms of profitability — I’m glad we went another way.
No smoking in parks
Can we assume the ordinance the Town Council passed last week banning smoking in all Town-operated parks will apply to marijuana as well as tobacco products? I didn’t read the ordinance, but if they outlaw Kools and Marlboros, I hope weed is out-of-bounds too. I can only guess how long it will take for some enterprising lawyer to see if a patient who desperately “needs their medical joint” can be told not to medicate themselves during one of our summer concerts.
Rock music and no pot? Sound like potential litigation to me.
Once more into the breach
If you are a regular reader, you know I stated before that in my lifetime I have lost 14,000 pounds on various diets.
Well, I’m at it again.
Thanks to my children who have been in and out of the vegetarian organic foo-foo fad lifestyle for a few years, my Dear Bride (DB) discovered the Paleo Diet. As a history buff I was immediately intrigued as I imagined I’d be out stalking and clubbing to death dinner each day before I could come home.
I have been resisting alternate grains, tofu hot dogs and non-dairy dairy products for years. Finally the Paleo Diet, as patiently explained by my DB, seemed doable for me. My son and daughter-in-law are climbers and exercise buffs and they have an array of tech gadgets to measure their vital signs as they work out. So for Valentine’s Day, my DB got me a Fitbit device to replace my plain old pedometer. The Fitbit syncs with your computer — if you have the right kind — and will tell you all sorts of information and track your progress from steps taken to liquids consumed on a given day and tells you how many calories are being burnt by activity.
This new diet is based on a million-year-old menu tracked by 21st Century devices and science. I now see why cavemen were so cranky — no booze. On the plus side, I get to eat fruit which wasn’t available with low-carb diets and also enjoy plenty of meat, if it is grass-fed and organic.
So far it’s working. I have until December to lose the equivalent of a third grader. But be warned: If you are sitting in the park enjoying a huge double cheeseburger, you will be at risk if I happen by.
— Pat Orr is a local business owner, community volunteer and a political junkie.