With 12 weeks of training to go the weather has started to back down a little and the longer runs aren't as grueling. Stretching out 14-16 miles every weekend in Savannah is tough. I have noticed that some automobile pilots have noticed all the buzz around town concerning the marathon and some even slow down and move over in the road. That was unheard of just last year!

As a planner I can't help but to notice issues concerning infrastructure, development, and sustainability. In our brave new automobile dependent world, we have grossly overlooked the impacts of development. The suburbs of Savannah are an odd conglomeration of coastal, country, post World War II layouts. Savannah has not seen a major hurricane in enough decades that the memory of life in a hurricane prone location has vanished. During the 1960's and 70's much of eastern and southeastern Chatham County was paved over and built on. The traditional practice of building post-on-pier  gave way to slab-on-grade construction. At 12 feet above sea level I am perplexed by this change. (Even though I own a slab-on-grade ranch house built in 1960.)

The sprawl that consumed Chatham County is beginning to show the signs of old age, changing demographics, and a piss poor housing sector. One suburban block away from my neighborhood made news headlines as FEMA and the City of Savannah struggle with a solution to the flooding on that block. Although the developer was quite sure that the houses would sell after construction, water still flows downhill. So 50 years later the tax payers are billed to demolish a section of the block, dig a big ugly ditch (that requires constant maintenance), and revisit the issue again every summer when the torrential downpours over pass the capacity of the ridiculous dry pond.

So property values drop and people move away, as the story goes across the state and across the nation. The lack of density screams when the yellow condemned sign is stapled to the front door and the windows are boarded up. The further we run the more pronounced the phenomenon appears. Overgrown grass turns into a "For Rent" sign turning into a "For Sale" sign followed by "mothballing", condemnation, and ultimately city funded demolition. We've seen it in downtowns and urban city centers but the "block with a missing tooth" looks alot worse when the missing tooth is 1/3 of an acre.

The changing landscape has me thinking free market dynamics are assisting earth's natural ability to reclaim what was lost. Will these lots become suburban community gardens, as we see in urban areas? I like the idea of a half acre garden! Will the sprawl inducing market return and place "Built in 2012" signs in the front yard? Or will the remaining residents enjoy a mix of green space interconnected with random pixels on a land use map?