Politicians and the media love to drone on and on about so-called 'teachable moments'. When bad things happen they like to tell us that we can learn from this and, through trusting in government and anti-business activists, take the right steps to ensure their upper-income, trendy enclave neighborhoods never have to worry about disaster again.
The fact is, Houston has a monumental rebuilding task ahead of it which may need to include buying out several properties in flood-prone areas. Certainly there are going to be many long months ahead as people begin to unwind.
Yesterday I wrote about our unity, and how quickly it is fading as Houston's dimmer element starts trying to carve up the populace among the wise, and the gormless. You're considered gormless by the way if you reject the idea of living in a Soviet-style high-rise remaining totally dependent on a light-rail system that goes out of order when the tracks get damp or on the many occasions when it decides to hit something (or someone). None of this is helpful of course, so naturally the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board has decided that every single bit of it should be adopted in order to make Houston a more "resilient" city whatever the hell that means.
So yes, we could transform Houston, buy out everyone who has built in an area the Crossley crazies deem inappropriate, work to eliminate the energy industry in it's entirety, driving it from the City and "building batteries" in an attempt to remain relevant. Houston could even try to provide Amazon with a huge tax break to lure them into town as the host site of their 2nd Headquarters.
This could all be done.
And if it is then you could say goodbye to a great many things in Houston, as well as many of its residents. Because without the good-paying jobs that the energy industry provides and without the relatively cheap housing that Houston offers these people, and businesses, will move on. They will leave.
And I wouldn't blame them. Despite having a shining moment during the devastation of Harvey there's really not much in Houston that would keep you here if your job prospects were brighter elsewhere.
The museum district? Bah, every city of any reasonable size has museums. The theater? Even Lincoln Nebraska gets travelling Broadway shows. And don't tell me that it's 'better' in Houston because it's just not. Birmingham has a ballet company for Chrissakes.
I will admit that, after Harvey, I've thought long and hard about how much longer I want to continue to live in this fetid swamp. Sure, the pay is nice but, as an accountant, it's not as if my skill-set won't travel. I'm typically not an emotional type but I feel the edges fraying after Harvey, being stuck at home watching days of devastation will do that to you. Fortunately, I've still got a clearer head than Jennifer Lawrence or Ann Coulter as I still think Harvey was created by the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation more so than Trump, Annise Parker or climate change.
I also remain concerned that no one in the media is asking what's been done with all of the tax money supposedly collected to improve drainage in Houston? TIRZ money seems to be increasingly wasted, and ReBuild Houston has, to date, accomplished nada, despite draining Tens of Millions of dollars from the local economy.
I would be remiss however if I didn't remind you that a diminished Houston is exactly what the environmentalists and Crossley Crazies really want. I'm sure more than one of them is currently lamenting (privately of course) that the death count wasn't higher. Mathusianism you see.
I'll repeat again that Houston needs to focus on our better angels, not on those whose instinct is to lecture, harangue and sue. There is still so much to be done, so many people suffering, rebuilding, trying to make ends meet that tut-tutting them just seems to be counterproductive.
My fear being that, if the wrong voices are listened to, there won't be much recognizable in Houston that's worth fighting all that hard for. The reality is however that I probably won't be around to witness it. The reality is also that my time here is coming to an end. Given that realization you might not want to listen much to what I have to say at all. (if you ever did in the first place) Increasingly I feel more and more separated from Houston and its future.
Which probably means that it's time to move on.
