If you want to kill off your community, a surefire way to do it is to make resilience a crime. That's exactly what the small town of Oak Park, MI did. Despite high unemployment and economic difficulty, they are in the process of prosecuting homeowner Julie Bass for planting five raised gardens in her front yard. If convicted, she can face 93 days in jail for her crime (of not using appropriate plants in the front yard).
What did Julie do?
Obviously, there is a mismatch of thinking going on here. The town and her neighbors obviously think that the value of a home is based on location and landscaping. Any deviation from that model decreases the value of the home and the homes around it.
In contrast, Julie recognized that the value of a home isn't merely based on its location/lanscaping. It's changing. The value of a home is increasingly tied to it's efficiency and productive value.
Who's right? Julie is, of course. With middle class income in deep decline and global system failures/disruptions mounting, the tide is shifting. Homes that don't produce food, energy, water, etc. will be the homes that will see a decline in value. As things stand today, it won't be long before the value of a home is based PRIMARILY on its productive value.
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