Long-term vision, 2

I mentioned before that the students in CMU's Urban Laboratory who are studying Homewood have come up with suggestions for improving the environment and diagrammed the anticipated results for 100 years, and I asked, "Who thinks like that?"

Well, maybe such extended vision is more common among development people than among the rest of us.

On May 1, I sat with a group of folks for a presentation by Eric Jester, project manager at East LIberty Devlopment, Inc. He spoke about the challenges of doing rehab work on some of the neighborhood's older homes - challenges so great that in some cases it made more sense to build new, rather than to rehab. But only if the new construction met a certain level of quality. The term that he used for what ELDI chose to build was "the 100-year house."

ELDI is building homes with the intent that they last 100 years. Which really isn't so outrageous when one considers the age of Pittsburgh's existing housing stock. It's just a longer time span that I'm used to using in my thinking.

Then there's Benjamin Franklin. The printer/inventor/Declaration of Independence signer planned the use for part of his estate for TWO HUNDRED YEARS.

Serious. In his will, he left the cities of Boston and Philadelphia 1000 pounds each (roughly equivalent to $100,000 today), but limited their use of the money, saying that they could lend portions of it for two hundred years, after which they could the entire amounts that had accumulated would be freed up for their use.

(If you want to check it out, the essence of his plan begins in the 5th paragraph of the CODICIL, with the words, "To this end, I devote two thousand pounds sterling," and ends a few paragraphs later with "...the government of Massachusetts")

Boston and Philly wound up fighting hard over their inheritances.

I shared the Ben Franklin story with Khalif Ali, community organizer for Operation Better Block, while we were in Philly for the confab with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and told him that part of his job is to infuse 100-year thinking into the minds of people who have been trained not to think beyond the weekend.

Of course, since I dont sign his paycheck, he can reject that. But at the very least, it's something to think about.  I've been thinking about what I would write into a 200-year will, but haven't come up with anything yet.

Until I do, I will focus on a five-year plan for Race Street.

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