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01/26/2014

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John Hall

Why rely on a non-partisan committee when you can use K means clustering to do it? E.g.
http://www.math.washington.edu/~morrow/mcm/MCM_2007Smaller.pdf

Jack

Well, Mr Becker I'd agree with much of that and if you live in the Stanford area? you likely have nearby examples.

I recall in So Cal that Sepulveda Blvd separates the many beach towns from LA proper, Glendale and other less chic inland towns. On the Manhattan Beach side of the Blvd the same old somewhat remodeled post WWII bungalow being half again the house across the street where the family might be in LA schools and not have the "Manhattan" address.

But usually, and the history of So Cal and much of our nation seems to be some version of "white flight" from the namesake city to the waiting and, as you say, more costly housing of sovereign suburban towns where THEIR money (they earned in the city?) goes to THEIR schools, with the "others" "left behind".

We're "lucky" here in Anchorage where in the 70's we incorporated the city and the surrounding borough/county into one entity, and ONE school district with schools funded about as equitably from one end to the other 60 miles away. Mostly, families don't ask their realtor about "school districts" though some are favored a bit more than others, but select more from "hillside" "downtown" mid-town for their own varying preferences.

I contrast the "Anchorage" model with that of Detroit. As you may know 50's Detroit had 1.6 million population 90% "white" and today has lost half its population and is not only 80% "black" but has half the per capita income of the surrounding "greater Detroit Metro area" of 5 million people with income and demographics typical of the rest of the US.

Despite the greater Metro needing Detroit proper for its corp HQ's and all that made or is left of Detroit they let their big apple rot from the core outward. We'll see more of it as most of our older cities have the same seeds of their own (selfish) destruction.

Or so it seems in the freakishly balmy 35 degree weather of 60 degrees north latitude.

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