Just think, if the homes of these poor people were in the 20th floor of a high-rise building it would likely take them more than the fifteen to twenty minutes warning time just to traverse the stairs in their building. Such a scenario would put many individuals in undue precarious situations with no rescue in sight, and it would not necessarily only affect those people who lived in the building, but would affect those that were attempting to rescue those individuals as well. This type of situation would be inherently dangerous to the firemen and policemen, much like the televised horror experienced by millions of Americans when hijacked planes were flown by terrorists into the walls of the twin towers in New York. Will, and can, Americans ever forget such disaster and the ensuing chaos, death and terror that such an act precipitated? What if such a disaster took place in our community, would it not affect our citizenry the same as it affected New Yorkers? The question then becomes, why should we allow the possibility of such events taking place in our community? The above study showed that thousands of people could die. With a scenario such as this one, would it make much sense to assume that type of risk, a risk that could cause much angst and despair within our beloved community?

One study showed that the type of individuals who are flocking to high-rise buildings may not be the type of people desired by this community. "The type of affluent buyers that used to move out to the suburbs are now reversing that trend by moving back into the city and finding luxury, stunning views, and the cachet of being a new urbanite. Empty nesters, young professionals, and those in between are drawn to the energy and convenience that urban high-rise living has to offer" (Menke, 2007, p. 60). Our community is...

Inviting others into the community will likely lead to additional high-rises being built and the other amenities demanded by such 'affluent buyers'. Soon the community could see the proliferation of movie houses, restaurants, night clubs and other environments that may not be conducive to the living and community standards currently enjoyed by the citizens already established here.
There are a variety of good reasons for opening our city to such buildings, and surely the tax revenues and income base would be good for the public works of the community, but at what cost? Does the community truly wish to surrender its personality, the personality worked for over the past century? I would say, NO. Let's band together as citizens and have our voices heard. We can raise the banner of truth and soberness by banning such buildings from ever being developed in out community. What do you say, fellow citizens, are you with me?

Works Cited

Grazulis, T.P., (1993) Significant tornadoes: 1680-1991, Environmental Films, p. 1326

Monikowski, F., Woodcok, C., (2007) the challenge of high-rise fire sprinkler retrofits, Buildings, Vol. 101, No. 5, p. 30

Qi, Y., (2002) a study on the reliability of fire water supply system in high-rise buildings, Fire Technology, Vol. 38, p. 71-79

Simmons, K.M., Sutter, D. (2005) WSR-88D radar, tornado warnings, and tornado casualties, Weather Forecasting, Vol. 20, pp. 301-310.

Wurman, J., Alexander, C., Robinson, P., Richardson, Y., (2007) Low level winds in tornadoes and potential catastrophic tornado impacts in urban areas, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,…