Tuesday follow up

We usually publish here on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but there was one short item that I couldn't justify squeezing into yesterday's post but wanted to pass on.

The following photo and caption come from a booklet called the Brainerd History Walk. In a single paragraph, they do more to explain how the suburban experiment has changed our values than anything I could write.

The $50,000 spent in 1910 is equivalent to spending $1.2 million today. There was no asebestos requiring expensive removal -- it wasn't invented yet -- and it is hard to believe that the building itself had fallen into ruin. No, it was just determined that the highest and best use for this property was for storing cars.

A belief that, unfortunately, persists to this day.