Walden Reserve In Tennessee

[rgraham]

From the Crossville (Tenn.) Chronicle:

Residents meet with developers about deep green community

SNIP

Walden Reserve will be a 6,000 acre deep green community in Cumberland County just south of Grassy Cove off Hwy. 68. The property runs from Hwy. 68 over to Hwy. 70 E. and south to Alloway Rd.

"This will be the greenest community in America," Bray said.

The community will be developed with cutting edge technology, be self-contained and will be recognized all over the world, he said.

The community will create its own water supply with aquifers storing rainwater that falls on the mountain and will not interfere with other utility districts' water systems. It will create its own energy through a collective solar system and develop its own sewer system. The community will take care of itself through fees and assessments to members and property owners, Bray said. The county will not be involved in paying anything toward the development.

http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/..._165174311.html

Anybody heard of anything like this? Should these people believe what the developers are telling them? I went to the Walden Reserve Web site, but it requires a login and password to get past the home page (which tells you nothing).

I grew up just a few miles from Grassy Cove and I know both the area and the people who live there. The land has been in several families hands for generations, and you can't dynamite it out of their control. It's a tremendously beautiful and unspoiled place, nestled as it is among mountain ridges. Much farming still goes on there. They are wary of outsiders, which includes just about everyone outside of the Cove.

Just curious.

[Subdude]

Something sounds bogus.

From the article

"There will be a zero impact on the land and environment, but it will improve it. This will be a group that will improve the community," Bray said.

"When I first started talking about this I spoke to Dr. Jack Sheaffer. This is the guy. He is the man or the scientist who is the author of the Clean Water Act. When I told him about the idea for this deep green community he said, 'Are you serious? This has never been done before. Every scientist will want to be involved. If you are really serious about doing this and doing it right, it will be the most important thing you will do in your lifetime.' Now that really got to me," Bray said.

Bray said that a brain trust of scientists and advisers of those who are at the top of their fields of study are involved in the development and it is a collaborative development with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Zero impact? If it said this was being developed by some millenial cult, I would believe that.

[rgraham]

See, I wonder about the developer's intentions too. If the developers think they can snow these people, if they think the people in Grassy Cove are just a bunch of dumb hicks, then they're very much mistaken. People in Grassy Cove live simple lives, but that's by choice. They aren't stupid by any stretch, and you'd be surprised how much money some of these families have.

You can begin to see why the few families that own the land don't let go of it.