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Ethanol-fueled writes:

Paraphrased: a Bloomberg Businessweek report that Nicole Antal, a librarian in Sharon, Vermont discovered that a Utah-based foundation had quietly purchased more than 900 acres of nearby farmland adjacent or close to the birthplace of Joseph Smith.

The mastermind of the purchases, a wealthy engineer named David Hall, made contact with Antal and was very forthcoming about his vision - sustainable, high-tech, high-density communities across the globe; with a trial run in Vermont based on the Plat of the City of Zion. While all that sounded a bit farfetched, Hall revealed that he already had more than 150 engineers working on technology and architecture for the project.

Vermont, famous for being fiercely proud, idealistic, and ornery (this guy being one of the more famous residents) were stirred into a frenzy, with the opposition concerned that Hall was attempting to start a cult.

Hall is a fourth-generation Mormon. "Joseph Smith was just the wildest guy out there," he says. "Lots of things he did were stupid, but in my view, he was a sage or a seer and didn't even understand what came to him." The more futuristic aspects of his plans include pedestrian communities which sustain individual privacy and views of nature. Rooftop farms will make use of advanced techniques drawn from marijuana cultivation, and box-shaped greenhouses will improve yields and prevent the spread of disease and insects. Ground-floor spaces will be occupied by businesses, all connected by enclosed walkways and space for moving "pods" that transport the sick and elderly.

The article is a bit long even for an adequate summary here, but there are many technological aspects of Hall's plans worth reading about, and it is refreshing to see that somebody is concentrating on the positive rather than the negative. What do you think?

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