colonias built on land that was never zoned for residential uses
And
Many homes, built without regard for indoor bathrooms or plumbing, are treated as substandard or dilapidated by housing inspectors. These homes cannot pass inspection to qualify for hook up to water lines
It is not that these services are not available because the government is unable to provide them. In these cases, the government will provide these services in areas zoned for residential use, and where buildings have passed inspection. Ironically, the fact that these people do not have access to certain infrastructure is a sign of how modernized the US is...not only do we provide the infrastructure, we also have a system in place to ensure its safety and quality.
Thanks for those links, I didn't know about colonias. You can go to some unincorporated areas around LA and find similar surprising backwardness -- like people living in unheated garages without running water.
Nothing like India, though, where you don't have to go out of your way to find really exceptional poverty and deprivation.
You can go to some unincorporated areas around LA and find similar surprising backwardness -- like people living in unheated garages without running water
I think you are confusing the availability of infrastructure with the ability to pay for it. Anywhere in the US that is zoned for residential use will have access to clean water, sewage, trash pickup, mail, broadcast television, landline phone, police, fire, etc. So this garage, if it is in a residential area, and is up to code, will have access to these services, assuming the owners or occupants are willing and able to pay for it. I could go live in the garage at the Playboy Mansion, and I wouldn't have running water or heat their either. That says more about my personal living conditions than the infrastructure the government provides.
OK, I guess I don't see such a clear distinction between the two concepts ("available, but can't afford it" and "not available").
As I tried to say above, I agree that it's a denial of reality to equate India with the U.S. along the "poor infrastructure" axis -- based on some particularly bad examples. I believe we're in agreement about that.
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/border/elpasocolonia... http://www.sos.state.tx.us/border/colonias/faqs.shtml
And two New York Times articles from July:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/us/08ttconditions.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/us/10tthealth.html