Smart Growth's Misunderstood Message

Washington Post ^ | 16 October 2004 | Roger K. Lewis

[Lorianne]

In the rancorous political environment of this year's presidential election campaign, American voters seem to be polarized as never before. In the environment of real estate development and land-use planning, opinions about "smart growth" are becoming just as polarized.

Smart growth proponents and opponents are drawing ever sharper lines, honing ever narrower definitions and more assertively taking sides. "Either with me or against me" attitudes seem to prevail among both advocates and critics.

Unfortunately, overly polarized discourse is inherently obstructive and misleading. It distorts and oversimplifies, obscuring rather than illuminating complex realities that are variable with time, place and resources.

Sharp division into factions inevitably occurs when people resist dealing with complexity. Unwilling or unable to analyze the multiple, substantive aspects of a complex issue, some people are naturally drawn to boiled-down versions. Never mind the facts -- just a few, succinct black-or-white highlights.

Regrettably, smart growth is suffering this fate. The term is being used more and more as a defining label, as if it were a code word for a specific cause or movement zealously espoused by faithful adherents.

[Jotmo]

You forgot the Gag Alert. ;)

[fhillary2]

The Washington Compost is all about smart growth.

Smart growth is nothing but NIMBYism. I can't stand all these @ssholes who move to Loudoun County and then want to close the gates for the rest of the folks fleeing the People's Republic's of Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax.

[Rammer]

"Smart Growth" = billions in dollars spent on a light rail system here in NC that even its supporters admit will not 1)reduce congestion on our roads, 2) reduce pollution, 3) pay for itself.

Dumb idea.

[hedgetrimmer]

Its worse than nimbyism. It is anti-property rights, it creates a planned society in the model of the soviet union. Smart growth designs are done in such a way to socially engineer residents into a collectivist ideology, instead of permitting America's hallmark of individualism. No amount of equivocating by authors such as this one, can change that.

[taxcutisapayraise]

For a top-notch rebuttal and expose to so-called "Smart Growth," refer to www.americandreamcoalition.org.

Randal O'Toole is the executive director and a delivers a first rate presentation.

[xcamel]

Bigtime BARF alert!!

Other Dangerous buzzwords:

Green Build

Cluster Housing

Infill Incentives

Wetland Mitigation

Reduced Impact

Retro Fill

Green-ways

Wildlife Corridor

Heritage Area

Nature Conservancy

Eminent Domain

ad nauseum - Just more leftist environazi tricksterism for taking away your constitutionally guranteed property rights. Fight these abuses like all of your rights are in jeopardy.

See http://www.prfamerica.org/ for indeph coverage of property rights abuses across America. - and what you can do to help STOP it.

[NYpeanut]

Exactly. When they say (gasp!) "sprawl" they mean the house built after theirs.

[NYpeanut]

My favorite: "view shed"

[keithtoo]

I-95 is all anyone needs to know about smart growth. Lots of trees, not much development and VERY little movement of auto traffic.

[reformedliberal]

You are exactly right.

We have been polarized over SG here for 10 years. Last year, the township voted to NOT join other townships to pool resources to pay for the study proposed by the grants facilitator. $25k to *study* the matter. Don't know what the next move will be, but the perps have been publicly quiet for several months. They are most likely still having their secret meetings on how to convince the rest of us, just as they have for years.

Smart Growth imposes land use regulations in perpetuity. IOW, a given parcel can never be split up and can never be used for any use other than whatever it is used for now.

Our county is about 30k population. The largest town is 4k and has doubled in 30 years, with the usual strain on infrastructure and increases in taxes and fees. There is no way any mass transit could work here. But more and more of the land is being bought by people with large bank accounts gained from selling real estate in urban areas. Fewer people farm. Those not under ag classification for property tax purposes are paying through the nose for their 6k sq ft starter castles and they feel perfectly capable of telling the rest of us what to do.

[csmusaret]

Yes and they say building more roads will only cause more congestion. If that were true they could solve Charlotte's traffic problems by closing I-485 and half the lanes on I-85 and I-77. Read my tagline.

[shubi]

Here smart growth is a auto inspection program that is supposed to control pollution, but doesn't. Whenever the left calls something smart, it means it seems smart to them, but everyone else is screwed.

The left calls Bush dumb and thinks of themselves as smart. They are so smart they have almost destroyed their party in the last three elections. Yet, they call Bush dumb and he runs rings around them. Seems like they may not be as smart as they think they are.

[caisson71]

Smart Growth doesn't work. So, the proponents of Smart Growth say that opposition to a failed system is polarizing. How did we get here? Is there no reason left?

[valkyrieanne]

Liberals will try anything to keep families with children from moving out of cities.

[SierraWasp]

"Either with me or against me" attitudes seem to prevail among both advocates and critics."

This is patently untrue! It always begins and ends with the "advocates" or activists! Rather than debate issues if one should even question their point of view, they pre-emptively exclaim: "You just want to pave the entire county over, don't you!"

These pukes have turned my county virtually into a middle eastern war zone over what should have been a relatively simple update to the General Plan in the past dozen years.

Lives, fortunes, retirement plans and entrepreneurial dreams have been shattered and only the consultants and attorneys have been enriched. Ballot measure wars, political wars, bitter disputes that have ruined long standing good will... it's been foisted on us by a hand full of arrogant bastards who wish to bend everyone to their juvenile will!!!

Their "vision" for our future has turned paradise into a frozen landscape where their only solution to everything is suffocation of any economic progress. They seem to have unlimited time and resources and massive networks. We cannot spare the amount of time an resources they commit and still maintain our personal economic stability. They get grants and we don't even have time to apply...

Their latest coup is to get the Governor (a Republican) to foist a land CONservancy over the entire Sierra-Nevada to spread their brand of economic terrorism far and wide.

[Rammer]

You're correct, Sergeant Major.

I'd gladly let them have 3 or 4 arenas if they did away with the trains and gave us an extra six lanes (three in each direction) on 77, 85, 485, and Independence. An extra couple lanes on Randolph, Providence, etc. etc would be nice too.

[Semper Paratus]

Other Dangerous buzzwords:

Stakeholder!
Non-owners claiming ownership priviliges.