Replies

Thank you for posting this. I have fought the visioning process at both city and regional meetings. However, I beg to differ that we currently have "free market housing." The current zoning and regulatory bureaucratic nightmare we endure is anything but. This whole process of "visioning" is in part government coming in with a "solution" to the mess it created in past decades.

Many of us would love to live in a neighborhood where we could work, live, and shop all within walking distance. That is pretty hard to find--especially in the West. I also think that such neighborhoods will become increasingly popular as the Baby Boomers age and have to give up their licenses as they grow too old to drive safely. I have known too many elderly people who are desperate to keep driving--even though they pose a great risk to themselves and others--simply because they are so cut off from life in modern residential-only zones. Either some genius is going to have to come up with a great solution to the elderly's transportation needs or communities that allow one to carry on life without needing a car will be in high demand.

Many of us would love to live in a neighborhood where we could work, live, and shop all within walking distance

If you were a cowboy living on a ranch maybe. But what if you work in a factory? Do you want to live next to it,with the 24/7 traffic, deliveries and movement of trucks? Would you want your kids to play in a front yard next to a factory? How about if you live next to a nightclub but your job makes you get up at 4 or 5 am in the morning? Would you be able to sleep? Would you get any rest on the weekends when everyone around you is drinking, getting rowdy and wants to party? What if you worked in an FedEx terminal. Would you be happy living next to such a busy airport? Some people like to hear planes, but if it was your job, would you want to keep listening to it after you got home from work? What if you worked at the train station. Do you think your kids would find good places to play next to the busy tracks while you are working there? What if you worked at a prison? Again, is this a good place to where you'd have kids playing in the yard while you went off to work? Would you feel comfortable with that?