[Lorianne]

Exactly, while others, with the financial resources to do so, live in nicely insulated locations. I am very familiar with the smart growth agenda from 10 years of local experience. They are socialists, and the only ones who agree with their proposals are racists and/or snobs who like the buffer zone around people they don't want to see. Hence the anti-Walmart movement--they don't want low-income types shopping in town.

Exactly wrong again. Smart Growth proponents advocate a MIX of income groups, ages, etc living together in neighborhoods. It is 1960-1970 zoning that segregaged neighborhoods by income and kept all commercial activity out of neighborhoods and made schools huge and far away from neighborhoods, rather than small neighborhood based schools. It prohibited small stores and service businesses such as hair cutters, dry cleaners, drugstores etc. from being inside the neighborhood. It outlawed connected streets between residential neighborhoods in an effort to keep the undesirables out. You've got the wrong people identified as snobs.

Smart Growth advocates a mix of housing types and price, schools, small service businesses, churches, etc. embedded in neighborhoods by design.

You really need to educate yourself about what Smart Growth is about. You don't have a clue.

[NYpeanut]

Well, since I am so "clueless" I must say my education has been entirely on experience, so maybe you should visit my town and tell the Smart Growth chapter here that they've got it all wrong. For the past ten years, these wealthy, newly immigrated refuges from other places have been squashing virtually every business proposal in town. They are milky white, politically left, holier than damn-near-everyone, upper income pains in the butt--nothing like open minded or tolerant at all. Every time a business permit is applied for, they show up at the town meeting with their skanky little lawyer to oppose it. If you make under 40K in this town you can't afford to shop here for anything except groceries, because Smart Growth won't allow retail chains.

Furthermore, the only lower income people who agree with Smart Growth are those who are afraid of inner city (read black/hispanic) immigrants trying to find affordable local housing so they can send their kids to our superior schools. So scorn my empirical opinion all you like--they walk like ducks, etc. If we have the wrong impression of Smart Growth, maybe they gave it to us.