Elegy for Cities Embracing Smart Growth
With apologies to John Lennon, I imagine a city without cars.
Exhaust fumes replaced by fine boutiques and fern bars.
All the people walk to workplace and shops,
And the streets are patrolled by mo-ped cops.
All city life is one of perfect precision,
Nothing's out of place if you have a Grand Vision.
With apologies to Stevie Wonder, living just enough for the city
Means that sometimes everything's not always pretty
Unless real smart people institute real smart plans
To avoid urban sprawl and pesky fruit stands.
All city life is one of perfect precision,
Nothing's out of place if you have a Grand Vision.
Give up your property rights for the greater good
If it means you can claim that your neighborhood
Was laid out according to a master plan
Devised by folks who would prefer to ban
Anything nonconforming they deem isn't proper.
In their infinite wisdom your plans are scuppered.
All city life is one of perfect precision,
Nothing's out of place if you have a Grand Vision.
Forfeit your liberties, forfeit your rights,
Walk lockstep, walk only on the lines.
Regrets to Bernie Taupin and Sir Elton John for this final dart:
Living in this city, boy, is gonna break your heart.
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Mackinac Center policy staff.
Relax and go downstream
When it comes to planning I say "Let it Be". Attractive communities happen when people get to do their thing.
As I understand it, the Grand Vision isn't doing any herding of people into walkable communities or enforcing diversity, so you're probably safe from the Pograms, NorthernMichiganite.
And suggesting that you can't take more than there is from your environment or put more cars on your roads than they support seems a lot more like Economics 101 than socialism.
Kenvision apparently hasn't studied any zoning ordinances or attended city/township/county planning commission meetings in any areas where the Grand Vision is being implemented. Measures that herd people out of the countryside into the city have already been implemented. How so? Make it too expensive to live in the countryside. One example? Enormous minimum lot sizes. You think young families with children can afford to live outside the city and nearer to smaller schools and have their own yards to play in when they have to buy 5 or 10 acres to live on? Think again. The Grand Vision WILL enforce diversity. The cities will be "diverse" with the lower and middle class. Meanwhile, the countryside is being turned into "parks" and "natural areas" and "land conservancies" and "open space," titled in the government's name and "for the common good." There's nothing "good" about limiting and/or extinguishing ownership of private property. As for taking more from our environment than there is, it appears kenvision has been worshipping at the radical environmentalists' altar where the "human pollution" argument is being chanted to justify government control of every aspect of our lives. You say this is not socialism? I guess you're right. It sounds more like communism.
"One thing I can tell you is you got to be free."
Words sung by John Lennon. No apologies necessary. The problem with the "kenvision" view is that a LOT of us don't care to be herded into "diverse vibrant cities" and "walkable communities." The "smart growth" philosopy is nothing more than unadulterated socialism spewed forth by elitists who seek to command and control the masses into giving up their property rights and their lifestyle in the name of "sustainable development." Unfortunately for the "control freaks" a/k/a planners, the revelation of the real agenda behind "global warming" calls into serious question the underpinnings of "sustainable development" and the Agenda 21 initiative. It's time to get the planning control freaks off our government payrolls and out of our lives!
I doubt John Lennon would accept your apology
Cities embracing Smart Growth principles:
Salt Lake City UT
Portland OR
Austin TX
Pittsburgh PA
San Francisco CA
Fort Collins CO
Huntersville NC
Dade County, FL
The state of Montana
I don't know where you live, but I'll bet that Austin is kicking the heck out of it economically and socially.
Check out http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/ and stop trying to demonize the concept of engaging people in planning for our future. It's childish, short-sighted and penalizes the people who aren't afraid of diverse, vibrant cities.