[TheOtherOne]

As for traffic congestion, that is made needlessly worse because of long-distance commuting by those people whose incomes will not permit them to live in the artificially more expensive communities where they work. It is not uncommon in liberal California communities for many commuters to spend 3 or 4 hours a day in their cars, fighting traffic -- all for the greater glory of those with the mantra of "open space."

Is this supposed to make sense. He has not a clue.

[Mean Daddy]

I understand Sowell's point, what is it you don't understand?

[TheOtherOne]

Yeah, nothing to do with the fact that 1 of 8 US residents live in CA would it? He wants no land use rules...that is plain ignorant. He takes a decent concept and then tries to apply it to everything, making his overall arguments pretty lame.

[Publius6961]

Is this supposed to make sense. He has not a clue.

Someone does not have a clue.
And it isn't Dr. Sowell.

I could have documented this in painful detail, had I known where it was headed at the time.
Many of us have lived it from the inside, and his analysis not only makes sense, it is a perfect summary of the results of the process.

I will not bore everyone with the process, but I can say this: in one of the most expensive counties in the country, one could buy a comfortable 3 bedroom home for $13k. Thirty years later, when the "compassionate controllers" had taken over, the fees alone, for the "privilege" of building a home was twice that.

[goodnesswins]

Let me explain what I think"the greater glory of those with the mantra of 'open space'" means.... he's talking about the "professional bureaucrats" who want to live in the city and VISIT the "forest" or something on weekends. They want to define who can live where and how. It's happened in OREGON, around Portland, RE: Urban Growth Boundary...the birkenstockers work downtown, and then drive to the "country" on weekends to visit places where others COULD be living, FOR LOTS LESS.....instead of forcing EVERYONE to live WITHIN an artificially defined border around the greater Portland area.