Posted on 12/01/2004 4:11:17 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You forgot the Gag Alert. ;)
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.
"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.
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.
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.
Exactly. When they say (gasp!) "sprawl" they mean the house built after theirs.
My favorite: "view shed"
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.
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.
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?
Liberals will try anything to keep families with children from moving out of cities.
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.
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.
Stakeholder!
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