Book Review: The Battle Over Sprawl and the Future of America

"Self-styled experts such as Joel Kotkin and Robert Bruegmann get media mileage by touting sprawl as a triumphant manifestation of human will: Far-flung suburbs are in our genes and there's nothing you can do about it and why should you try to do anything about it, you pointy-headed, Birkenstock-wearing, car-hating elitist?

...By contrast, Flint has the gall to suggest that one reason for high prices is that regions that value distinctive neighborhoods and nature are regions where people want to be.

That's what is refreshing about "This Land" -- and frustrating about the general level of debate about our nation's changing landscape. We've reduced the blueprint for how we live to a handful of absolutes: Suburbs should sprawl in all directions or housing tracts should be banned. Zoning should be abolished, or the color of windowsills should be proscribed by law."