Critics say "smart growth" is great if your dream is to live in a noisy apartment, take a crowded train to work and never see a tree, but it is hardly a model for a utopian society.
"It's just NIMBYism on steroids," [says] John Charles, environmental policy director for the Cascade Policy Institute, a Portland, Ore.-based libertarian think tank, in an interview last week. Despite what urban planners, government officials and environmentalists would have you believe, smart growth is not a cure for the vexing urban woes of traffic congestion, disappearing open space and skyrocketing housing prices, Charles said. In fact, he said, it will only aggravate those problems. The concept may be popular now, but it won't be when people start seeing its results, he said. "The smart-growth movement is destined to fail," Charles said."
Thanks to California 2000 Project
Read the full story: Critics say 'smart growth' destined to fail
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