A couple of weeks ago, Todd Litman made a blog entry on logical fallacies in planning.* After looking at the list of possible fallacies at the end of his post, I thought I would show some (hopefully not too common) examples of these fallacies: Ad hominem (arguing against the person rather than the argument) – “Smart growth is in the U.N's Agenda 21 so we have to fight it to stop the U.N's plan to socialize the world.” “Concern about urban containment is just another example of Tea Party extremism.” Anageon (relying on inevitability)- “Sprawl is inevitable, so there’s nothing we can do about it.”
A couple of weeks ago, Todd Litman made a blog entry on
logical fallacies in planning.* After
looking at the list of possible fallacies at the end of his post, I thought I would show some
(hopefully not too common) examples of these fallacies:
Ad hominem (arguing against the person rather than the
argument) – "Smart growth is in the U.N's Agenda 21 so we have to fight it to stop the U.N's plan to socialize the world." "Concern about urban
containment is just another example of Tea Party extremism."
Anageon (relying on inevitability)- "Sprawl is inevitable,
so there's nothing we can do about it."
Anecdotal evidence (relying on one example that might not be
probative)- "Suburbs are all turning into slums. Just look at Central Islip [the low-income Long Island suburb where I work]." "Density causes crime. Just look at the South
Bronx."
Fallacy of composition (assuming that what is true of one
part is true of the whole)- "Since Central Islip is full of foreclosed houses, suburbia must be going downhill."
"There are some neighborhoods in St.
Louis City
that are really scary, so you should live in the suburbs."
Fallacy of division (assuming that what is true of the whole
must be true of the parts): "We live in a car-dependent nation, so we need to
have most of downtown occupied by parking lots." "The city of Chicago has been losing population for
decades, so hardly anyone wants to live downtown."
False dilemma (assuming that there are only two possible
alternatives, when in fact there are more): "Since most people don't want to
live in high-rises, suburban sprawl is what they really want." "Because the book of Genesis says God won't
destroy humanity completely, global warming must be harmless."
Hasty generalization (making a generalization based on a
small sample): "Downtown condos in city X are suffering from the recession, so
obviously there's no evidence of an increase in city living."
Historian's fallacy (assuming decisionmakers in the past
knew what we knew now)- "The people who
supported the interstate highway program must have known that it would create
sprawl."
Judgmental language (using perjorative language to influence
a reader's judgment)- "Obama and his socialist Chicago machine support high-speed rail." "Smart
growth means we'll all be crammed in apartments like rats in a cage."
Meaningless statement (too vague to be agreed or disagreed
with)- "You can't stop progress."
Nirvana fallacy (comparing actual things with unrealizable
alternatives): "You can't un-invent cars or suburbs, so we better keep building
highways and putting cars first."
Pathetic fallacy (treating inanimate objects as if they had
human emotions): "We need more environmental regulation because the Earth is
angry at us."
Politician's fallacy (because something should be done about
a problem, a particular remedy is necessary): "We must do something about
traffic congestion, so we must widen the roads." "We must do something about climate change,
so we should build a new light rail line instead."
Retrospective determinism (because something happened it was
bound to happen): "American cities have declined, so sprawl was inevitable no
matter what policies we followed."
Straw man (attacking a position that isn't really your
opponent's position): "The smart growth lobby wants everyone to live in
high-rises, so its goal is impractical."

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
