lizzzyyy100

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” PLUTARCH There is no better time than the holidays and the cold season to reflect on what counts as smart these days and to search for a merge of cold material economic arguments (Pottersville) and the much fuzzier ethical and moral arguments of social capital, community and equity (Bedford Falls). This article is not going to pursue whatever parallels there may be between these two visions of a city articulated in " Its a Wonderful Life " and current presidential policies, but is taking a look at what smart growth  could and should mean in 2018. Smart growth became a popular term in the 1990's as a desirable way of planned growth versus the implied "dumb growth" that happens from unplanned development. The emphasis then was on the environment and the massive land consumption that unfettered growth had brought to the United States. People would travel to Holland or Germ...

We have to really figure out how to build cities, not just buildings.(Martha Schwartz, landscape architect) Nothing has disfigured the modern city more than the automobile. Unfortunately, the 21st century of city of the future concepts are still fixated on the automobile, except that the debate is now wrapped into technology. There is little evidence that a city shaped by high tech mobility would be any more inviting than the one we already have. Downtown Denver urban renewal for the automobile ( Denverite ) What the auto fixated build-more-roads-politicians of old lacked in fantasy is compensated by the  futuristic ideas of techies like Elon Musk's who truly brings the auto to the mobile through autonomous electric cars and tractor trailers. The tech enthusiasts believe that they can do better than the old concrete and pavement guard because extra highway lanes would become superfluous with automated trucks and cars making existing roadways at least twice as efficient. But th...