We have a clear choice between the visions of Metro's 2040 plan and the Thoreau Institute's People 2000 toolkit. To understand this choice, we must take care not to confuse means with ends . As someone born in the Willamette Valley and raised in Portland, I want to protect Portland's livability, scenery, and open space, and reduce congestion and pollution as much as anyone. But I want tools that work, not plans that don't, and programs that safeguard freedom, not ones that increasingly regulate the public. But it may be no paradox.
People demand security and stability.
So people demanded change. Ironically, the growth spurred by our decentralized society can appear just as threatening and unstable as the stagnation produced by central planning. I have met the enemy. And he is us. While preparing this report, I met many people who share Garreau's earlier faith in planning.