New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman tried to raise gas taxes to purchase open spaces and, when that failed, successfully sponsored a bond issue for the purpose. Many American cities and suburbs are a mess. Her point was that truly livable cities evolve spontaneously, and that prescriptive planning stifles this process and upsets the urban order. Today's smart growth advocates hold Jacobs up as their guru because of her praise of density and mixed-use development, but totally miss her main point about the limitations of planning and the spontaneous nature of city life. The Quest for the Holy Rail And the new plans work just as poorly as the old.
People keep failing to fit the planners' mold.
Light rail, which together with high density development is supposed to reduce congestion, has been a flop. There is no rational reason why we should be looking to a 19th century technology for 21st century mobility needs. Nor does high-density development reduce congestion. The superficially appealing idea is that if we all live closer to where we work and shop, shorter car trips and mass transit will replace all those long car rides. But the real world doesn't work that way.