By Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie. Richard Moe heads the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C., and Carter Wilkie is a leading preservationist, currently adviser to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The facts are discouraging. Urban sprawl takes away 1 million acres of farmland every year, the equivalent to the entire state of Delaware. We are building bigger houses for smaller families, and building them farther apart than at any time since rural homesteading.
Sprawl means higher taxes to duplicate what already exists.
Wisconsin's statewide Main Street program is singled out as a model for its shrewd leverage of state funds and its understanding of business realities. The book begins with a look at the 1993 controversy over the Walt Disney Co.s plan to build an American history theme park in northern Virginia. The Manassas site is 30 minutes from Washington, one of the top travel spots in America. Right now, they point out, most American lives are divided between home and job. Walking neighborhoods permit a variety of easy social contacts, and the authors stress the importance of preserving not just the architecture, but the character of a community as well.