Give Me Liberty

Robert Liberty, the Portland Metro Commissioner who once led 1,000 Friends of Oregon, will be up our way on November 20, speaking at SFU Harbour Centre.
In his recent newsletter, he reports on a poll done by the National Association of Realtors:

In summary, most Americans believe the best way to address growth and congestion is by redeveloping existing communities, making them more walkable and increasing public transportation. (The poll results can be found at the NAR website page devoted to “Smart Growth”: www.realtor.org/smart_growth.nsf )

He also notes that “once again we are hearing proposals for massively expensive freeway expansions, including a $4+ billion 10 to 12 lane freeway bridge over the Columbia River, which will facilitate even more auto-oriented sprawl. ”
Two thoughts: it seems universal that governments are moving towards smart-growth policies to address climate change.  But their transportation and highway departments are at the same continuing business as usual – only with massively more expensive projects.  It’s a kind of madness, but so far unaddressed.
And one of the best lines I’ve come across recently can be found in Richard Register’s book, Ecocities:

The closest distance between two points can be achieved by moving the points closer together.