I've written about "smart growth" movement before. That's the notion that "sprawl," which I would define as the byproduct of people living the way they choose to live, but which is now considered by Those Who Know Better For Us as a great evil, or, as they put it, "no longer in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities, or wilderness areas. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city, only to rebuild it further out. " So they want to herd us all into urban areas, which they will kindly make "walkable" for us in case we get tired of taking public transit.
This is, unfortunately, no longer going to be a scattered, diffuse movement with a few strong adherents and many opponents. It is going to be pushed by the Obama administration, which will make it a national priority and thus a lot harder to ignore or resist. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have announced a new interagency partnership to create "affordable, sustainable communities."
Rich in the sort of progressive euphemisms used to mask real intentions, the press release heralds a process that could likely lead to an unprecedented federal effort to force Americans into an antiquated lifestyle that was common to the early years of the previous century. More specifically, these initiatives reflect an escalation in what is shaping up as President Obama's apparent intent to re-energize and lead the Left's longstanding war against America's suburbs.
That's from the Heritage Foundation, so it might be a tad hyperbolic. Still, there's no doubt of the earnest desire, mushy thinking and iron will of people who use phrases like "affordable, sustainable communities." Understand how backward that is? We don't decide how to live, which creates a community. It is determined what kind of community we should have
