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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Follow the money.., June 20, 2002
A bit of disclosure here for those too lazy to read the fine print. If you think 'A Guide to Smart Growth' is an unbiased look at the issues surrounding urban sprawl and the 'Smart Growth' movement, think again. This 'book' is published by the Heritage Foundation, the leading conservative think tank whose dogma is vehemently preached by such conservative spinmeisters as Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. The author, Jane S. Shaw, is a Senior Associate at PERC, the Political Economic Research Center, whose board of directors is composed of investment bankers, developers, venture capitalists, and members of the financial press. That being said, I suspect there's more than a little conflict of interest here, considering the very interests that benefit from pro-sprawl development policies are the publishers and promoters of this book. Naturally its filled with questionable statistics by such pro-sprawl cheerleaders like Wendell Cox, who is well known in the urban planning community as vocal opponent of 'Smart Growth' and 'New Urbanism'. By all means read this book to learn about the arguments of those who wish to destory the 'Smart Growth' and 'New Urbanism' movements. Just don't look for solutions, as their goal is to maintain the status quo, not to support responsible, sustainable alternatives to the suburban growth machine.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
mostly hypocritical rubbish, October 15, 2002
By A Customer
Because this book was published by the conservative Heritage Foundation, I thought it would be pro-free market. Not so! This book is all for sprawl-producing Big Government highway spending; its position is that government is good when it subsidizes migration to suburbia and bad when it doesn't. Heritage should have disavowed this book and sent its authors either to the road builders association or to some more liberal institution. Moreover, many of the essays in the book are shoddily reasoned and/or self-contradictory (whether due to unclear writing or unclear thought I cannot say). Just to name a few examples: 1. Utt writes: "there is little evidence to suggest that federal programs have contributed to or encouraged suburbanization" (p. 104) but also writes that various federal programs "may very well have worsened the plight of many older central cities by undermining the quality of urban living" (p. 102). If federal programs "undermined" urban living, they must have driven people into the suburbs. Ron Utt, meet Ron Utt. 2. Utt writes: "it was the availability of mass transit that largely facilitated the move to the suburbs throughout the 1950s" (p. 100). Just a paragraph earlier, he points out that as early as 1935, cities were shutting down trolley systems for lack of riders. So how can nonexistent transit systems create sprawl? And a page earlier, he suggests that "there is little convincing evidence to connect the growth of highways with the growth of the suburbs." But how can transit cause more sprawl than highways, given that highways throughout the 20th century while mass transit shrunk? And if mass transit caused suburban growth, how come there are so many suburbs with no mass transit? 3. After spending page after page explaining that Big Brother must build us new roads, Wendell Cox writes: "there are indications that the worst traffic congestion may be over. Future traffic growth may be considerably lower than in the past." (p. 60) It the problem is dwindling, why spend public money curing it? (To be fair, Cox, who has done better work elsewhere, does suggest privatization of roads, but I couldn't find evidence that he opposes government road spending if privatization doesn't happen). Sometimes the essays appear to contradict each other. John Charles complains that Portland has shortchanged road spending (p. 131-32) but Angela Antonelli asserts that Portland has increased road construction by 108.1% between 1982 and 2000 (p. 150). One or two essays are relatively innocuous, and one or two are not bad (Richard Stroup's essay on the defects of government generally, and Sam Staley's on the problems of zoning). Otherwise, this book would deserve zero stars rather than one.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Buyer Beware, April 8, 2003
This book is a poorly written and factually "challenged" libertarian diatribe, trying to pass itself off as Smart Growth. I was fooled by the misleading title and mistakenly ordered this book, which contains chapters extolling the role of the automobile in society, and containing some really intriguing ecological work describing the overpopulation of deer in suburbia as evidence of "wildlife diversity". This publishing company is a front supported by "free-market" supporting industry (read: no bothersome regulatory laws) which produce pseudo-science tracts such as this one.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Real subtitle: killing ideas, few if any solutions, May 14, 2002
By A Customer
A major disappointment. HEAVILY biased use of statistics to make a case against the "Smart Growth" agenda, bordering on the obvious and ridiculous. Some good points are made and useful facts brought into the lights - but the authors are against much - and provide MINIMAL solutions. A very negative tone throughout the book.For purposes of full disclosure - here's my only bias....I read this book while vacationing at Seaside, FL. Seaside is my favoriate US beach destination. It's referenced in Chapter 8 - "The Market Responds to Growth." But event here, the authors seem to be against "Traditional Neighborhood Developemnts" like Seaside. Strange - because I find Seaside to be a wonderful place - for exactly the reasons that the designers intended. Everything you want is in walking distance - and summer nights in the city center are like living in a Norman Rockwell painting. Given the credentials of the various authors, I expected MUCH more in the way of solutions/agenda for the future...
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Unlike Anything Else You'll Ever Read on "Sprawl", June 1, 2000
There is an enormous literature on urban planning, "sprawl," and now "smart growth." Most of it is anecdotal and driven by the authors' agendas: anti-car, anti-middle class, anti-population growth, anti-capitalism, etc. The best report I found before seeing this book was "The Costs of Sprawl-Revisited," published by the National Academy Press in 1998 (and available on their web site!).Even "The Costs of Sprawl-Revisited" pales by comparison to "A Guide to Smart Growth." This book is written by some of the most informed and provocative voices in the debate over "sprawl" and smart growth. Wendell Cox is simply devastating in his comments on mass transit and how to manage congestion. John Charles demolishes the "Portland Model." Sam Staley shows how land use problems can be solved without the centralization of power that lies at the heart of all smart growth proposals. Best of all, every chapter is filled with data and source citations, not just opinions and speculation. This is public policy research the way it should be: informed, factual, and rigorous. It is an urban policy researcher's dream come true. "A Guide to Smart Growth" should be required reading by every student in an urban planning or public policy program in the country. Environmentalists who believe "sprawl" is a major threat to farmland also owe it to themselves to read it. It really is that good.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Informative Read!, June 1, 2000
I found this book very informative and appropriate, considering the relevancy of the urban sprawl/suburban growth debate in this year's presidential election. As a resident of a community that is currently experiencing surburban growth and traffic problems, I found Mr. Utt's and Ms. Shaw's findings both informative and at times, alarming.
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8 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Facts Trump Emotion, June 12, 2000
This is an important and helpful work that provides a compelling, exceedingly well-written guide to the facts about "sprawl." It is a carefully written and documented analysis that explodes the myths put forth by the fringe of the environmental movement. There is much common sense here -- and much that all people of good will who are concerned about the environment will embrace. It's a must read and long overdue.
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7 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Finally, a Guide to "Smart Growth" That Is, Well, Smart., June 3, 2000
I live in the suburbs. And frankly, I love the suburbs. But that's not a politically correct sentiment these days, when we suburbanites are accused of needing cars to go to the bathroom, never mind the tacky strip mall. That's certainly the view that Al Gore and his elite friends have, and why they are for "Smart Growth" usually translated "No Growth." And that's why "A Guide to Smart Growth" is so important. As the different writers of this provocative book point out, Al Gore may not like to hear it, but most folks love the suburbs. Big "useless" lawns and all. And, the various authors argue,suburbs do pay for themselves when it comes to the tax base versus public services, they don't consume nearly as much land or resources as their detractors would like us to believe, nor are they even the entity most responsible for increasing traffic congestion around the country (High-density cities are.) So the question is, instead of how to squelch the suburubs how do we make them even more livable for all the people who, it turns out, actually want to live there? From managing new development and traffic flow to giving people a sense of community, this book provides answers that are both private-sector oriented and don't come with the sneering condescension of so many "smart-growth" advocates that the suburbs are simply a louzy place to live.
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