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A true conservative takes aim at pretenders who defend sprawl

Several years ago, I was asked to do a panel presentation in Minneapolis with, among others, Sam Staley of the Reason Foundation. I pretty much hate these point/counterpoint forums where the organizers try to paint me as a raving liberal who wants to debate people for conference-goers’ entertainment. So I called Sam, who is a nice guy, and suggested that we blow their minds by seeing what we could agree on, including the folly of land use regulations designed to perpetuate sprawl. We still had our areas of disagreement, but we also had a much more constructive session than mere entertainment.

Today I am pleased to see another principled conservative, Austin Bramwell, who used to be a stalwart at the National Review, take the same approach. Writing in The American Conservative, Bramwell tells it like it is:

“For the 101st time: sprawl — an umbrella term for the pattern of development seen virtually everywhere in the United States — is not caused by the free market. Helena Township, MI (by: Helena Township)It is, rather, mandated by a vast and seemingly intractable network of government regulations, from zoning laws and building codes to street design regulations. If [nominally libertarian newsman John] Stossel wants to expand Americans’ lifestyle choices, he should attack the very thing he was defending, namely, suburban sprawl.

via Switchboard, from NRDC :: Kaid Benfield’s Blog :: A true conservative takes aim at pretenders who defend sprawl.

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