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The Urban Crawl We know what we don't want, but most of us still haven't enough faith in ourselves to present our ideas of how to get what we do want. The survey below shows how many people (in the US and no doubt in any urban area in the world) are unhappy with the modern city and transport structures, it also shows the impotence of relying on `someone else in authority' to make changes needed. Does a situation have threaten immediate personal death before action is taken to project and then make change? Rhetorical question, the answer would be yes. We'll, the end is nigh for the 20th Century urban middle-class way of life .. time to act and act in cooperation with no competition against fellow citizens - and not to conserve old ways, but to evolve them. Looking at increased traffic, a longer commute and struggling communities, Americans think smart growth measures are the way to go according to a national poll. The poll, commissioned by the Smart Growth America coalition, found that 78 percent of Americans support policies to curb sprawl, which is characterized as poorly planned development that destroys green spaces, puts a strain on a community's social services and increases traffic and taxes. In addition, the poll showed: * 54 percent of those responding think traffic has gotten worse where they live in the last three years; * 76 percent think their state needs to do more to manage growth * 56 percent strongly favor measures that would set aside green space, farming and forests outside of cities that are off limits to developers * 78 percent think existing communities should be revitalized or be given priority funding rather than encouraging new housing in the countryside. "We've definitely touched a nerve," said Don Chen, Smart Growth America's Director. "People believe that sprawl and traffic are out of control, and the vast majority want more open space, reliable public transit and neighborhood reinvestment. All the evidence shows that Americans support smarter growth, and our elected officials better start paying attention." The coalition points out that even though the public supports measures that would curb sprawl, most regions of the country do not have planning or zoning codes in place to promote better use of land. "There are many places where smart growth is virtually impossible due to antiquated land-use laws," said Jonathan Rose, a smart growth developer from New York and a board member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Enterprise Foundation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, three members of Smart Growth America. "Communities should put in place the rules that will enable the kind of development they want and that will clearly limit the type of development they don't wish to proceed." .
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