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["Thomas Beckett" <thomas AT tbeckett.com>]

> Hasn't anyone noticed that sprawl was a direct result of the
> zoning ordinances and top-down control?  I hear people blaming the
> developers and calling them money-grabbers.  While that may be somewhat
> true, don't forget it was the local politicians who restricted the kinds
> of  development that could take place to begin with.

I have to disagree with you there.  The sprawl we see in the Triangle
occurs precisely because of the absence of any regional land-use
planning and free rein given to developers.  The developers just find
the cheapest land they can and put in as many houses per acre as they
can get away with.  Only recently have local governments become
concerned with the effects of such developments on existing
infrastructure and the accompanying costs to the community.  The burden
of improving roads, building schools and such generally falls upon the
taxpayers, not the developer.

[snipping a number of other inflammatory and ill-informed comments
that i'll just have to let go for now]

> As far as "light rail" the other anointed savior of all things utopian,
> one  need only watch the old Simpson's "Monorail" episode to see what a
> crock  that idea is.  Very few light rail systems ever turn a profit,
> they are a  perpetual drag on nearly every community that commandeered
> all that private  property in order to install them.

Tell me, exactly how much of a profit did the recently-expanded I-40
provide to the state?  At least with public transportation the users
are offsetting part of the cost in proportion to the extent they use it.
Don't bother mentioning the gasoline tax.  That only covers a fraction
of the cost we taxpayers bear to lay down ever more concrete and asphalt
across the state.

I do have to agree that Meadowmont is an elitist imitation of New
Urbanism.  That development doesn't even pretend to provide housing
affordable to any but the wealthy.  I am glad, however, that the Town
of Chapel Hill delayed that project for years until the developers
agreed to bear part of the expense of the transportation, road and
infrastructure costs, and give land for the school.  I shudder to
think of what it would look like without those minimal concessions.
The development will expand the population of Chapel Hill by nearly
one third.  That is why land use regulation and oversight is an
important function of local government.

TaB