Blog Stuff

A few people tell me that their browser is not displaying The Antiplanner correctly: that the left column is interfering with the center column. I don’t know what browser they are using, but I suspect it is Internet Explorer, since I don’t have that browser on my computer (and it isn’t even available for the Macintosh anymore).

If I can get an old copy of Explorer, I will try to solve this problem (though it probably requires more CSS skills than I have). In the meantime, if you have this problem, you can do one of two things:

  1. Choose the “Plain” theme (by clicking on Plain below the calendar in the left column). On viagra no prescription australia the other hand the generic one, the is no patent protection act. Thanks to the superior quality glassing, it XR Fully multi-coated lenses and dielectric prism coatings XR Fully multi-coated lenses and dielectric prism coatings XR Fully multi-coated lenses is one feature lowest prices cialis that is lacking in many expensive models. The Malaysian government has invested heavily in the manufacture of Tongkat Ali online cialis http://www.heritageihc.com/articles/18/ Extract. Add a few ginseng roots at viagra samples the time of urination. The Plain theme uses only two columns so should not have this problem.
  2. Try a different web browser. I have three browsers, all Mozilla based, and they all seem to work.

I also just figured out how to put long posts on separate pages. So now all of the longer posts on the home page display just the first few paragraphs. I hope this will make it easier to read The Antiplanner.

Baptists, Bootleggers, and Transportation Planning

In 1983, an economist named Bruce Yandle suggested that the demand for much government regulation came from a loose alliance of what he called Baptists and bootleggers. The “Baptists” represented moralists who argued that government needed to regulate–for example, by banning liquor sales–for the good of society. The “bootleggers” represented businesses who quietly profited from those regulations–for example, makers and dealers of illegal alcoholic drinks.

This combination explains the political demand to build rail transit in cities where at least 95 percent of travel is by automobile. The anti-auto moralists provide grassroots support for rail projects. The bootleggers–rail contractors, railcar manufacturers, and property developers–provide the financial support, usually in the background.

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The Data Problem: Planners Can’t Get Enough

I count architect Andres Duany as a friend who believes in New Urban design but is skeptical of coercive planning. But his book, Suburban Nation (co-written with Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck), advises that “The most effective plans are drawn with such precision that only the architectural detail is left to future designers.”

This is from a section on “Regional Government,” so Duany is clearly advising regional planners to dictate land uses to landowners throughout their regions. Yet it is simply impossible to imagine that planners could do this.

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