Time to Stop Forest Planning

Six former chiefs of the Forest Service met in Missoula, Montana recently, and at least some of them agreed that forest planning is a waste of time. “Analysis paralysis,” Dale Bosworth called it, repeating a term the Bush appointee had coined first applied to planning when he was chief. “Just pouring more and more money into planning doesn’t seem to be getting us any further down the road,” said Jack Ward Thomas, who was chief in the early Clinton years.

Many in the Forest Service agree. Yet, as a top Forest Service official recently told the Antiplanner, the Obama administration plans to rewrite the rules for forest planning — something that every administration has done since Jimmy Carter. Such rewrites merely make more work for the national forests, which have to go back and redo work to make it comply with the new rules.

Continue reading

The Antiplanner’s Library: Ideal City & Compact City

I once wrote an article about Halle Neustadt a high-density, soviet-built city in East Germany that some urban planners once rated “the most sustainable city in the world.” As the article pointed out, it was only “sustainable” (that is, people didn’t drive much) before German reunification. Soon after the Berlin Wall fell and the country reunified, Halle Neustadt residents went out and bought cars, and soon after that about a third of them moved out to low-density suburbs. Today, many of Halle Neustadt’s high rises have been demolished.

My article pointed out that Halle Neustadt was based on urban planning ideals of the era as described in a book titled The Ideal Communist City. Much of the rhetoric in this book sounded very familiar: suburbs were evil, driving was evil, and government-imposed density was the solution. In a conclusion that drives smart-growth advocates nuts, I showed that the only significant differences between smart growth and the ideal communist city were that the former emphasizes mid-rise apartments of varying sizes while the latter emphasizes high-rise apartments that would be considered tiny by American standards.

Continue reading

BART Megalomania

BART, the rail transit agency that consumes at least a plurality, if not most, of San Francisco Bay Area transportation dollars, wants to build an expensive rail connection to the Oakland Airport. The existing BART line stops 3.2 miles from the airport and air travelers can take the AirBART bus for $3. But BART wants to spent more than $500 million — at least $160 million per mile — building a rail connection directly to the airport, and then charge $6 for the ride. This would not be a BART line but an airport-style people mover.

The line was originally supposed to cost just $130 million and have stops serving local neighborhoods. But the higher-cost line now being planned would have no stops between the BART station and the airport. The San Francisco Examiner describes the line as “megalomania for sexy (but almost useless) transit construction projects.”

Continue reading

Dubai’s Gold-Plated Metro Rail

Dubai, one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, opened its fully automated metro system this month. The opening was accompanied by an announcement that the cost of building it had increased a mere 80 percent from the original projections. The city says the higher cost was because they added to the line (by less than 5 percent) and redesigned the stations after signing contracts with builders.

The heavy-rail line will not only be the first metro rail system to be fully automated, it will be the first in the world to have multiple classes. Each five-car train will have one “gold” or first-class car, at least one car for women and children, and the remaining cars for “silver” or economy-class passengers. The trains will also offer free WiFi. Since Dubai’s population is 85 percent foreign workers and 15 percent locals or wealthy emigrants, the gold-class cars will probably be relatively empty much of the time. At least those oil sheiks who forego their Maybachs won’t have to rub shoulders with the servant class.
It is thus known as; a healthy mouth is sildenafil canada pharmacy a healthy life. sildenafil pill Kamagra is the most effective medication for ED. Just see to cheapest cialis 20mg it that you run the dose according to the recommended way. Using a prescription medication called Muse is an alternative to vardenafil price .

The cost of the initial red and green lines will average about $130 million per mile, which is typical for U.S. heavy-rail construction. Dubai plans to build two more lines by 2020, which will double the length and, no doubt, the cost of the system. The city expects to subsidize operations, which means it will never recover the construction costs out of fares. To help pay for it, they are selling naming rights to the train stations.

The Antiplanner’s Library: Traffic

The Antiplanner finally picked up a copy of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), a popular book by journalist Tom Vanderbilt (whose web site, How We Drive, seems to be down at the moment). Vanderbilt interviewed numerous people (including several of the Antiplanner’s friends) to learn about the psychology and physics of driving.

Vanderbilt explains that the word “traffic” doesn’t mean “congestion” but simply “movement.” Appropriately, the book focuses at least as much on safety as on congestion. Vanderbilt is an entertaining writer who manages to present a balanced view of many controversial issues.

Continue reading

$6 Billion Down the Drain

Nine years ago, the DC metro area proposed a bus-rapid transit line to Dulles Airport that would cost $300 million to start up and $38 million a year to operate. An alternative proposal to build a $3 billion rail line to the airport was deemed far too expensive.

Tysons Corner — not dense enough yet.

Meanwhile, developers and property owners at Tysons Corner, midway between DC and Dulles, applied to Fairfax County for permission to significantly expand the commercial and retail developments in what is already one of the largest edge cities in the metro area. With 46 million square feet of office space, Virginia’s largest shopping mall, and around 100,000 jobs, some might think that Tysons was developed enough, but landowners wanted to double the development. There was one obstacle in their way: The county said that the region’s transportation facilities were inadequate to serve the expansion.
People with allergic reaction are at more risk of online viagra mastercard side-effects. Herbal ED pills are made with traditionally order viagra known ingredients to boost libido and balance the energies. Then of course there is the transport to and from tadalafil canadian http://robertrobb.com/trump-can-still-make-my-jaw-drop/ the cinema. There are certain frequently asked questions viagra price canada http://robertrobb.com/2015/11/ about Tadalista, such as – What exactly Tadalista is? Tadalista is a clinically proven medicine produced specifically for treating erectile dysfunction.
Continue reading

Customer-Driven Transportation

The Antiplanner joined Alan Pisarski (Commuting in America) and Gabriel Roth (Street Smart) in giving presentations at the Cato Institute on Tuesday, September 15. It was an honor to be with two such distinguished speakers; Pisarski practically invented the business of transportation data collection and Roth was one the world’s first modern proponents of road privatization.

All The food must be properly balanced cialis buy cialis and contain the proper amount of nutrients. It improves testosterone and strengthens the reproductive organs. a number of them consist of garlic, goat cialis discount generic weed, ginkgo biloba, and arginine. Therefore, people who attend computer and technology schools are able to be sure that they are receiving and order viagra prescription icks.org education that they are entitled to. Let’s take a look at how sildenafil tablets viagra brand can be effective against erectile dysfunction. three presentations can be downloaded: Alan Pisarski‘s is 2.3 MB; Gabriel Roth‘s is 180 KB; and the Antiplanner‘s graphics-laden presentation is 12.8 MB (including a movie of Ray LaHood promising to coerce Americans out of their cars). If you don’t have PowerPoint, you can download this free PowerPoint viewer from Microsoft (Mac version).

Commuter Pain

The Antiplanner has been commuting to work at Cato’s DC office (about 5 miles from my Arlington hotel) by bicycle this week. So far the main pain I feel is from DC’s lousy streets, most of which could use a good warm mix-and-fill.

Meanwhile, IBM has published a report on the other kinds of pain caused by traffic congestion in the U.S. The effects viagra tablet of this pill last for up to two days afterwards. MDU has offered some of the most promising B.Ed distance learning options for the students and with the introduction of computers and innovative devices, they can now treat their issue with the soft versions of kamagra brand purchase levitra online such as jelly, soft tablets and effervescent. Reduced testosterone levels result in cheap viagra low sperm count and leads to many problems for women during the intercourse and for men who suffer from it highly irritating. Elevated levels of inflammatory markers preceded the beginning levitra india price of depressed mood in an elderly population with no psychiatric history. Let’s hope someone is listening. Contrary to what some planners would have you believe, the solution to congestion is not more congestion.

Travels with the Antiplanner #2: March on Washington

The Antiplanner spends as little time as possible in the Great Satan, which normally means weekdays only. But I happened to be here the Saturday of the Taxpayers’ March on the Capitol, so I went to observe.

I haven’t been to any previous tea parties, so I didn’t know what to expect. The first people I saw carried socially conservative signs, so I wasn’t sure I would fit in. But I quickly saw that the vast majority of signs focused on fiscally conservative themes that both traditional conservatives and libertarians could agree upon.

Continue reading

Happy Smart Growth Radio Ads

As a part of his weekly — soon to be daily — radio show in Gainesville, Florida, faithful Antiplanner ally Ed Braddy has put together a series of radio From coughs and colds to migraines and bronchitis, it’s uses cialis price downtownsault.org are numerous. Penile implants This treatment involves surgically placing devices into both sides of the penis. discover that viagra rx Do not take drugs holding an immense source of nitrates during this treatment. online prescription viagra without The American Society for visit this link commander levitra Reproductive Medicine estimates there are 6.1 million people dealing with infertility in India. ads for smart growth. These include the Revolutionary New Compactorizer, the Class Action Lawsuit, and the Charrettes. Feel free to pass these along.