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As we look back over the ideas presented in this space over
the past year, the following observations come
into sharp focus:
-
No one challenged the facts presented.
A few whined about the implications
for their pet project or theory. The “you are right, but it cannot
be done” responses to our columns were
summarized in “Yes,
But...,” April
26, 2004
.
Many of you are caught up in the end-of-the-year challenges
and do not want to read long, gnarly columns
like the last one (“From
Myth to Law,”
November
29, 2004
.
So how about re-reading less complex
columns from the past year that have special
importance as we come to the end of 2004? The following scans key topics from the
past year and selected columns that may provide
the best chance to support Fundamental Change.
Science-Based
Facts
We ended 2003 by reissuing the “Five
Critical Realities,” December
15, 2003.
No one came forward during 2004 to challenge any
of these realities having to do with:
No one challenged these realities or the data upon which
the documentation of these realities is based.
We reinforced the job location reality
with new data collected by The Washington
Post in “Where
the Jobs Are,” May 24, 2004, and no one
took exception to the updated results.
In spite of this, the regional media, several university
research centers and independent think tanks
continue to address human settlement pattern
related topics as if exactly the opposite of
these realities were the case.
This is not just a National Capital
Subregion or a
Virginia issue.
The New
York Times carried stories by John
Tierney (“The Autonomists' Manifesto,” September
26, 2004) and David Brooks (“Take a Ride to Exurbia,”
November
9, 2004)
that purport to be
“independent” assessments
of human settlement pattern related concerns
that are wildly inaccurate, misleading and
deceptive.
Since propaganda is still being spread at will, we suggest
a rereading of “Five
Critical Realities,” December 15, 2003.
The
Upcoming Election
It appears that the 2005 election in Virginia will be hotly
contested in both the primary and general
elections. Primary
races are shaping up in the statewide offices
for Governor, Governor-in-Waiting and Party
Attorney. In addition, all 100 members of the
House of Delegates will be on the ballot.
Millions of dollars are being raised to
protect those who did the lobbyists’ bidding
in the last two years and to smear those who
dared to oppose lobbyists’ interests over the
same time frame.
In “An Open Letter,”
March 29, 2004, we assessed the result of the
2004 legislative session and suggested that
several key individuals get together and outline
a broad, proactive agenda to meet the stated
desires of the vast majority of the
Commonwealth’s citizens rather than the
Business-As-Usual special interest groups.
So far as we know, there were some phone calls but no
progress on an agenda to achieve Fundamental
Change. There
is, however, still time to act.
Some candidates have read “Looking
for Mr. Goodgrowth,” September 7, 2004,
and say they will run on a platform of
Fundamental Change.
Those addressed in “An Open Letter”
and others who claim they care about the future
need to find out who those folks are and start
to do something beyond whining about “the
system” in private while in public issuing
assurances to their members and supporters that
they are “working hard to further last
year’s successes.
Please send your check to....”
Hope springs eternal here at SYNERGY/Planning.
From the conversations we have had, there
appears to be the potential for movement in a
positive direction.
But then we thought following our
conversations with candidate Warner prior to the
2001 elections that he understood the hazards of
Business As Usual.
We would have sworn he understood more
about settlement patterns and mobility than his
actions over the last three years have
demonstrated.
Fellow optimists and candidates aspiring to make a
difference will find “An
Open Letter” and “Looking
for Mr. Goodgrowth” useful holiday
reading.
In crafting their strategies, candidates need to keep in
mind the two conundrums of past politics in
Virginia:
-
To raise the money needed to run, candidates must make
promises, and if these promises were public,
they would alienate 95 percent if the
eligible voters.
-
To get a party nomination, candidates must make promises,
and if these promises were public, they
would alienate 70 percent of the eligible
voters (the 30 percent in the other party
and the 40 percent that are beholden to
neither party).
In crafting strategies for Fundamental Change, citizens
must be sure all candidates promises are a
matter of public record and all winners are held
accountable for their actions during their terms
of office.
Myths
and Facts
Our last column was titled “From
Myth to Law,” November 19, 2004. You may
have missed most of it because the newsletter
had a bad link that was noted in a follow-up
e-mail from Jim Bacon.
(Should you encounter that problem again,
you can reach the column by clicking on the
"Home" button in the newsletter's
navigation bar to reach the Web version of the
newsletter and connect with the column.)
The most important thing about the last
issue of Bacons Rebellion was that there
were a total of six columns that addressed in
one way or another the issue of
transport/settlement pattern balance.
These columns were by writers from across
the political spectrum.
That is a very good holiday gift,
especially for those who have been tilling this
field for over four decades.
The
Year Ahead
There has been interest expressed in the Natural Laws of
Human Settlement Pattern raised by the “From
Myth to Law” column. Next year we will
examine the Five Natural Laws that are
articulated in The Shape of the Future.
As had been the case in the past, many of the 2004 columns
addressed transport.
That is because “transportation is the
canary in the minefield of dysfunctional human
settlement patterns.”
Next year we also plan to address
education, specifically the size and location of
schools which has been and continues to be a
driver of dysfunction in society.
The role of roadway expansion in creating dysfunctional
human settlement patterns is clear.
There is, however, a related fallacy in
thinking that the extension of commuter rail
without ironclad commitments to create
functional station-area settlement
patterns will improve mobility.
We will address this fuzzy thinking in a
future column. We
will also look at the linkage between
sustainability, prosperity, consumption and
advertising as it applies to human settlement
patterns. We
will also try to get a handle on the new
geography that has been established by the new
U.S. Census Bureau definitions.
Perhaps it will help to clarify the
geographical illiteracy portrayed in “Where
is Northern Virginia,” August 11, 2003.
Finally, we will explore the role of “Property
Dynamics” which Professor Joseph Freeman will
introduce in a guest column in the works for
early next year.
Our next year’s agenda includes wrapping up The Shape of
Warrenton-Fauquier's Future with its eye-popping
data, and, if a sponsor comes forward,
completion of the revision of Handbook
with new data, graphics and tools to make it
applicable to communities in every New Urban
Region in the United States.
Have a great holiday.
-- December 13, 2004
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