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“Smart Growth” and the American Dream

Without a doubt the biggest losers of “Smart Growth” vision for the future will be people who a looking to fulfill their piece of the American Dream. That includes anyone who wants to buy a home, but especially hurts the minorities and the future generations. Land restrictions of any kind can increase the value of land; however the market forces caused by urban growth boundaries are staggering. Portland, Oregon is the most visible proof of that, and much has been written about Portland. Summarizing the housing situation in Portland goes like this – In 1990 Portland had the highest housing affordability rate in the nation, by 2002 it had sunk to the bottom of the list. During this same time period other cities of Portland’s size, and with the same growth rate, had increases in their affordability rates, as did the nation as a whole. But there’s more to this story than just the affordability of housing, there’s the quality of housing, and of life.

As Americans became more prosperous in the 50’s and 60’s they started to spread out more. With the advent of relatively cheap automobiles people decided that they didn’t have to live in the inner city, and headed for the suburbs. The vast majority of people enjoy larger yards, lower housing costs, and other advantages of living away from the city. The “Smart Growth” movement seeks to reverse this trend in many ways, and with many methods. As Richard Rosan, president of the Urban Land Institute, said when talking about Smart Growth laws, “success hinges on changing the public mind-set that has been programmed to equate the American Dream with large houses on large lots.” This is the biggest assault on the American Dream, and the American people. You see the “Smart Growth” advocates realize that they can’t outlaw single family homes, which they would do if they could. Therefore, they start with small homes on tiny lots, and duplexes with no yards at all. Next they will convince us that a nice condominium is now the American Dream, then an apartment, and eventually the American Dream is just finding a place to live. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see a Traditional Designed Neighborhood, or TND, you owe it to yourself to find one and drive through it. Better yet, walk through it, after all it’s suppose to be a walkable community. As you walk by the houses so close the residents could almost pass items through windows from one house to the next, you realize that this is just the next step on the “Smart Growth” path to Sardine City.

The Sierra Club’s so-called efficient density of 100 households per acre is scary. At that density, the population of the United States could fit in the Los Angeles urbanized area. The entire population of the world would fit into the state of Virginia. When “smart Growth” advocates say its about choice in housing, ask them why the “Smart Growth” principles, found on the Dane County web site state, “The most effective way to implement New Urbanism [Smart Growth] is to plan for it, and write it into zoning and development codes. This directs all future development into this form.”

Land-use Regulation Makes Housing less Affordable, Harvard Study Finds By Randal O’Toole

American Dream Boundaries: Urban Containment & its Consequences By Wendell Cox

Housing Affordability Declines Precipitously in Portland

Portland Becomes Less Affordable than Los Angeles

The Crusade Against Urban Sprawl Assaulting the American Dream

Anti-Sprawl Efforts Take Aim at Dream of Home Ownership By Wendell Cox, Ronald Utt, and Howard Husock

Smart Growth: More Congestion, Air Pollution & Less Home Ownership by Wendell Cox

Growing Smart: Planners Would Confiscate Homes Not Consistent with Their Plans

Portland's Ballooning Urban Growth Boundary: A Chartbook

Neo-Traditional Neighborhood Development Reviews

Much more information about housing from Demographia

APA's Growing Smart Home Forfeiture Agenda Heritage Foundation