Congestion

Chuck Marohn, writing for the Strong Towns blog, has some great thoughts on congestion:

And please understand what I’m saying: We can actually spend lots less, have a government that is smaller and more effective and see a ton of local investment – stuff that will make a city wealthier and more prosperous over the long run – while providing small business opportunities and a growing, stable and diverse workforce. This is a vision for a New America, one much more closely tied to the best of our heritage than the current consumption-centric, faux incarnation of the American Dream.

To make this happen, we need to realize that congestion is the answer, not the problem. People who want to shop at big box stores can live next to them. That is a choice in the markeplace that I can accept. People that want to live in neighborhoods will also have choices, options that do not exist for them today because we subsidize their competition at every opportunity.

As Chuck points out, it’s amazing how far the automobile subsidy extends when you really look at it. So much of the system - so much of our way of life - is dependent on subsidizing suburbia. Would big box retailers really be able to compete if the transportation networks they rely upon for both customers and distribution were not subsidized?