Sprawl is good

People are at war with town planners everywhere. The high priests opposed to sprawl and the apostles of high-density have joined hands with the bossy busybodies of politics to force people to live in ways they don't want to, all in the name of 'sustainability' and knowing what's best for you -- and because voters let them.

The same battle that's been engaged in Auckland (that I talk about here) is also going on across America. Here's a link to Andy Clarkson responding to his city being ranked 'worst' in a study comparing sprawling cities.

In response to "Charlotte ranked worst in sprawl" (Nov. 10):

Actually Charlotte's ranking is "a compliment."

It's a compliment that the prosperity we have created enables us to afford larger homes and lots than those who live in other cities. It's a compliment that Charlotte isn't a hovel-packed inner city. It's a compliment that people can be proud of their yards and homes. It's a compliment that people can afford privacy, the most important aspect of sprawl.

Ayn Rand said of privacy: "Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."

The sprawl study idealizes compactness so we can preserve pristine rural dirt -- at the expense of privacy and thus civilization.

Read Andy's single version here, or the extended dance mix here.