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homes on prime farmland. It’s also making housing very expensive. In Canada, the city that has done the most planning for smart growth is Vancouver, and it has the least afiordable housing. Q: But when you talk about hous- ing prices in a city such as Vancouver; there's also geography and the economy; how high on the list does planning rank? A- Number one. Seventy per cent of the Vancouver metropolitan area has been ruled off-limits to develop- ers There’s plenty of room for growth if they allowed people to live in those areas. ‘1‘» We have much a better distribu- tion of jobs and that’s a remedy for congestion. When we draw an urban bound- ary, we’re saying we’re going to. deny people access to low cost land. I don't think government knows where peo- ple ought to live. I don’t think govem- ment knows where jobs ought to be. QzYou cite Los Angeles which is regarded as the epitome of car-centred sprawl... A That’s amazing because it’s really the epitome of smart growth. It’s the highest-density metropolitan area in either the United States or Canada It’s built billions of dollars of rail all over the place...and yet people d r i v e ing out too. If you talk to people in the suburbs you'll find they never go' to downtown Toronto, it’s too congested! Q: Are you saying government should give up on public transit or ‘ treat it like a niche A' You’re spending 75 per cent of your region's transportation budget on a form of transportation that’s only carrying 5 or 10 per cent of the people. You’ve got an anti-automobile crowd and a pro-rail crowd working together. My friend calls it “baptists and bootâ€" leggers" because in the South, you had two lobby groups against the legaliza- tion of alcohol, one for moral reasons and the other made money from ille- gally selling alcohol. ()2 RI If ifvnn umnt tn ant nannln It’s also making housing very expensive. In Canada, the city that has done the most planning for smart growth is Vancouver, and it has the least aflordable housing. QzButwheny'outalkabout hous- Has it has any effect on preserva- tion of open space? Well, their urban growth boundaries are preserving marginal pasture land, but it’s forcing people to drive 100 miles to build their homes on prime farmland. unpregsed, Most Canadians and Americans Q; Has the smart growth idea agree their preferred form of housing been mm long enough is a singleâ€"family home on a lot, where to evaluate it? ' they can have a garden or place for A- Yes. California has been doing that kids or pets to play- , . various versions since the 19703, . Qz the "10d?! we've been [Wing Hawaii since the 19603 Are more “’1va 3mm and people riding transit, riding rail bedroom communes» because of higher densities? The , {’mdate‘i? answer is, no. One per cent of travel is Its defiImSflY Omdated- The Part by mm Maybe 98 per cent is by can thats outdated is the part. ma] in the GTA and communities like Markham Centre are developing in response. But Mr. O’Toole is not impressed. The province’s Places to Grow legislation has made it the new norâ€" Simply put, smart growth means an end to sprawling, car-oriented sub- urbia In its place should rise transit- friendly communities where you can live, play and work BY DAVID FLEISCHER Staff Writer Randal O’Toole thinks smart growth is about as dumb as you can get. The Thoreau Institute economist contributed an essay slamming the planning strategy to A Breath of Fresh Air, a new book published by the Fra- ser lnstitute‘think tank It challenges a mindset which has become all the rage in York Region and across the continent. ls smart growth dumb? In many metropolitan areas, more than two-thirds of the jobs are not in any kind of centre and that’s because we have such good personal transpor- tation, namely automome So people are having to accept hous ing they don’t neally'want. RANDAL O'TOOLE: Thoreau Insti- tute's pundit not impressed by tran- sit plans. PERSPECTIVE This whole idea is insane. We call it “faith-based transportation planning" because they’re not looking at the results or what's happening in other cities. They’re just saying, “we think it’s going to work here." Q: How would you sum up your point of view? A; Basically it comes down to this: smart growth has two flaws. Firstly. it relies on government coercion of how people live. Secondly. it doesn't do the thing it promises. It doesn’t get people out of their cars or save open space or stop obesity So, not only do you have the unethical aspects of coercion. it doesn’t even work. They’re building 331er line that’s costing $2 billion a mile; there’s no way that makes sense. The only subway system that's doing really well is New York City and that’s becguse got a legacy system. Q: But if you want to get people outoftheircars,you can’tjusthave busses in mixed trafic; you need [RT and subways where people feel they're moving quickly... A- In the United States the average speed of LRT is 22 miles per hour and that’s not going to get me out of my car. Subway is a little faster. Q: Are you saying government should give up on public transit or ‘ treat it like a niche A: You’re spending 75 per cent of your region’s transportation budget on a form of transportation that’s only from downtown? A: Most of the people who work in the downtown cone live 20 minutes away from the downtown core. People who live funher out. the jobs are mov- ing out too. If you talk to people in the suburbs you'll find they never go‘ to downtown Toronto, it’s too congested! 500.000 people in 20 years? Big deal â€" Houston is growing by 130,000 peo- ple a year and there are no restrictions on development . . . and you can buy a four-bedroom, brand new house on a quarter-acre lot for $170,000. If you want to have a smart growth city, what you want to do is turn it into los Angeles and yet, as everybody agrees, it’s a city they don’t want to live in. It’s the most congested, the most polluted (by cars) city in America . Q: Here, in York Region, there’s ' high growth and they're saying we can’t keep sprawling outwards. What should they be doing? A They should be sprawling fur- ther outwards! You have the lowest density of any country in the world, practically. You have the most unoc- cupied land - why are you suddenly afraid of sprawl? That just shows us, all the things smart growth wants us to do, is not going to discourage driving; everywhere. v You can read Mr. OToole’s chapter at Yorkregion.com or visit www.fraser institute.org for more information. Qzlsthereapointofdiminishing .-w... ....-.... u... fiâ€"fiâ€"râ€" Wâ€" “3;” “WP-"U1 Iner % “MI W mummmmm' a“ Ind M- Cult-(mama WYS- 50- In, to “moon-m” :Qondnh ’ (mm-om my. my "m."%u€.“‘u%'m :mm‘u "an ' “Mum” .1“. Lam mummmmflwmvmm r nomonsf ' '34” Crisis: 1 -800-263-3247 yellowbrickmuseorg 1 800-263-2231 and supportive counselling to abused women and children. Crisis: 905.7274 944 905-727-0930 We need your help! provides secure emergency shelter, transitional housing, Yellow Brick House YELLOW BRICK HOUSE www.concunvaol but by invitation only. 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