CCP 08-20-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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This new configuration would require substantial new investments in transportation -- both freeways and transit. But the result, according to an estimate by the respected planning firm Calthorpe Associates, would run as much as $10 billion cheaper over 20 years than the current pattern. Taxpayer savings come mainly in roads, schools, sewer pipe and other utilities. Private savings are also substantial, especially if good transit allows families to reduce their automobile fleets. Owning and operating a car costs the average metro driver about $8,500 a year, not including the $1,050 in time and excess fuel wasted in congestion that transit riders could choose to avoid. . Blueprint 2030 is a remarkable document that deserves support from legislators, mayors, business and civic leaders and ordinary citizens, not because they trust the heavy hand of planners but because they respeet a changing marketplace. Good planning anticipates the market, and the best evidence suggests that the metropolitan freeway has nearly exhausted its capacity as a commuting mode and that supplemental options, including transit, must be employed. Transportation has always dictated development patterns. Recognizing that the far-flung, auto-only lifestyle can no longer sustain its 50- year dominance lies at the heart of Blueprint 2030. Its point is not to impose this new market reality, but to allow local governments the flexibility to respond, in part by readjusting their incentives (subsidies) to anticipate market desires. These conclusions reflect not just the views of planners but of hundreds of ordinary citizens who have participated in exhaustive workshops, Web discussions and hearings over the past 21 months. More hearings lie ahead, with final adoption possible by December. This is not an abstract discussion. Ordinary people who care enough to plan for their own retirement and for the children's education should care about the quality oftheir communities in the years . ahead. They can sit back and accept whatever comes along, or they can demand for themselves and their children a better place. @ Copyright 2002 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. .