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vpFn�an: r ree uxe c��es � c�ry, c�t�es, o�z�c�a�s - v�: tteg�ster.com s��►d�y, ��,ly z�, �OO�r Free the cit�es Yage 1 0�� 3 Here's a 5-poinfi, new urban agenda tha# embraces freedom rath�r than �op-down p�anning a�nd reguiation. �`� ~� �STEVEN GREENHUT :Sr. ec�itprial writer and coi�amnist �fr �The 4range County Register : s�reenh��ncregi�ter.cam �` ��'°"�'�Most Americans have t�� naive n�tiran that their iocal city affici�ls busy themsel�es fxing pothoies, prc��i�ing pvl��e and €ire servic�s, dealing wi�h the occasional cade rriol�ti€�n and quie�ly running �he park� and recreat�on service. Vl1e generalfy like wf�ere we live, and often fee� a certain loca� pride, so it's easy ta conclude th�t city pianr�ers, city councii members and the pofic� chief, mayor and cifiy manager are mo#ivated m�ir��y by a d�sir� to da what's best far i�e residents of our fair city. OfficiaJs do spend time dealing with the nuts�ar�d-bolts iss�es of paiholes and pvlicing, a�d most ofi the folks yo� m�et at City H�II are no daubt as public-spirited as the next person. B�� what mast ofi us forget is that tl�ose who have �h� power to run city ga�emment have their owr� prerogati�es and ideologi�s, Their priorities aren't �appenstance, but are carefuily crafted in uni�ersity public administr�tior� departrner�ts anci a� organizativns suci� as t�e �eague af Cities and the American Ptanning Associ�tion. The typical loca� government agenda has the�e goais: finding ways fio get more tax c�ollars, improving �he pay and bene�t packages of those w�a wor�C for gouernment, hiring more staff, securing additianal p�wers for t�ose who run the government, imp�ementing more rule� that dictate how citizens can live while reducing the �umber of r�ie� t�at go�ern thase wl�o run the goverr�ment. �.ocal nfficials argue �hat there is no alter�a�i�e to fiheir regimen of reguiation, #axation ar�d cnntrol. But there is another a�terna#ive. Some elements afi this N�w Agenda for Cities have been triect, mast natably in Anaheim. Ir�stead of being �entered on what's best fior the o#ficiais who run the city, and the priviieged inferest groups that live aff of gca�ernment lar��sse, it is an agenda centered on advancing the �reedorn a�d npport�anities of those who live in the city. No wonder few ciiies �a�e embraced i#. Point � in thQ n�w agenda is city° ptanning that giv�s ir�dividuals the maximum la�itude to do what they choose to with their busines�es and th�ir property, provided they conform �o some �asily understood, fairly appl�ed rules. Freedom results �n #�etter, more interesting cities. Central plar�ning r�ot only crushes the human spirit and destroys entreprene�rship, b�t it results ir� blandness. Cities lave big rede�elopment prajects that �r� plann�d in City Hal� and irn�lemented by one rJe��iop�r. Na wor�der so much of Southern Califnrn�a fook� the sam�. Where�er there's an ald strip mall, o�cials �eclare it "blight�d," t�e€� s�eik ways to rep�ace it with a Cosico or Hame Depo#-artchored shopping center. Whenever a der►eloper proposes something interesting, �iChit�:C�UI"�II]! S��Cln�, Cltj/ O�FIGI8I5 �t1(� al'CF11tG'CtLlfr�I fE;Vlt?W bO�fCIS it15i5� tilr'�t tI�@ Il�'W pl'OJ�'Ct L7I��it� itl WI�II th� olci project, which means m�re faux Mediterranean schiock a�d fewer de5�gns that push the en�elope http://�www,crcregister.cornlocre�ister/opinion/colurnns/article_1781120.php 7/30/2007