Jane Jacobs quote/DC Comprehensive Plan

Sue Hemberger wrote a great piece, "Hold out for a plan that works," about why the Comprehensive Plan draft is not ready for prime time in the previous issue of themail.

Cheryl Cort wrote a response, "We Need the New Comprehensive Plan Now," in the current issue.

I am in the Sue Hemberger camp! And I wrote a response which should appear Wednesday. taking a cue from Borat, my response is entitled "We Need the New Comprehensive Plan Now -- Not!"

I didn't include this quote from Jane Jacobs, but I may go back and add it:

"It may be that we have become so feckless as a people that we no longer care how things do work but only what kind of quick, easy outer impression they give. If so, there is little hope for our cities or probably for much else in our society. But I do not think this is so."

One thing particularly scary is that the deans of the pro-developer land use bar, Holland and Knight, have submitted 200 pages of suggested amendments to the Comp Plan. How will there be any time for substantive citizen response to that? How many other minions of developers have submitted similar sheafs of changes, changes that are not likely to push forward the social value of land regulation, but the pecuniary interest of particular property owners?

200 pages! (At least they get paid for it. People like Sue Hemberger, Ann Hargrove, and others do not.)

Index Keywords: urban-design-placemaking