POINT OF VIEW. THE FUTURE DOESN'T WORK

Most communities are trying to overcome the 1980s traffic crisis in ways that actually perpetuate it. Projects being planned and developed in fast-growing areas build in automobile dependency, which leads to congested arteries, which results in cries to reduce densities of development, which in turn creates greater dependency on automobiles. The problem seems to be that no one has a decent model for what constitutes a higher-density center in a suburban context. Planners and others concerned with community development have not developed a vision of what these centers should be and, beyond that, how they might be created over time. Left to the push and pull of the marketplace, it seems that most suburban centers develop incrementally and never manage to become cohesive. A vision (or visions) is needed, if only to allow more reasonable discourse about the future of the suburbs. Without such a vision land development will continue to be dominated by automobile dependency. Ultimately, the lesson should be learned that the only traffic solution is a land use solution.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This article is reprinted with permission from Urban Land, June, 1987, published by the Urban Land Institute.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Porter, D R
• Publication Date: 1987-11

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 14-15
• Serial:
  • TR News
  • Issue Number: 133
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0738-6826
  • Serial URL: https://doi.org/10.17226/895

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile travel; Development; Land use planning; Real estate development; Suburbs; Traffic congestion
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00465525
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 29 1988 12:00AM