<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for New report debunks libertarian attack on Portland city planning]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Payton Chung http://www.grist.org/article/portland-cool-after-all/ Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:33:04 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/portland-cool-after-all/1 Inconsistent libertarians

Libertarianism as an ideology is typically so rigidly consistent that it's really fun to make fun of these guys when they are inconsistent. O'Toole has thrown his lot in with the Cato crowd, but he fundamentally does not believe in free markets (or free minds) -- he writes a lot in his paper about how planners were always overruling the neighbors and giving developers higher density. (Indeed, I saw a poll today that reported that 80% of developers in inner suburbs wish they could build denser than zoning allows them to.)

Well, duh, aren't developers supposed to be the good guys under libertarian theology? The developer's the valiant agent of the Invisible Hand, after all...

]]> Inconsistent libertarians

Libertarianism as an ideology is typically so rigidly consistent that it's really fun to make fun of these guys when they are inconsistent. O'Toole has thrown his lot in with the Cato crowd, but he fundamentally does not believe in free markets (or free minds) -- he writes a lot in his paper about how planners were always overruling the neighbors and giving developers higher density. (Indeed, I saw a poll today that reported that 80% of developers in inner suburbs wish they could build denser than zoning allows them to.)

Well, duh, aren't developers supposed to be the good guys under libertarian theology? The developer's the valiant agent of the Invisible Hand, after all...

]]> Comment #2 by Ryan Langsdorf http://www.grist.org/article/portland-cool-after-all/ Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:52:19 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/portland-cool-after-all/2 PDX still cool as a cucumber, in fact

One of the major strengths of Portland's sustainably-minded brand of urban planning that Cato also seemed to ignore is how the city's systems and structures have helped allow for Portland to be the number one bike-commuter city in the U.S.  

The 2005 U.S. census found that 3.5 percent of Portlanders commuted by bike, followed by Minneapolis with 2.4 percent, and Seattle, at 2.3 percent.  And this, while the national average for a city of it's size was a bleak 0.4 percent.  

O'Toole is way off target.  Portland is clearly on to something.  

Ryan Langsdorf

]]> PDX still cool as a cucumber, in fact

One of the major strengths of Portland's sustainably-minded brand of urban planning that Cato also seemed to ignore is how the city's systems and structures have helped allow for Portland to be the number one bike-commuter city in the U.S.  

The 2005 U.S. census found that 3.5 percent of Portlanders commuted by bike, followed by Minneapolis with 2.4 percent, and Seattle, at 2.3 percent.  And this, while the national average for a city of it's size was a bleak 0.4 percent.  

O'Toole is way off target.  Portland is clearly on to something.  

Ryan Langsdorf

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