///Rational or irrational?///

Sunday, February 09, 2003

Next, urban planning. Is urban sprawl bad? What is urban sprawl, anyway?

Urban sprawl is growth with low population density. Los Angeles is the classic example of urban sprawl: lots of people spread over a large area and long commute times, right? 'Planned' cities with growth controls, like Portland OR, are denser, people are less dependent on their cars and enjoy short commutes, right?

WRONG!

It turns out that L.A. is one of the denser metropolitan areas in the US (more so than Chicago or San Francisco). Compared to Portland, with its controls on growth through an Urban Growth Boundary, LA has nearly twice the density of Portland. Transit ridership percentages in both cities are comparable: both above the national average. While it is true that the average Portland commute is about 25% shorter (in time), it is rising rapidly. One could imagine that this might be attributable to the fact that Portland is a much smaller city.

How do I know these things? Thanks mostly to a USC professor, one Peter Gordon.

Gabriel 4:46 PM

Saturday, February 08, 2003

Let's start with environmentalism. Is environmental policy based on a rational decision process? Let's consider a few examples, starting with air pollution.

What is the most hazardous pollutant? Ozone? SO2? NOx?

Nope, none of the above. Particulates are the most noxious pollutant, causing the lion's share of the health effects. Yet more money is spent on all controlling those other pollutants, while many countries subsidize diesel fuel and vehicles, the source of much particluate pollution. As Richardson and Gordon (SUSTAINABLE PORTLAND? A CRITIQUE, AND THE LOS ANGELES COUNTERPOINT, 2001) point out,
"...diesel fuel subsidies in Europe that induce consumers to buy diesel rather than gasoline powered vehicles in order to reduce CO2 emissions with their claimed global warming impacts. Yet we now know that the PM associated with diesel fuel is among the most dangerous carcinogen of all (claiming 14,000 lives per year in California, according to The California Air Resources Board)."

How can it be that the most serious health problem does not get the most attention?
Gabriel 2:05 PM