Final Push for World Government

Propaganda Website of the Elite-Controlled U.S. Government Says: 'Americans Seek Smart Growth, Less Dependence on Cars'

Sprawling suburbs often force people to drive everywhere; people are moving to walkable neighborhoods with public transportation; many cities are installing light rail to promote “smarter” growth.

June 2, 2010

America.gov - Something unusual is happening in the United States, a country where people love their cars and spacious suburban homes.

A growing number of Americans are rediscovering their cities and moving closer to places where they work and play. This coincides with a push to develop so-called “sustainable” neighborhoods and communities that cater to those who want public transportation, schools, parks and stores within walking distance.

Two-thirds of Americans today live in counties that make up the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, and those urban-centered regions continue to grow. That’s opening up new opportunities for policies that promote public transportation and more environmentally friendly developments.

A recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that housing construction in urban neighborhoods has doubled in 15 large metropolitan regions in the last five years, despite a prolonged downturn in the country’s real estate market. At the same time, there’s been a push to develop dense suburban communities that mix housing with commercial districts and encourage residents and workers to use public transit.

In Denver, a city of 2.5 million people in the state of Colorado, the city is building 100 miles of new rails and bus lanes that will link 32 suburbs surrounding the city. And outside Washington, a sprawling business center called Tysons Corner is being redeveloped into a city of high-rise buildings, affordable housing and energy-efficient sidewalk cafes and businesses. A new Metrorail line will tie the area together and provide the first-ever train service to Dulles International, the third-largest airport on the East Coast of the United States.

New federal initiatives, including billions of dollars earmarked for public transportation under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, are keeping the momentum going at a time when many municipalities can’t afford large capital projects.

MORE PEOPLE USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

The new urban and suburban lifestyles have helped boost public transportation and reversed a 40-year trend of declining transit ridership. While the vast majority of Americans still travel alone in their car to work — 76 percent — the share of commuters who take a bus or train has been growing in recent years, research shows (PDF, 1.6MB). As more people move within reach of urban public transportation routes, they can choose to leave the car at home — or to own no car at all.

Mike Hess, 34, who manages operations at a Washington nonprofit organization, said he and his editor wife, Anji, chose to buy a home in 2010 in a new energy-efficient neighborhood in the city because of its convenient location, green standards and nearby amenities. They can walk to three train stations and several bus routes and usually only take the car if they leave town on a weekend or need to buy lots of groceries.

“We’re very excited that our house is LEED-certified and we hope to see savings in our utility bills because of this,” Hess added, referring to the international energy-efficiency standard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. “One day we also hope to put some solar panels on the roof, using a grid-tie system, so we can produce our own electricity and rely even less on oil- and coal-produced energy.”

The term “sustainable community” grew out of a 1987 United Nations report that defined sustainable development as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Opinions differ over what such communities should look like, but the movement to design more self-contained neighborhoods that don’t require constant driving continues in the United States. It marks a gradual departure from the way millions of Americans have lived since the 1950s, when middle-class families fled the city and many services and stores moved out to shopping malls along expressways.

DENSER, SMARTER GROWTH MEANS LESS EMISSIONS

If the trend toward denser city and suburban living continues, this shift in lifestyle could directly affect emissions of greenhouse gases and other environmental pollution in the United States. Today, passenger cars and light trucks account for nearly 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which, in turn, produces 27 percent of total emissions.

More compact developments in areas with access to public transportation can reduce traffic by up to 40 percent, one often-cited 2007 study (PDF, 5MB) showed. If the American appetite for such “smart growth” neighborhoods continues, there could be a 7 percent to 10 percent drop in transportation-related emissions, the study found.

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ScottGrovesNC commented on this article at America.gov:

It sounds like the United Nations wrote this story.

I gotta give you credit though, this is the 1st story I've read on this site that actually talks about America.

Quit shredding our Constitution and forcing us into the lifestyle that you want, not what the American people want.