President Bush - redesign the built environment!

The President has called on Americans to conserve gasoline by driving less. Unfortunately, the single-use zoning plan used in the United States since the end of World War II requires the use of automobiles any time an activity changes. Switching from residence to work? Get in the car. Switching from work to shopping? Get in the car. Switching from residence to leisure activity? Get in the car. The most ridiculous example of the latter is that the county is building Tweed's Park adjacent to our residential pod (Stenning Woods). The only way for my kids to safely get to the park will be for me to drive them there.

The correct solution to the "Americans drive too much" problem is to acknowledge that the zoning ordinances used in the US are obsolete, and to throw them away and start over. The idea of using public transportation, as Mr. Bush proposes, is specious, since efficient public transportation infrastructures require population densities that are disallowed by many, if not most, zoning ordinances. Essentially, city and county planning agencies have made efficient public transportation illegal.

So how can we fix it? Revitalize the idea of community. Not the community advertised by developers building tract housing, either. True community, with mixed-use structures, income-integrated housing, gridded street design, and planned layouts, which include ample public spaces, safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and a design that discourages overuse of automobiles. The solution is not to make roads wider, curves longer, and speeds higher (like they're doing with Route 41 in Hockessin) - the solution is to do the opposite. Control traffic speeds with design, not signs.

So Mr. Bush, asking Americans to drive less is not the solution, even in the short term. Our cities don't allow us to drive less.