Alex Forbes Reply, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, November 15th, 2002

I recently read with interest the article by Brian Crowley suggesting that urban planners are out of step with society. With all due respect to Mr. Crowley, I would have to counter that he and the members of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies are out of step with the changing Canadian demographic and urban growth patterns. Mr Crowley's thesis suggests that the current fashion in urban planning is towards high density housing and increased urban transit, yet lower density living and travel by car are things that people want, because they reflect a higher standard of living and more personal freedom. In a number of cases, the people moving to higher density living are the same people who formerly lived in suburbia and are presently frustrated with traffic congestion, longer commutes, crowded schools, poor water quality, more air pollution, and the loss of the sense of community. The demographic is rapidly changing in Canada as the baby boomers and seniors give up high maintenance properties in the suburbs for small apartments or town houses in the city centre where they are closer to goods and services, entertainment, health care services, hospitals and public open spaces. Today a much more sophisticated public are seeking neighbourhoods where there is a sense of community and where they can enjoy life that is not dominated by long trips in the car.

Unregulated low density housing is one of the most costly forms of development to maintain and in many cases can only be sustained through redistributing tax money from the commercial, industrial, and institutional tax base. The Bank of America and Price Waterhouse Coopers both have reports arguing that the cost of unmanaged growth (urban sprawl) has begun to take a huge toll in the United States. Mr Crowley suggests that low density driven development is the trend as people attempt to escape most large cities. In fact the opposite is true. He suggests that New York City is losing population when in fact it has gained almost a million people since the 1990 census. According to the 2001 census, the ten largest Canadian cities contain more than half the country's population.

Mr. Crowley seems to suggest that planners in concert with city councils are somehow trying to hoodwink the public into adopting land use policies that will be to the detriment of the economy and the quality of life of its citizens. Nothing could be further from the truth. Firstly, city planners are front line civil servants who are asked to facilitate discussions with the public about various land use issues that affect their lives. Planners don't advocate policies that the public are not seeking solutions to. For Mr. Crowley to compare Canadian urban planners to soviet planners who worked under a repressive communist regime is irresponsible. City Councils on the other hand are trying to respond to equity issues when it comes to their spending. For Mr. Crowley to suggest that policies designed to promote higher density living is to the detriment of the economy is wrong.

Atlantic Planners Institute

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This document was last modified on November 21, 2002.