Given where people chose to live (ever since Imperial Rome they have moved from the centers of cities to the fringes seeking peace and quiet) sprawl is a preferred way of life for most people, particularly families; and smart growth isn’t necessarily that at all, causing in many cases the opposite of what it claims.
That being said, I agree with the editorial, people should identify themselves when making public statements.
An excerpt.
Editorial: Sprawl's secret agent
Mailer is a dumb attack on smarter growth
Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, July 5, 2006
As the city of Sacramento revises its strategy for growth, somebody is trying to influence the outcome with a fancy, expensive (and inaccurate) mailer. The mystery activist is upset that the city is studying modest steps to grow "up" (by making more efficient use of existing communities), rather than "out" (in an ever-spreading case of urban sprawl).
The mailer is more of a curiosity than a pendulum-swinging event in city politics. But it is noteworthy, because it indicates there are some well-financed enemies of an emerging regional strategy to focus more growth closer to transit and jobs.
A story in Monday's Bee by Mary Lynne Vellinga detailed the mystery mailer that was sent to residents throughout Sacramento. "STOP THE SQUEEZE" was its headline. Its photo illustration is a woman in a fetal position, knees up to her cheek, with a shocked look on her face.
The text reads (in part): "Currently, the city's 'preferred regional scenario' packs new development into existing neighborhoods, even those that are already densely populated -- which will crowd schools, increase traffic, erode quality of life and create new dangers for children walking to and from school. You can protect your neighborhood and 'stop the squeeze' by attending one of the city's public hearings and expressing your opinion on the proposed General Plan."
The mailer's official author is the "Safe and Clean Schools Coalition." Its Capitol Mall address is the office of the political law firm Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk. The firm referred questions to a lawyer in Auburn, Nina Salarno Ashford, who used to head the office of victims services for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. She wouldn't identify the source of her coalition's money. And she probably doesn't ever have to; state disclosure requirements don't necessarily pertain to these kind of coalitions that put out "educational" mailers, even when they smell downright political. Ashford said the coalition truly worries about school overcrowding in Sacramento from the strategy of growing up rather than out.
