While I agree that a regional planning authority needs more teeth, its a hard battle in Michigan because we are a home rule state. This means local governments only coordinate when it is in thier own self interest to do so. Otherwise they play screw thier neighbor to get the newest Walmart or McDonalds because they are concenred about growing thier tax base, not the region as a whole.
I don't agree that transportation is the magic bullet. Transportation improvements lag behind development here. Sprawl is not caused by widening roads, putting in bus lines, or building new freeways. It is caused by poor land use decisions at the local level. Where transportation comes into play is that we all have to pay for the bad actions of others and each dollar spent to widen a congested road takes money away from maintaining the current system. When those roads need major work, you now have to fix a 5 lane road instead of a 2 lane road. Which costs more?
Fix the local land use polies and you will fix transportation. I am reminded of my trips to see my sister who lives in very suburban Orange County, California. This county has strict land use guidelines and lots of open space. Subdivisions are interconnected with neighborhood businesses, buses run on all major streets, Big Boxes are forced to build the minimum amount of parking and cannot be placed at the back of the lot behind a sea of parking, Most stores are pulled up tight to the street and well landscaped. You never see development like that occur here because thats just not how the average person thinks.
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