Mix Land Uses
It’s interesting that a century ago, before government “planning” laws dictated land uses, free people exercising their own desires created small towns and cities with mixed land uses. People lived above and next to stores on Main Street. It was only after government-dictated policies forced a segregation of land uses into permitted zones that this sensible concept began to fade away. Planners began dictating “residential only here and commercial only there.” Fortunately, planners and even environmentalists are now coming to realize that the land use pattern which was created historically by free choice was actually more efficient. But rather than promoting the reduction of zoning requirements and restrictions, allowing the free marketplace to determine the economic viability of any such mixes, Smart Growthers now promote a system whereby the government would dictate such a mix.
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