Salmo,
I think we all are in favor of planning, but planning that makes sense, not a just a liberalist view of how to force people to live. A market approach to the solution would say that when roads get bad enough, then people will move to the city. Developers would find the initiative to provide inner city living that people want. The liberal planners view is to try to force people to live in the certian areas, regardless of efficeincy or desirability or cost.

Take Tacoma, no one wanted to live in Hill top. They have great mass transit, easy access to the freeways and down town, great views, but derelict buildings and high crime. Then the city changed the zoning to allow high rise buildings, offered tax credits, and built the Tacoma branch of University of Washington. Despite a set back with the current housing crisis, there are multiple condo complexes in the area. I have freinds who love living in the area and others who have invested there. No amount of mass transit or traffic would have got them to live in the area, but the prospect of walking to work and school in a safe enviroment, to clubs, the waterfront and other things were. The biggest draw back to the area is a lack of shopping. This is partially related to the high levels of crime in the areas open for the construction of shopping centers. Some rezoning and incentives may take care of the problem, but eventually economics should rule since once the need is high enough someone will find a way to make it work.

An example of economics over planning can be seen in a housing development in our area. When prices were very high, people started moving out to a housing development in Yelm called Clearwood. Clearwood is a rural subdivision with a lake and lots of neighborhood amenities. For a family, it is a fairly nice place to live. Unfortunately, it is about 20 minutes to the nearest shopping and most owners commute 45 minutes or more to get to work. When housing appeared to be in a crunch, people were willing to sacrifice to be able to own a home. Now that prices have fallen in closer to town, the prices here have collapsed. With gas at $3.00 a gallon, an average family could easily spend an extra $15.00 a day to live here. At $450 a month, that translates to about $70,000 purchasing power in closer. Surprise, Surprise. Right now homes here sale for about $60,000 less than in town. Since noone can build that cheap, development here is almost nill,while in town it is starting to take off. Economics and desirability took care of the issue. If the county came in and starting running busses and car pools, the effect would be the opposite, as some people would then find it more affordable to live there.