Contributor
Michael Lewyn, Planetizen Contributor
Biography provided by participant
Michael Lewyn is an assistant professor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, FL, where he teaches a seminar on sprawl and the law (as well as numerous other courses). His most recent scholarly article, on legal issues relating to pedestrian-friendly street design, may be found at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1112488
May 6, 2009 11:15 PM
My answer: “None of the above” - that is, instead of focusing on either pedestrian/bike facilities or highways, the federal government's short-term priority should be increasing operating support for public transit. I begin my analysis with a simple assumption: preserving existing facilities furthers human happiness more than shiny new projects, if only because commuters rely on the status quo. It is not likely that state and local governments will tear down our highways, nor is it likely that they will bulldoze sidewalks. But given the collapse of state and local finances, it is quite possible that local governments will eliminate…
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