Planners Book Club — September 2007

This Land

This Land was the September 2007 selection of APA's Planners Book Club.

The smart-growth movement has "run into the buzz saw of American politics and culture," according to journalist Anthony Flint. In This Land, Flint argues that the war on sprawl is one of the most ambitious public-policy battles ever waged. The particularly local nature of conversations about development patterns makes it particularly difficult to solve this national dilemma. Flint connects the dots, showing that sprawl — like global warming — requires a complex, interlinked national (or international) effort. And he shows why the property-rights movement, people he calls the "Rush Limbaughs of land use," are so effective at stymieing the planning movement.

Here are some questions to get your discussion of This Land started:

Do Americans want more compact development or are they happy with sprawl?

What influences the housing choices people in your community make? As a planner, what role do you have in creating those choices?

Flint quotes founding fathers James Madison ("Government is instituted no less for the protection of property than of the persons of individuals.") and Benjamin Franklin ("Private property is a creature of society...subject to the calls of that society whenever its necessities require it, even down to the last farthing."). Which do you think more accurately reflects current land-use law?

Why did the Kelo Supreme Court ruling elicit such a vitriolic response?

How likely is it that the Supreme Court will, in the near future, issue a ruling that nullifies important planning tools such as eminent domain?

What is the underlying argument of the property-rights movement?

How can smart-growth advocates best counter the tactics of the property-rights movement?

Hear Anthony Flint discussing This Land in a Tuesdays at APA podcast.

More about This Land.