Lizard Brains on Planning
(WorldNews Business)

by Evan Manvel, DLCD As a fresh-faced twentysomething in Corvallis, I watched a smart plan to create a safer, more vibrant, and more walkable space get destroyed at a public hearing. The benefits seemed clear. But the plan would have realigned a street, making the area more walkable. Business owners were uncertain; drivers were worried. And the collective nervousness caused the city council to skip the plan. It`s a familiar scenario to planners - months or years of work are thrown out, because people are afraid of the unknown, or simply don`t understand what plans propose. It doesn`t have to be this way. In planning, like most professions, we talk too much among ourselves. We create acronyms...