Good article in Cascadia Weekly

Written by a friend of mine named Bo as a guest column in March 4 2009 Cascadia Weekly.

Cap and Trade, people don't cause sprawl cars do.

For instance there is one part of the article where it says, "Europe is so densely populated they had to implement good planning to survive, but the quality of life in Europe is very good." "Planning for people, not cars, makes for a richer life, not poorer."

He talks about nice apartment buildings in Germany where rent is affordable if tenants agree to not own a car. Money is saved not having to provide for parking.

Article says, here in Whatcom County, planners assume the need for 6 parking spaces per car. That's parking at home, parking at the grocery store, parking at work, parking at the theater, the bank, you guessed it. I assume.

He suggests a cap and trade system where growth in the number of cars in this area could be capped by permit to own a car. Folks wanting to relocate here could go without a car, or buy one of the permits from a local resident willing to give up their car.

I'd sell my permit to a new comer. I've never driven a car. I guess they would issue permits to current residents as of a certain date.

This would really help control sprawl, but it wouldn't necessarily need to limit the number of people moving here. People could live without cars. It could be very European.

He suggests a similar cap and trade system is working now for the number of commercial fishing boats allowed to operate in the area.

I like it when he says a self selection process would kick in. "People who love cars more than they love clean air and water would prefer to live in other areas."