The Best-laid Plans : How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future

Drawing on 30 years of experience reviewing hundreds of government plans, Randal O'Toole shows that, thanks to government planners, American cities are choked with congestion, major American housing markets have become unaf-fordable, and the cost of government infrastructure is spiraling out of control. The book makes the case for repeal of federal planning laws and closure of gov-ernment planning offices. Every American who worries about the insidious growth of the Nanny State must read this book Introduction -- Forest Planning -- The Case Of The Fake Forests -- Garbage In, Gospel Out -- A Process Of Natural Selection -- Analysis Paralysis -- The Return Of Fire Dominance -- Why Planning Fails -- Radical Doctrine Or Rational Decisionmaking? -- Human Barriers -- Planning Is Not Necessary -- Land-use Planning -- Urban Renewal -- Turning Portland Into L.a. -- How Smart Is Smart Growth? -- Smart Growth As Oppression -- Homeownership -- Housing Affordability -- Housing Bubbles -- It's Supply, Not Demand -- Portland Housing -- Smart Growth And Crime -- Portland Planning Implodes -- Why Planners Fail -- The Planning Profession -- The History Of Planning -- The Ideal Communist City -- Urban Renewal In The United States -- From Radiant City To Smart Growth -- Typical Planning Methods -- Transportation Planning -- Planning Vs. Chaos -- The Benefits Of The Automobile -- Costs Exaggerated -- The Panic Over Peak Oil -- Planning For Congestion -- Building Auto-hostile Streets -- The Rail Transit Hoax -- Transportation Myths -- Why Government Fails -- Power And Rationality -- Legislators: Seeking Reelection -- Special Interests: Looking For Handouts -- Bureaucrats: Maximizing Budgets -- The Executive: Distracted By Detail -- Courts And Voters: The Last Lines Of Defense -- Instead Of Planning -- 246 Varieties Of Cheese -- Make The Market Work -- Turn Open-access Resources Into Property -- Protect Public Goods With Trusts -- Understand Government's Limits -- Reforming Public Land Management -- Reforming Transportation -- Reforming Land Use -- The American Dream. Randal O'toole. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Reveals how government attempts to do long-range, comprehensive planning inevitably do more harm than good by choking American cities with congestion, making housing markets more unaffordable, and sending the cost of government infrastructure skyrocketing.