Envisioning a New Future

I recently studied the oldest building in Mukilteo, which was built in 1904. The Smith family who lived and worked at 801 Second Street were part of an America where 8000 cars were owned in the early 1900’s. Twenty years later, there were 10 million cars in America. Every state had a highway department. America changed drastically in those twenty years.
Today, our country demands similar changes and choices for the future. We have to invest in these options, for housing choices, transportation options, efforts to create sustainable, livable communities, economic development, and a better future. At today’s National League of Cities session on Sustainable Development, Beth Osborn, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation described livable communities as places “where people at all stages of life can live close to one another.” It’s really inspiring that the US Department of Transportation understands and is working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency on these issues. Connecting housing and destinations to transportation planning is so important. Mukilteo needs to do the same wherever we can.
At another session here, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood talked about the need to not force people into communities where the car is a necessity rather than a convenience. That is such an important distinction. I have heard fears about government forcing people to get out of their cars. It’s more about investing in other transportation modes the way we have subsidized car ownership and infrastructure for nearly a century. It’s about giving people choices.