Talkin' Right, Leanin' Left: The 'New Consurbanism'?

"So now that the numbers are in, it’s slam-dunk thinking everywhere that reversing sprawl is the way to go, no?"

"No. And the reason is that, despite all the hand-wringing about looming shortfalls in infrastructure funding, the systems charged with interpreting and implementing policies and funneling money through federal, state and regional bureaucracies are organized to keep doing what they’ve always done until they’re jolted into emergency rethinking. And so far, the emergency — especially at the end of the funnel where people live, work and vote — is not sufficiently painful to reverse the momentum."

"Not yet. But we’re getting there. And thoughtful conservatives are likely to be valuable allies in turning things around. Still, there are some things we need to better understand."

Ben Brown listens carefully to what people on the right and left are saying, using several quotes to illustrate how we might all be able to meet in the middle.