Note, for the record that the Mall for South Capitol was never reported in any of the media accounts of the Extending the Legacy program; all of the accounts are careful to only describe the future SCS as a “gateway” or “boulevard”, but never as a “mall”, “promenade” or “linear park.” Likewise with the newsletters I received from the various “environmentalist” and land planning related organizations.

Asides from the greater diversity possible via blogs, “design studios” open the public are a means of increasing public conscious nous of the planning.

1. Likely a planning commission would only cover OP and DDOT planning, yet all the other government agencies do planning too. Shouldn’t a planning commission have oversight over all such efforts.

2. The comp plan currently does not require the coordination of transportation and land use planning. Just as OP is the “staff office” for the ZC and BZA, so too should DDOT have an equivalent role.

3. Although this would require that land use and transportation planning be coordinated.

4. The city doesn’t have a capital improvements/facilities plan to begin with.

5. The city doesn’t have a philosophy that intends to maximize the community and economic benefit of public facilities.

6. The kind of people likely to be appointed to a Planning Commission aren’t likely to be much different than the kind of people appointed to BZA and ZC, in other words, they aren’t likely to be too challenging of the Growth Machine.

7. I argue that the point of planning and zoning should be to maintain, strengthen, and extend the qualities of livability. Until that is the actual foundation of the planning and zoning functions, it might not really matter. Because most decisions are not measured against that metric, and design, except in Shipstead-Luce areas and historic districts, isn’t even considered. Etc.