Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Barack Obama

Obama: The Days of “Building Sprawl Forever” Are Over

obama_fl.jpgObama in Ft. Myers

This is encouraging. On the stump in Fort Myers, Florida to campaign for the stimulus bill, President Obama took a detour from his well-worn "roads and bridges" infrastructure spiel to deliver some brief remarks on transit and land use. Obama's answer came in response to a city council member who said she wanted funding for commuter rail in the recovery package. C-Span has the video (check the 55 minute mark) and Transportation for America has the transcript:

It's imagining new transportation systems. I'd like tosee high speed rail where it can be constructed. I would like for us toinvest in mass transit because potentially that's energy efficient. AndI think people are a lot more open now to thinking regionally…

The days where we're just building sprawl forever, those days areover. I think that Republicans, Democrats, everybody… recognizes that’snot a smart way to design communities. So we should be using this moneyto help spur this sort of innovative thinking when it comes totransportation.

That will make a big difference.

Before you get too carried away, though, head over to Salon for a recap of Obama's pitch yesterday in Elkhart, Indiana, which included this sop to highway enthusiasts:

He promised his plan would create or save 80,000 jobs in Indiana, and that infrastructure funding would improve "roads like US 31 here in Indiana that Hoosiers count on ... and I know that a new overpass downtown would make a big difference for businesses and families right here in Elkhart."

The US 31 expansion is what you might call a sprawl project. Obama's transportation platform may still amount to a Rorschach blot, but his comments in Fort Myers can't be retracted. With the stimulus bill about to enter conference committee, having POTUS on the record opposing sprawl should bolster efforts to maximize transit funding and limit the use of highway funds to expand road capacity. Time to keep the pressure on.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Here’s A Bus Rapid Transit Plan For New York … If the City Cares

It sure beats the current method of guessing or simply basing the route on how strongly a given neighborhood opposes or supports it.

August 1, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Water Here, Water There Edition

Blame Father Time, not Mother Nature for Thursday's subway meltdown. Plus more news.

August 1, 2025

Komanoff: Data Show Time Loss from 15 MPH E-Bike Speed Cap is No Big Deal

A 15-mile-per-hour speed limit for motorized two-wheel devices — which e-bikes are — is eminently reasonable. And it doesn't cost much time at all, our columnist found.

August 1, 2025

Cities Matter More Than Ever After Trump Officially Denies Climate Change

We're entering a new era of federal climate denial, and it's time to use a different set of tools (like congestion pricing) to fight back.

July 31, 2025

SEE IT! Small Japanese Pickup Truck Shows Bigger is Definitely Not Better

One Brooklyn business has seen the future of safe streets and heavy lugging — and it's going to be O-KEI!

July 31, 2025

Opinion: Jessica Tisch Must Get Creative About Traffic Enforcement

NYPD speed enforcement needs a revamp — fortunately the city’s own data point the way.

July 31, 2025
See all posts