This article by Christopher B. Leinberger (link...) in the March issue of The Atlantic magazine presents a different view of development patterns in the not-to-distant future, compared to conventional wisdom and present planning practices. Our attempts to plan for the future sometimes seem to be the practical equivalent of driving our cars by masking the windshields and looking in the rearview mirrors for guidance. It's essential to understand where you've been, but it's no guarrantee that such an understanding will serve you well enough in determining what's ahead. Whether Mr. Leinberger has zeroed in on the absolute truth in this piece isn't the main question. What we should be asking ourselves is, has he made a good enough case to warrant serious discussion and careful consideration of the key concerns that are raised? We need to know if much of what we've been building over the last half century is destined to decline or even decay. We've got to look at it in a serious and thoughtful way, and with an appropriate level of commitment. There's too much at stake to handle it in any other manner. We have access to too much good information, and too many good tools, to claim that "we just didn't know" when the next couple of generations ask us why we made so many bad decisions.