What PBC Commissioner Koons doesn't mention in this message...

...is the negative impact that the predominant low density and low intensity land use pattern present in Palm Beach County has on the ultimate success of a mass transit system in the county and the region. This sprawl development pattern either makes it very expensive to serve the county's population with mass transit or doesn't make it a very practical option or both. Where it is successful (relatively speaking), like the north/south PalmTran Route 1 that goes through Lake Worth on Dixie Hwy, population densities are higher and people live closer to the actual "main line" - rather than trying to devise a way to somehow serve the Acreage, for example, with a viable mass transit option.

Here are some selected population per square mile figures from the 2000 Census that help put things in perspective:

New York City 26,403
Los Angeles 7,876
Lake Worth 6,225 (still less dense than L.A.!)
Atlanta 3,161
Palm Beach County 573

Until we understand that an urban environment is a more sustainable development pattern - where walking, biking and mass transit is possible between home and work, home and shopping, home and school, we will still choose to be seated in our single passenger, fossil fuel burning automobiles. We need to be directing what growth this county is experiencing toward the coast and along already developed transportation corridors.

Palm Beach County is attempting to re-set the development pattern along Military Trail and Congress Avenue to take advantage of these benefits. How long that will take and how successful that will be has yet to be seen. This is a long term proposition. To his credit, Commissioner Koons is a big supporter of this redevelopment effort.