Planning Public Delusion In Lehigh Valley

The Morning Call recently shared an opinion piece by the director of the regional planning commission. Understand that we who write blogs such as this, don't suffer bureaucrat speak very well. This particular editorial contained every gimmick in their book.  Needless to say, she conducted the routine survey getting input from all sectors of the community.

The piece's premise was balancing the urban growth with our picture perfect surrounding countryside.  Such successful bureaucrats never let the back room nitty gritty dealing get in the way of their narrative.  While the paper shows a picture of the new construction in downtown Allentown,  the article overlooks the fact that all the buildings are owned by one man, and that we're paying for them.  When she writes about the countryside,  she likewise omits the reality that almost all the farmland is owned or leased by one man, who grows feed corn. In the myth, they're all little private farms, growing the food on our table. When she writes about the need for trails and light rail,  she ignores the reality that the new trails are being made from the former rail right of ways.

Her real job isn't to convey the hard truth to the public, that's my job.  Her job is to delude the public that their future well being is being planned for by concerned leadership, rather than by some nitty gritty backroom opportunists.