Robert Link’s frustration with the city of Vancouver’s plans for traffic calming along Southeast 34th Street (“Cars remain dominant mode,” Our Readers’ Views, Feb. 13) is understandable; change doesn’t come easy. In 1910 horses were the dominant mode of transportation in the United States. Fifty years later the automobiles’ dominance had left an indelible mark on urban planning and consigned the role of horses to that of expensive pets. The dominance of the automobile today is no more immutable than that of the horse more than 100 years ago.
As a former King County planning technician, I believe the city of Vancouver is wisely preparing for a future where privately owned automobiles have a diminished role in transportation choices. Our role is to ensure that future generations are able to meet their own transportation needs and not stifle today’s planning innovations through our own intractability.
