In addition to land use that perversely incentivizes the destruction of rural lands with 5-acre lots, the financial system further incentivizes rural subdivisions gobbling up farmland at a frightening rate.

Nuture unique historic character in walkable formats and don’t build leasable space that you can’t lease. For downtown to have a critical mass, the goal is to capture 20 percent of the retail market share.

Fourteen hundred top land-use professionals, public officials, and citizens gathered in Seattle last week to discuss the future of cities.