We need a lot more new cities

A relative was just complaining about how bad traffic is these days. I can't disagree, but I have a proposed solution: new cities.

Given the rapid deployment of broadband network access and the increasing friendliness of businesses to flexible work arrangements, it is much more feasible than in past years to build a moderate-sized "city" that is somewhat remote from existing urban and suburban "sprawl" areas, so that people can have enough room to live and breathe and work without having the need for massive highway systems for transporting goods and people long distances to concentrated areas.

I don't expect any new cities to be built any time soon, but newer energy technologies and difficulties with fossil fuels may provide the needed impetus to move in this direction within the next decade.

Maybe enterprising Indian nations will see new cities as a logical extension of their casino and resort efforts.

My preference would be to authorize states to start building new cities with funds from the sale of bonds that are independently guaranteed by the Federal government. It should also be possible for private entities to also petition for those bond guarantees, provided that sufficient oversight can be maintained.

A key component of new cities is that we establish an infrastructure for corporate satellite work centers that make it easy for companies to hire workers and organize teams that are more dispersed than is common today.

At the core of this conception of "new cities" is the idea that the average worker must be able to travel from home to work in less than 10 minutes without the need for traffic-intensive transportation.

-- Jack Krupansky