In April, we wrote about how governments tend to destroy the nation’s wealth "investing" in projects that when completed are worth far less than the taxpayer money poured into them ("Rail just another ‘investment’ that won’t pay," Honolulu Advertiser, April 19). We contrasted that with private sector investments in toll roads that pay for themselves. 

Among such "worth less" projects we mentioned rail transit lines, stadiums and convention centers. We forgot to mention Transit Oriented Development (TOD), the latest "investment" to be foisted on us by tax-wasting politicians.

Sites like www.transitorienteddevelopment.org tell us, "Transit Oriented Development is the exciting new fast growing trend in creating vibrant, livable communities. Also known as Transit Oriented Design, or TOD, it is the creation of compact, walkable communities centered around high quality train systems. This makes it possible to live a higher quality life without complete dependence on a car for mobility and survival."

They talk a good story about TODs but what they are really talking about are planners’ visions for high-density apartment blocks with an average of less than one parking space per apartment, with ground-level retail stores and within walking distances of rail stations.

Now think about that for a minute. Do you really want to live in "vibrant" communities around train stations? For most people the answer is no; if you want a "vibrant" community, and a few do, you can easily move to Chinatown or Waikiki.

This is why all, repeat all, TODs on the mainland are highly subsidized, and that will be the outcome for the TODs planned here. The authorities cannot get enough people to voluntarily move into high-density apartment blocks with little parking space. And so the authorities subsidize the apartments to entice people to move in.

In Portland, for example, with the most highly touted TODs, most of which I have visited, the subsidies come mostly in the form of property tax forgiveness for developers for as long as 20 years. And since Portland’s property taxes have to fund their schools, they are three times higher than those of Honolulu. These are incredible subsidies paid for by the remaining unsubsidized homeowners.

As long as the zoning allows it there is nothing to stop developers from building this kind of housing project. It would be acceptable if developers could sell or rent these apartments without asking us taxpayers to subsidize their efforts.

But TODs are not about improving the housing stock any more than rail transit is about transportation. This is all about politicians and planners exercising what they perceive as their divine right to plan our lives — no matter what the cost.