Dr. Jonathan Richmond

(May 20, 2012) Dr. Jonathan Richmond, author of the 400 page Dissertation, and book, entitled – “The Mythical Conception of Rail Transit in Los Angeles.”

Some free PDF’s of his works are available on these MIT web sites –

http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/professional/professional.html

http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/professional/professional.html.save

Current resume’ –

http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/professional/resume.pdf

A 30 page version of his “myth” article is available free, at this link –

http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/professional/myth.pdf

He has also written, this book, and I cannot find a copy on the web –

NEW RAIL TRANSIT INVESTMENTS – A REVIEW – Taubman Center for State and Local Government, 79 John F Kennedy Street – Cambridge, MA 02138-5801 USA

The solution, of course, is for PhD Civil Engineers, PhD Geographers, and MLA Landscape Architects to run our cities, and never urban planners, since planners lack the spatial, statistical, economic, and engineering aptitudes required to make cost effective planning choices.

It is my experience that individuals who major in urban planning generally lack the spatial aptitudes required for geography and landscape architecture, and/or the economic and mathematical aptitudes required for engineering and architecture.  Geographers and Landscape architects offer us tremendous spatial aptitudes, and Civil engineers offer us tremendous engineering and economic aptitudes.

When only urban planners are in control, then we are missing the spatial and aesthetic perspectives offered by landscape architects, along with the engineering and economic aspects from engineers and geographers !

In fact, since both Liberals and Conservatives oppose both light rail and smart growth, then clearly this is not a  Left vs. Right issue !