For someone whose estimations of the future of humankind fluctuate wildly from forlorn and despairing to proud and hopeful, there is a lot that I like about the direction the science and business of development is taking.

Sure, there is a bit of disagreement at the moment on sites in Issaquah and Sammamish on the specifics of how best to encourage protection of sensitive areas, how much density you need to make sure builders use low impact techniques, and what the market will bear in terms of providing affordable housing.

But these are conversations that were not being had in development company boardrooms and city halls just decades ago — the considerations of low income families, watersheds, the intrinsic, spiritual value in green spaces. In fact, in many cities in America they are still not regarded today, and the manifestation of this is clearly seen, as we pass by.

It is always a moment of great optimism to see the brightest and the best engineers and designers, the big suits, the money makers, holding forth about cutting edge ways to reduce water wastage in industry, the research in, and real potential of, solar, and the new technology of reducing light pollution in cities. In the meetings I have attended in these two cities over the past year, these moments are, thankfully, regular.

But my optimism was rattled last week at a meeting of the Sammamish Planning Commission. The commission has, of late, been focused on making sure the basic infrastructure for the proposed Town Center is provided for — that the roads will be in the right places, that there are parks in this spot and over here, that people can walk around easily.

So it was good to hear one commissioner say “if there’s going to be people living and working up here, there needs to be transit.” As he spoke I flipped through my copy of the Town Center plan and was surprised to note that, despite all the talk in the region, and the hard work of transit advocates like Don Gerend and Kathy Huckabay, there is very little in the plan stipulating the need for a significant transit hub.

“Major flaw by omission” was what one commissioner said. I would say that’s almost an understatement. It was a great discussion which followed, with another commissioner pointing to the desolate Issaquah Park and Ride as an example of what happens when we don’t properly integrate our transit points with commercial and residential destinations.

Already, on the Plateau, we have a flawed system where commuters have to get in their cars and drive to get to a bus stop in the first place. This reliance of single occupant car trips around the city is not a system we should be promoting, and with the Town Center still on the drawing board we have an opportunity to plan for a better way of living.

But I was amazed to hear a number of commissioners suggest that it’s too soon to be talking about a transit hub in the Town Center, that we should wait until the people are there and Sound Transit has the buses ready. What, and then bring the machinery back in, dig up the news roads, pull down the new buildings, and rebuild the place? It was a short-sightedness that diminished my faith in the wisdom of our planners.

A few days later, speaking with Mayor Gerend about the matter, I was surprised to hear that he too had little interest in putting a transit hub on the “must have” list for the city, preferring instead to leave it to the whim of developers.

He did say that transit was important for the town center, and had some great ideas about van pool pick up points utilizing online technology. The problem is the Town Center plan at the moment does very little to insist upon anything like this.

I was also disappointed to hear Gerend say that perhaps if there is a high proportion of low income families in the Town Center, people who can’t afford a car, then the city would look at trying to expand transit. This idea that transit is for poor people is a tired idea and one of the biggest obstacles to a better system, and I hope not shared by anyone else shaping my future.

We should remember, it was only a few years ago that there was barely any bus service to the Plateau at all, and now expanded morning and afternoon commuter services are standing room only. Why? Because the appetite for transit is growing exponentially, helped along by ever-increasing congestion problems that, unless we kid ourselves with some alternate vision of reality, we know aren’t going to improve. Car traffic on the Plateau is a huge issue, and going to only get bigger with growth.

I would hope that our commissioners and councilors are planning to build a Town Center that will be functional for more than the next 10 years, because if they are it needs to include a transit center. Surely it is better to have it underutilized for five years, like the empty office space in City Hall, than be stuck with a ridiculous problem in 10 that will make the city not only the laughing stock of its peers but also not a very good place to live.

Thinking we should worry about transit only when it becomes a problem is an idea not worthy of a more optimistic future.