Maybe John McCain can somehow pull out one more win for small town America. But the odds look increasing long. More importantly, no future Republican nominee is likely to try another full-on, rural-based run at the White House. Or to repeat this autumn's theme of rural places as "real" and "pro American," using coded language to imply that big metropolitan areas are illegitimate and anti American. We are a metro nation and we do have a common stake in the success of all places -- from largest cities to the smallest hamlets.

Back in August, Citiwire's Neal Peirce noted that the convergence of city and suburban interests is already creating a more favorable environment for regional transit initiatives. It will be fascinating to see, following today's election, how this transition shapes federal policy too.

Photo of the flag flying in Inwood: Brad Aaron

Image via Caroline McCarthy

Before VP candidate Sarah Palin crystallized her views on the future of US energy policy in her "drill or do nothing" speech to the Republican National Convention, we only had a vague idea of her record on transportation and development, gleaned mostly from her time as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla.

As news of Palin's past continues to surface, here's Slate with a Wasilla video postcard. Says reporter and narrator Alex Sheshunoff:

You read that Palin was the mayor of a small town, and you think of central squares and tree-lined sidewalks and neighbors who give pies to one another. Wasilla isn't that kind of place.

Video link. Thanks to Doc Barnett for the tip.

If there was any question as to where a John McCain-Sarah Palin White House would stand on transportation, the prospective VP's speech to the Republican National Convention left little room for doubt. Here's Palin from last night, via Grist:

"Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines and build more nuclear plants and create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources."

Grist notes that Palin, um, fudged a little in her refutation of Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere." Despite her claim that as governor she turned down federal funds for the bridge, Palin once supported the much-maligned project, and Alaska is using the earmarks intended for it to build a road to the proposed bridge site.

Though Palin scored millions in hated "pork" for bus and rail projects, her tenure as mayor of Wasilla apparently did not bring about much in the way of livable streets improvements.

Writes Charles Wohlforth in The New Republic:

I had written a Frommer's travel guidebook about Alaska (I live in Anchorage and was on the Municipal Assembly here at the time). In the book, I frankly described Wasilla as a place to skip, "the worst kind of suburban sprawl of highway-fronting shopping malls and gravel lots."

Wasilla boosters were furious and a local media debate erupted. A good many people came in on my side: Wasilla, with a complete lack of community planning, is truly Alaska's least attractive town.

Streetsblogger Doc Barnett concurs:

Frommer's description of Wasilla is accurate. Its residents (including some of my family) live there to get away from all the big-city problems of multicultural Anchorage. No, seriously. And then they try to figure out how to shorten driving times around the gigantic natural feature (Cook Inlet) they have decided to put between themselves and their jobs (if any).

In a collection of local news headlines tracking Palin's career, Politico lists a story citing her support for a Wasilla bill to outlaw non-motorized vehicles -- "skateboards, in-line skates, bicycles, scooters" -- on public or private property where signage prohibited their use, under penalty of fines and/or confiscation.

Photo from Wasilla, AK via Mudflats

The Washington Post reports that during Palin's two terms as mayor of Wasilla, when it had a population of 6,700, the town enjoyed a number of transportation-related funding successes, including:

• $1.9 million for the Wasilla Intermodal Transit Project, to realign rail and bus routes to increase use of public transit in the region.
• $15 million for a rail project to connect Wasilla with Girdwood, the home town of Sen. Ted Stevens (R).
• $600,000 to upgrade bus stations.

The story contrasts Palin's skill at lining up earmarks -- with the aid of a lobbyist law firm now tainted by federal corruption charges -- against McCain's professed distaste for "pork barrel" spending. The Post says Palin once supported the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," a $223 million structure that was to replace ferry service between the town of Ketchikan and Gravina Island, but that she later "reversed course."

Despite her accomplishments for public transit in Wasilla, Grist says Palin has "developed an anti-environmental reputation" since she was elected governor of Alaska less than two years ago. Palin has proposed eliminating the state's gas tax, and in June told a national TV audience that McCain was "wrong" to oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

"I think he's going to evolve into eventually supporting ANWR opening ... I'd like the opportunity to change his mind about ANWR."

Here is Grist's summary of Palin's environmental record.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons