May 14, 2005
G U L F C O A S T G R O W T H N E W S
A publication of the Gulf Coast Institute
NOTABLE QUOTES
“We feel there is sufficient scientific evidence that global climate is affected by man-made carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. We are also believers in sustainable development, which is the simultaneous achievement of economic, social, and environmental goals.”
-Brent Dorsey, Director of Corporate Environmental Programs for Entergy, in a press release for a talk he’ll give on carbon sequestration. See “Carbon sequestration” in REGIONAL NOTES below.
" In transport and land-use planning, the needs of children and youth should receive as much priority as the needs of people of other ages and the requirements of business ."
- Richard Gilbert and Catherine O'Brien, "Child- and Youth-Friendly Land-Use and Transportation Planning Guide" http://www.cstctd.org/english/completed.htm
LIVABLE HOUSTON MEETING
An urban transit zone for Houston
Houston has six big “cities” that each have more jobs than downtown Miami or San Diego. Gulf Coast Institute President David Crossley proposes a backbone transit line to connect them all and create an urban zone that has 25 percent of all the jobs in the region in it - and sets up easy connections for suburban areas. Wednesday, May 25, noon-1:30 pm, Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons, second floor. Bring your lunch. For more information call 713-523-5757. The Gulf Coast Institute and the Houston-Galveston Area Council host Livable Houston/Smart Growth bring-your-own-lunch meetings that are open to the public on the fourth Wednesday of every month. http://www.gulfcoastinstitute.org
REGIONAL NOTES
Mobility report shows value of transit
Development patterns among solutions to congestion
Once again, public transportation had the biggest impact on reducing passenger delay in the Houston region, according to the new Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M. Transit reduced annual delay per person-hour by more than 20 million hours and provided Congestion Cost Savings of $342 million. The report suggests that one of the solutions to congestion is to “change the way that commercial, office and residential developments occur. Sustaining the urban ‘quality of life’ and gaining an increment of economic development without the typical increment of mobility decline is one way to state this goal.” The complete report is available at http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/report/
Envision Houston Region 2035
Public sessions postponed
The Houston-Galveston Area Council’s (H-GAC) regional visioning exercise for the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan has been postponed from June to September. For part of the process, H-GAC will partner with Blueprint Houston, which will hold a large City of Houston event, tentatively scheduled for September 17 at the George R. Brown convention center. A related Citizens’ Congress will be held by Blueprint Houston in December. The consultant for the H-GAC process is John Fregonese, a partner in Fregonese Calthorpe Associates. Fregonese has led regional vision projects in Austin, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Chicago, and Los Angeles. http://www.bluepr inthouston.org.
City of Houston planning committees begin sessions
Meetings are open to the public
All six of the new committees established by the City of Houston Planning Commission have now held their first meetings. The committees are intended to “consider and proposed policies that support a sound quality of life and sustainable growth for Houston.” The six committees are Long Range Planning, Urban Core, Suburban Development, Neighborhood Preservation, Development Impacts, and Parking. The committees will meet a number of times through November 30, and then will report to the commission. All meetings are open to the public, and the schedule is posted at http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/commissions/plan.htm .
Waller County opposed Trans-Texas Corridor
Commissioners unanimous
Waller County joined 19 other Texas counties in passing a resolution opposing the Trans-Texas Corridor, according to the newsletter of Corridor Watch. Waller County commissioners were unanimous in their opposition. The newsletter reports that other counties have resolutions on their agendas as well. Rural interests are increasingly reacting against the massive development plan for reasons including loss of agricultural land and diminished economic activity as a result of the Corridor, which doesn’t pass through existing metropolitan areas, but establishes a new network of highways to encourage development. http://www.corridorwatch.org/mwsubscribe/index.php?what=showarchive&nId=67
Regions ranked for entrepreneurism
Houston ranked 29th among large areas
A study recently released by the US Small Business Administration and the Edward Lowe Foundation ranked regions according to a Regional Entrepreneurship Index. The study, The Innovation-Entrepreneurship NEXUS, attempts to show that, without entrepreneurship, innovation brings little economic impact. The study looked at regions in terms of three categories – the number of new firms per 1,000 labor force participants, the percent of rapidly-growing firms, and the average annual change in the number of new firms. Other measures, such as spending on research and development, number of patents, and high tech's share of the local economy were also considered. The top 10 large areas were 1) Las Vegas 2) Salt Lake City 3) Atlanta 4) Charlotte 5) Raleigh 6) Phoenix 7) Denver 8) Boston 9) Austin, TX and 10) Portland, OR. Dallas ranked 25th and Houston 29th. Houston ranked 75 among all cities. http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=16526&rf=e
Carbon sequestration talk at Greater Houston Partnership
Entergy representative will speak on company’s voluntary efforts May 17
Brent Dorsey, Director of Corporate Environmental Programs for Entergy, will speak on the company’s corporate environmental policies, and programs related to climate change, sustainability, and regulatory policy. His presentation will highlight Entergy's work in the field of carbon sequestration, including the recent reforestation of more than 5,000 acres, and the acquisition and donation of 2,600 acres to the National Wildlife Refuge System. Dorsey says Entergy has made a voluntary commitment to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions at 2000 levels. "We did this because we feel there is sufficient scientific evidence that global climate is affected by man-made CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. We are also believers in sustainable development, which is the simultaneous achievement of economic, social and environmental goals." Presentation and lunch, May 17. 12-1:30. Greater Houston Partnership Board Room. 1200 Smith. Call Summer Smith at 713-844-3621, or email ghp@houston.org for more information.
TEXAS NOTES
Texans favor red light cameras
65 percent of voters support them
A new Texas poll released by the National Campaign To Stop Red Light Running shows 65 percent of registered voters want to allow Texas cities to use red light cameras to crack down on drivers who disregard traffic signals. Two bills currently before the Texas State Senate, and supported by the Texas ACLU, would prohibit the use of red light cameras. The random sample poll of 806 Texans was conducted over a two-day period last week by Zogby International.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050511/dcw068.html?.v=8
Eckels believes Trans-Texas Corridor will be built
Truck and car lanes will separate in East Texas
I-69 Alliance Chairman and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels believes the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) will be built within the next 10 years, according to the Longview News-Journal. TTC is expected to be 1,200 feet wide, with six high-speed railroad tracks, four truck lanes, six high-speed car lanes, and utility easements. Eckels said he foresees challenges to the project, such as environmental and toll issues. Eckels also said he doesn't believe the truck and car routes will stay together when TTC is finally built. He believes regular vehicle traffic traveling through East Texas will stay on what is now US 59, which will be renamed "Regional 69," and truck traffic will be confined to the new road.
Regional cooperation in Dallas Metroplex in doubt
Bill to create new regional mobility authority creates tension
A bill put forward by state Senator Kim Brimer, R-Arlington, has created friction between the east and west sectors of greater Dallas-Ft. Worth, according to the Dallas Morning News. The bill would allow the creation of a regional mobility authority with the power to absorb existing transit projects or agencies, including Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). But leaders of the region's east side view the bill as an attempt to shift Dallas and Collin counties' toll and transit sales-tax revenue to fund west side projects. The controversy has the potential to delay work on a major Tarrant County toll road project. In response to the bill, the judges of Dallas and Collin Counties asked NTTA officials to stop work on the Southwest Parkway toll road in Fort Worth. The project faces a May deadline for federal approval. Without that approval, the project could be forced to start over, and years of work could be lost.
NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES
PLANNING
Miami to adopt form-based zoning
Critics say “it’s too little, too late”
Under its plan “Miami 21,” Miami is moving to replace its current patchwork of zoning regulations, some dating back to the early 1900s, with a form-based code. But, according to the Miami Herald, some argue that the city’s move is “too little, too late,” and that the city’s “torrid condo-building boom” has already disfigured many neighborhoods. And the worst is still to come. 69 approved major projects, totaling 22,000 residential units, have not even begun construction. ''We have a city that's the result of people being able to build whatever they want,'' said Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the University of Miami architecture dean hired by the city to oversee Miami 21. “It was never planned, just platted and developed.'' The current code regulates building uses and density, but says little about urbanism - the art of ensuring that individual buildings blend into a cohesive, human-scaled landscape. Miami 21 is intended to change that, but the planners concede that they have to proceed carefully. Any reform that threatens development rights could lead to ''takings'' lawsuits. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11472619.htm
TRANSPORTATION
Economic impact of public transit
Mass transit leads to economic growth
The National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit, an organization which brings together the chambers of commerce of major U.S. cities, has released a report detailing the important economic contributions of public transportation. The report, titled "The Economic Importance of Public Transit," provides an overview of the role played by public transportation in keeping economies going. Specifically, the report finds that public transit helps maintain the vitality of major cities' central business districts; connects workers to jobs in suburban and rural areas; relieves traffic congestion; stimulates economic development around transit stations; reduces energy consumption, and generates jobs. http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/economic_importance.cfm
URBANISM
‘Friends’ live in high-rises
Popular television shows, parents encourage urban living
Atlanta developers are selling out their high-rise condo projects before they can build them, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Condos are truly in vogue," says Condo Store CEO David Tufts. "Not just Atlanta, but everywhere - condos are actually being sought after now." There are many reasons for this, the article says. Interest rates remain at historic lows, and 20-somethings are getting married later. But popular culture provides another, unexpected reason. "The TV shows in the '60s, '70s and '80s, from 'Family Ties' to 'Leave it to Beaver,' all promoted single-family homes in the suburbs," says a Wachovia economist. "Look at the 1990s. You had 'Friends' and 'Seinfeld,' set in hip high-rises.” Still, father and mother sometimes do know best, and they’re giving their children advice. "Baby boomers did very well with their housing investments, and they are giving [their children] the advice that you should own something," said a developer. http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/0405/26condos.html
ENVIRONMENT
Four challenges for environmentalists
Author says movement has to change with times
Steward Brand, author, activist, and creator of The Whole Earth Catalogue, predicts that the environmental movement will soon ”reverse its opinion and activism in four major areas: population growth, urbanization, genetically engineered organisms, and nuclear power.” Writing in Technology Review, Brand says that the population explosion that environmentalists have long feared has already been defused. Brand credits urbanization with the change toward “depopulation.” Describing environmentalists approvingly as “romantics,” he says they tend to favor villages over cities, but points out that birth rates went down “when women started moving to town.” He adds that the ongoing urbanization of the world’s population - 50 percent of all people live in cities today, compared to 14 percent in 1900 - is “the most massive and sudden shift of humanity in its history.” He saves his most controversial assertions for last. He says that environmentalists should learn to embrace biotechnology, and genetically-modified crops (GMCs). He points out that the Amish, “the best farmers” in the US, use GMCs. Finally, after describing the horrors that global warming threatens to unleash on the world, Brand writes that environmentalists must learn to embrace nuclear energy. He acknowledges nuclear energy’s potential problems, to which he suggests solutions. He explains, “The only technology ready to fill the gap and stop the carbon dioxide loading of the atmosphere is nuclear power.” http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/05/issue/feature_earth.asp?p=1
Green is good
Environmentalism can sustain the bottom line
“Sustainability as a key bottom-line issue for investors is poised to break through into the mainstream of consciousness in 2005,” Carstein Henningsen of Portfolio 21 is quoted as saying in Sustainable Business. “Sustainability is good for the planet and it can be good for shareholder wealth." The article describes three environmentally friendly business trends: “the rise of climate-neutral companies,” “enviro-metrics for accounting,” and the “emergence of cradle-to-landfill stewardship.” In each category, the article finds companies ranging from IBM to the East Japan Railway that are using green business practices. These include IBM’s PC recycling services, and the annual "Environmental Financial Statement" that medical products and services company Baxter publishes to document the costs and benefits of the company's environmental initiatives. In 2003, these activities saved Baxter a net $47 million. http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/features/feature_template.cfm?ID=1213
EVENTS
REGIONAL
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Hobby Center. June 13. Sponsored by the Progressive Forum. 713-315-2525 or http://www.thehobbycenter.org
Thomas Hylton, Pulitzer-Prize winner speaks on Smart Growth May 19. Sponsored by the Greater Houston Preservation Association. Noon, Magnolia Hotel, 1100 Texas Avenue. h ttp://ghpa.org/pw/
NATIONAL
Advancing Regional Equity: The Second National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth , May 23-25, Philadelphia. Sponsored by Policy Link and the Funder's Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. http://policylink.org/Summit2005/
Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) XIII June 9-12, Pasadena, CA. The participants in the 13th Congress for the New Urbanism will show that the trends of the last 50 years - placeless sprawl, environmental deterioration, increasing separation by income and race -are not our destiny. http://www.cnu.org/
Rail~Volution 11 , Salt Lake City, Sept 8-11. This year's conference will focus on the importance of partnerships across multiple fronts in shaping livable communities. http://www.railvolution.com .
Prepared by David Theis
Gulf Coast Growth News is a publication of the Gulf Coast Institute. The Gulf Coast Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Houston. To support the Institute, go to http://www.gulfcoastinstitute.org . To join the Institute's 1000 Friends of Houston, go to http://www.1000friendsofhouston.org
______________________________________
David Crossley
Gulf Coast Institute
3015 Richmond Suite 250
Houston TX 77098
713-523-5757 (tel)
713-523-3057 (fax)