July 11, 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 QUOTE
"Arizonans like their state and they appreciate the beauty. They don't want to lose it, but they also expect to have the conveniences of 21st Century America, so the smart growth issue is a balance between development and nature."
- Republican pollster Frank Luntz.  http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4796&state=3

"As times get tough from energy crunches and globalized competition, sustainable smart-growth cities will become economic hot spots."
- Albuquerque Tribune columnist V.B. Price. http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4803&state=32

LIVABLE HOUSTON INITIATIVE
Westchase Long Range Plan to be discussed
June 22 event will hear about urban proposals
Representatives of the Westchase District will show the draft community-wide vision plan for the District. The plan comes from an elaborate, on-going process that has involved stakeholders, public agencies, and nonprofit community organizations, and imagines a walkable, mixed-use urban area. The meeting is Wednesday, July 27, 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
I-45 expansion study  to be unveiled
The “preferred alternative” will be shown at H-GAC meeting
The draft preferred alternative to expand Interstate 45 north to 12 lanes will be shown Wednesday, July 13, at the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC). The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will show the “preferred alternative for the expansion to H-GAC’s Technical Advisory Council (TAC). The plan will then be shown to the Transportation Policy Council on July 22. The current plan is for the Policy Council to approve the alternative a month later. The meetings are open to the public. Controversy has already begun because of a memorandum from H-GAC telling members of the TAC that the existing draft plan is only for TAC members and should  “not to be reproduced for any other purpose.” Anger about that is rising among neighborhood groups that participated in the study, and the Galveston Houston Association for Smog Prevention has realized a copy of the plan at its website. The Wednesday meeting will be at 9:30 at H-GAC headquarters, 3555 Timmons, second floor. The agenda and a link to the executive summary of the TxDOT study are available at http://h-gac.com/HGAC/Departments/Transportation/Committees/TAC/July+05_TAC+Agenda.htm. The entire document is available at http://ghasp.org/publications/northcorridor/NorthCorridorStudy.html.

Fregonese kicks off Envision Houston Region initiative
Consultant says land use plan can produce “big changes”
John Fregonese, the consultant hired to lead the upcoming Envision Houston Region events, told a Blueprint Houston reception for him recently that modeling in Dallas showed that “big changes in Dallas region vehicle miles traveled would come just from the city having an efficient land use plan.” In his talk about the need to develop a vision and set of values for future growth, Fregonese said “values are stable and enduring, widely shared, and there is usually great consensus among diverse groups.” Fregonese added that the exercise will “help the public and today’s decision makers understand the consequences of their choices by developing and analyzing high-level, long-term, alternative scenarios or visions.” Spearheaded by the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) in partnership with Blueprint Houston, Envision Houston Region is a new initiative designed to create a regional vision for future growth in the area. In a press release, H-GAC’s Transportation Policy Council Chairman and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said “We are embarking on new and exciting territory.  Envision Houston Region will introduce our region to innovative approaches in solving transportation problems, addressing future growth, and engaging our community in productive discussions about our future. As a result, we will have a better guide to ensure that our community grows in a positive way.” Fregonese’s presentation (16 megabytes) is available at http://www.blueprinthouston.org.

Rep Culberson reports on Metro, transportation issues
Says he did not specifically approve new mass transit plan
In a statement to his District 7 constituents, US Representative John Culberson said “Houston Metro is a small but important part of our transportation equation. Therefore, I have made reasonable and appropriate requests this year to help the Houston area receive our fair share of transit funding.” He adds, “The requests I have submitted on behalf of Metro are entirely independent of and have nothing to do with the revisions they have just announced.... I have not endorsed this revised plan and I did not help design it, but I agree that Metro and Mayor White had good reason to make adjustments to the original plan.” Culberson says he is “pleased with Mayor White's focus on giving taxpayers the best value for our dollars” and for “providing all of us with honest, accurate and transparent information…and a realistic assessment of the fierce competition Metro faces from other transit systems around the country in a time of record budget deficits.” http://www.culberson.house.gov/news.aspx?A=164

Litke retires, Gafrick moves up
Houston planning director to step down at the end of August
Robert Litke, the City of Houston’s Director of Planning, announced his retirement effective the end of August, just after his 10th anniversary as Director. He will be succeeded by Deputy Director Marlene Gafrick. Gafrick was instrumental in the recent reorganization of the department, according to a press release from Houston Mayor Bill White. In his statement to Planning Department staff, Litke said, “We have traveled a long road together and I am comfortable in my belief that we have accomplished a lot, but there is still much to do.” He also said, “I intend to make sure that the initiatives we have been working on and the direction that we should be heading are understood fully by everyone.” Litke, who will move back to New Jersey, told the staff that he has only one regret: in all his time in Houston, he has remained incapable of saying “y’all.”

Metro plan fact sheet available
Includes recent changes to plan
A fact sheet about the Metro transit plan is available at the Citizens Transportation Coaliton web site. The updated information describes each segment of the light rail/bus rapid transit expansion lines. The sheet was prepared by Christof Spieler.
http://ctchouston.org/information/factsheets/railexpansion/railexpansion2.shtml

Airport expansion proposed near Katy Prairie
Business airport would be close to schools, birds
Air Rice airport promoters hope to expand from a private airfield to a business airport, despite being near the Katy Prairie, home to the largest flock of wintering migratory birds in the US, according to a report by the Citizen’s Environmental Coalition. Residents and environmentalists are protesting the plan, saying the expansion would jeopardize wildlife and devalue property. Other concerns include noise pollution, increased flooding, and potentially hazardous flying conditions due to bird populations. In a previous study, made when plans for the proposed Westside Airport were being evaluated, the City of Houston found as many as 3,000 geese per hour in an area within 5 miles of the current designated construction site. The US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that there would have been about 50 potentially hazardous bird/airplane collisions per month if the Westside Airport had been approved. Construction is planned in an area about three miles from Katy High School and Katy Elementary School. The CEC report is no longer available, but more information can be found at http://www.stopkatyairport.com.

Houston ranks second in household transportation spending
Region is first in percentage of family expenses
Houston has moved up to second on the list of transportation costs per household, regaining that spot from Dallas-Fort Worth and behind only Anchorage. But it is first in transportation costs as a percentage of all household expenses. “Driven to Spend,” the new report from The Surface Transportation Policy Project and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, examines the effect of transportation costs on family budgets. The study ranks 28 metropolitan areas on their combined transportation and housing costs. The study found that in 2003, before the recent spike in gas prices, the average US family spent 19.1 percent of their income on transportation, double what families spent in the 1960s. It also found that housing and transportation are the two biggest expenses American families face, and that transportation took more out of the typical family budget than health care and food combined. The study also found that “households in regions that have invested in public transportation reap [financial] benefits,” and that “lower income families are particularly burdened by rising transportation costs.” Of the 28 metropolitan areas studied, Houston families spent the highest percentage of their incomes on transportation—20.9 percent. If Houston families spent at the national average, the region would have saved $1.2 billion in 2003. The other top 10 spending cities were Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Anchorage, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Miami. http://www.transact.org/library/reports_pdfs/driven_to_spend/Driven_to_Spend_Report.pdf

Cisneros to speak at ‘Urban Marketplace’
Urban Land Institute Houston to host event
Urban Land Institute Houston’s Urban Marketplace Houston 2005 will feature Henry Cisneros, Chairman and CEO of American City Vista and former HUD Secretary, as the keynoter speaker during its luncheon. Roundtable and panel discussions on a variety of topics related to doing deals in the urban core will follow. There will also be an exhibitors’ area where both for-profit and non-profit development service providers, communities, and local governments can market their incentives and services to developers and financiers. Hilton-Americas Houston, August 23, noon–6:30 pm. http://www.uli-houston.org.

TEXAS NOTES
SA leaders worried toll road plans announced without their input
Local officials “on the sidelines”
State officials, who recently agreed to pursue a private bid to build and operate toll roads in Bexar County, did so without consulting with leaders from San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Bill Thornton, chairman of the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, said he wasn't notified that the toll road was on the agenda of the Texas Transportation Commission meeting. In April, the Spanish company Cintra and its San Antonio partner Zachry American Infrastructure offered to take over the first 47 miles of toll roads in San Antonio.  Private money would fund the $1.3 billion construction. In return, the companies would collect toll fees of 15 cents or more a mile for up to 50 years, money that San Antonio officials had hoped to reinvest in other toll projects. San Antonio and state officials are now drafting an agreement on how to collaborate in making future local toll road decisions.  San Antonio leaders want to make the final decisions. "Our interest is in local control," Thornton said. But Richard Monroe, general counsel to TX-DOT, said the state can't turn over its legal responsibilities to a local entity. "That's turning the state constitution on its head.” http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA070105.1B.toll_roads.2492f76b.html

NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES
URBANISM
Rethinking public space
Streets the new focus
“If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places," writes Fred Kent in PPS.org. He argues that “more traffic and road capacity are not the inevitable result of growth,” and points to a number of cities across the world and the country that are taking steps to reclaim the street as “public space.” “For years we've seen this philosophy gain traction in leading cities around the world. Barcelona has built boulevards and the Ramblas that give pedestrians priority over the auto. Paris has developed a neighborhood traffic-calming program to rival that of any city anywhere. London charges congestion fees for vehicles entering the city center, successfully reducing traffic levels and funding an aggressive program to improve transit. Bogotá now boasts a world-class bus rapid transit system and has established a mandate to eliminate private auto use during the morning rush hour by 2015.” He finds similar, if fledgling, programs in the US. Downtowns are being revitalized and made walkable; small towns are learning to preserve their sense of space, and states such as New Jersey are “kicking the habit of sprawl-inducing land use.” http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/june2005/index

New Urbanism CEO says gentrification gets a bad rap
Notes urban redevelopment also brings benefits to poor
Writing about the negative image associated with “gentrification,” John Norquist, CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, argues that urban redevelopment also brings underappreciated benefits to the poor. Norquist says “Protests by ‘armchair liberals’ present the existing residents of urban neighborhoods a very distorted picture of the costs and benefits of potential redevelopment.” He points out the downsides to “white flight” and urban neglect: “A deteriorating real estate market, …declining housing quality, [and the] decline and abandonment of the jobs base, tax base, and retail and service structure.” Norquist adds, “The only measurable advantage from sprawl for those left behind in the city is low rent.” While acknowledging that rents will rise when neighborhoods are redeveloped, Norquist points out a wide range of benefits the poor enjoy from that same process. He points to a study that shows “many people valued other benefits more than low rents, such as lower crime and restored amenities like shopping or better access to jobs,” and improved transit service. He concludes, “If allowed to decide for themselves, low-income people might choose to divert some of their scarce income to paying higher rents and thus take advantage of the benefits of living in improving neighborhoods.”  http://www.planetizen.com/oped/item.php?id=150

The greening of the ‘city beautiful’
Cities redevelop by embracing sustainability
100 years ago, the “City Beautiful” movement transformed America’s ideas of urban design, according to an article in Yes Magazine. Now, the article says, the sustainability movement is likewise reshaping the cities of today. City Beautiful planners tried “to lift America’s newly industrialized cities out of their congestion and squalor by infusing them with Beaux Arts architecture and civic planning borrowed from Europe.” Today, the “urban sustainability movement is inspiring architects and city planners to shape new visions of city life, whether it’s remaking old downtowns and industrial wastelands, incorporating green space, or channeling new growth smartly.” The article looks at Vancouver as a model of sustainable growth. “It was good planning that enabled the city to capitalize on its virtues—and views—with massive downtown redevelopment projects that created a lively mix of high- rise towers, shopping districts, and urban parks.” Vancouver’s history provides many lessons, says Tom Hauger, a planner for the city of Seattle. “First, they decided, ‘there will be no freeways in our city,’ and second, they sold vast tracts of land to developers with strict conditions.” This allowed the city to design a mix of densities and heights of buildings, street connections, walkways, and public spaces.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1246

Suburban Atlanta developer unveils large urban project
Will be first leg in city’s proposed Beltline
Developer Wayne Mason recently presented his plans for redeveloping a 70-acre tract “in the heart of Atlanta,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mason has long been a suburban developer, “but this plan harkens to more traditional ideas for building cities.” Half the land would be reserved for green space and transit. Residences and small businesses would occupy one-third of the land. Most of what is left is already being used by adjacent landowners.  Some buildings would be high rises, which will help Mason pay for the land he intends to donate for public use. Trammell Crow Residential has a contract to develop two residential towers, a $250 million project with prices expected to range from the $300,000 to more than $1 million for penthouses. "Seventy-five percent of people want a different lifestyle [from the suburbs], and that's your market," Mason says. Mason's plan is crucial to the future of the Beltline, a planned 26-mile transit and greenbelt loop.  Mayor Shirley Franklin commissioned a report that describes the Beltline as an urban renewal project with potential to spur more than $20 billion in development and create nearly 40,000 permanent jobs over the next 20 years. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0605/03beltline.html

New Smart Growth America publication
Guide to shaping new development
Smart Growth America has published a new guidebook for citizens who want to shape growth and development.  Choosing Our Community’s Future: A citizen’s guide to getting the most out of new development is intended to help citizens both make powerful arguments against poorly conceived plans and to envision the type of development that they do want. This guidebook explains the elements of community design, and how to make sure a plan or project delivers on community and environmental benefits.  Written in everyday language by David Goldberg, a veteran journalist and citizen advocate, the guidebook explains design charrettes, community planning processes, seminars and conferences on planning issues, and education programs for officials. The book specifically deals with taming “big box” retailers, evaluating mixed-use developments, and reducing impact on farms and natural areas, among other topics. The guidebook also includes profiles of people and places who have been through the development mill, and the lessons they have to offer.  http://sgusa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=guidebook&JServSessionIdr006=u6vqq0szz1.app7a <http://sgusa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=guidebook&amp;JServSessionIdr006=u6vqq0szz1.app7a>

TRANSPORTATION
Traffic explained
Mystery bottlenecks result of “weaving”
Avi Polus, an Israeli transportation engineer, may have answered some of traffic’s eternal questions, such as why bottlenecks occur for no apparent reason. According to the Wall St. Journal, Polus blames the phenomena largely on “weaving.” Weaving frequently occurs when the off-ramp lies just beyond the merging lane, so drivers who want to exit have to cross lanes filled with drivers just entering the freeway. But weaving can also occur when drivers change lanes frequently, looking for the fastest lane. "Weaving is the worst condition for traffic flow," says Polus. Because drivers in heavy traffic brake when a car pulls into their lane, and because it takes time to get back up to speed, there are larger and constantly changing gaps between vehicles. This causes yet more cars to change lanes, creating a wave of stop-and-go traffic that can cut the number of cars in a stretch of road by about 10 percent, resulting in a 5-mile backup. Lane closures, on-ramps, hills, chronic lane changing, and other "inhomogeneities" can all jam up traffic. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB112017450218974799-Ihjg4NnlaR4oZuvZYGGaaaCm4,00.html

METROPOLITAN ECONOMICS
Portland reduces carbon emissions, booms economically
Measures said to improve livability
Portland has “achieved stunning reductions in carbon emissions…while booming economically.” Says Nicholas D. Kristof, writing in a New York Times editorial. Kristof calls Portalnd “America's environmental laboratory. ” Officials in Portland say that cutting carbon emissions has brought the city huge benefits while adding no significant expense.  Portland Mayor Tom Potter says, ''People have looked at it the wrong way, as a drain. Actually it's something that attracts people. It's economical; it makes sense in dollars.'' In 1993, Portland became the first local government to adopt a climate change strategy. The latest data show that local greenhouse gas emissions have dropped below the 1990 level, and per capita emissions were down 13 percent. These cutbacks were achieved though a wide variety of methods, ranging from increasing mass transit to replacing the bulbs in the city's traffic lights with light-emitting diodes, which reduce electricity use by 80 percent. A Portland city commissioner says, “The things that we were doing that happened to reduce emissions were the things that made our city livable and hence desirable.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/opinion/03kristof.html?pagewanted=1&th&pagewan&emc=thsa

Leading business climate indexes called meaningless
Study finds “ideological screen” prevents them from measuring relevant data
Business climate and competitiveness indexes produced by ideologically driven think tanks are ignored by business leaders, and they should be ignored by policy makers, according to an Economic Policy Institute report written by Peter Fisher. Fisher looks at 5 such indexes, those produced by the Pacific Research Institute, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, the Tax Foundation, the Beacon Hill Institute, and the Cato Institute. He writes that “34 of 50 states” can claim to be in the top 10 in one of the indexes, while 42 states are tagged as being in the bottom half of the country in at least one report. Fisher finds such statements inherently meaningless, and blames the think tanks’ ideological blinders for their indexes’ flaws. These institutes tend to recommend that local governments “cut taxes and shrink government.” http://www.epinet.org/books/grading_places/grading_places_(full_text).pdf

ENVIRONMENT
Schwarzenegger says climate debate is over
Says environmental actions will be good for CA economy
In an editorial written for the UK’s Independent, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declares “Now it is time for Californians to seriously address the issue of climate change. The debate is over. We know the science. We see the threat posed by changes in our climate. And we know the time for action is now.” Schwarzenegger points to steps his government has already taken, such as opening “the path to the Hydrogen Highway.” Schwarzenegger also touts “the first Ocean Protection Act in the nation to protect and restore our ocean resources,” and the Green Building Initiative, which will put state government on “an energy diet.”  Schwarzenegger also announces a series of ambitious initiatives. “By the year 2010 our goal is to reduce our emissions to less than those we produced in 2000; by 2020 our goal is to make our emissions lower than 1990 levels; and by 2050 our goal is to reduce overall emissions to a full 80 per cent below those we produced in 1990.” Schwarzenegger says these and other measures will not only lower greenhouse emissions, they will boost the state’s economy by creating both new jobs and greater efficiencies for the state and the private sector. http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article296377.ece

ENERGY
Severe oil disruption may not be far-fetched
$150 oil plausible, former CIA head says
Former CIA Director Robert Gates recently led a simulated cabinet-level response to a series of possible oil supply disasters, according to Knight-Ridder. Two former CIA directors and several other former top policy-makers participated to draw attention to America's need to reduce its dependence on oil, especially foreign oil. The group imagined that growing religious and ethnic unrest in Nigeria could lead to a loss of 600,000 barrels of oil per day before Christmas 2005, and that in early 2006 terrorists would cripple Saudi production, and also attack Alaskan oil terminals. The result would be $150-a-barrel oil by early next year. "A million or a million and a half barrels of oil a day off the market is a very realistic kind of scenario. You can think of a dozen different countries around the world...where you can see that happening. Or even a natural disaster could do that," Gates said. The mock cabinet debated whether US troops should be sent to Nigeria, and if the US should draw down its strategic oil reserves to stabilize gasoline prices. But the Cabinet couldn’t agree on even the simplest short-term solutions. Richard Haass, a top adviser to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said the simulation taught him how little influence policy-makers would have in reversing an oil shock wave. He added "I think where most of the work has to happen now, both intellectually and politically, is on demand" reduction. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11979395.htm

RETAIL
Developer looks to future of retail, sees “livability”
Traditional mall “under assault”
In an interview with New Urban News, mixed-use developer Richard Heapes says future retail should occur in a “livable” environment, in which you can’t easily tell where the shop begins and the sidewalk ends. Heapes describes the three cycles cities find themselves in: the “viable,” in which they struggle for survival; the “livable,” in which cities are pleasant and well-rounded, and the “memorable,” in which cities develop their own unique personalities. He pushes for retail that will lead to “memorability.” Heapes closes by saying, “In America we don’t need to build any more retail. I wish we could have a national moratorium. We need to build a better mousetrap for shopping. Places that people give a damn about, starting with those who develop and build them.” http://www.newurbannews.com/HeapesInside.html

EVENTS
NATIONAL
Rail~Volution 11, Salt Lake City, Sept 8-11 http://www.railvolution.com

National Preservation Conference Portland Sep 27–Oct 2.  https://www.nthpconference.org or call 800-944-6847. Register by July 31 for discounts.

Smart Code workshops Miami Oct 5 – 8. http://www.placemakers.com/info/workshop.html

New Partners for Smart Growth 5th annual conference, Denver, Jan 26-28, 2006, at the Adam's Mark Denver Hotel. http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/SmartGrowth/ <http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&amp;I/SmartGrowth/>

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