August 20, 2004

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

≥Our Main Street rail line is one of the most successful start-up rail lines in the nation – and I say that as someone who had nothing to do with it.≤

- New Metro CEO Frank Wilson, speaking to a Greater Houston Partnership luncheon. See story below: ≥New Metro CEO announces new strategic plan coming≤

"Smart Growth is becoming THE issue in state and local politics and it is the citizen advocacy and community groups that are bringing it to the forefront and keeping it there."  

-Smart Growth Leadership Institute President, former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening in a speech in Baton Rouge.

http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4188&state=19&res=800 <http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4188&amp;state=19&amp;res=800>

LIVABLE HOUSTON / SMART GROWTH INITIATIVE

Models for the 2028 Regional Transportation Plan

At the last Livable Houston/Smart Growth meeting, we looked at Regional Transportation Plans from Denver, San Diego, and Atlanta with a view toward finding models for the future.  That presentation is available online along with the Gulf Coast Instituteπs draft of a document that begins to outline a basis for Houstonπs 2028 plan. http://www.livablehouston.org.

  The next Livable Houston meeting is Wednesday, September 22, noon-1:30 pm, Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons, second floor. Bring your lunch. For more information call 713-523-5755. 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.livablehouston.org

REGIONAL NOTES

New Metro CEO announces new strategic plan coming

Metro CEO Frank Wilson told a Greater Houston Partnership luncheon that Metro will introduce a ≥new strategic plan≤ in a couple of weeks. Wilson decried the ≥roads versus transit≤ battle that has raged in the region for decades, and said ≥Weπre not in competition with ourselves. Weπre in competition with Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Shanghai, Beijing – the world class players.≤ He noted that Los Angeles is the ≥poster child≤ for sprawl and said that, within a few years, with no change in direction, ≥we too can be a failed experiment. Houston has momentum right now, this momentum is taking us into a danger zone.≤ Wilson called for land-use planning and for an ≥eclectic array of lifestyles≤ across the region, and for ≥land use, transportation, lifestyle – all in balance in our lifetime.≤

H-GAC announces public meeting on transportation plan

On Tuesday, September 14, 2004, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) will host a public meeting on the development of the 2006-2008 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This public meeting will be held in an open-house format that will showcase candidate projects for inclusion in the TIP. The event will be at H-GAC, 3555 Timmons, 2nd floor, conference room A from 6-8 pm. The public comment period on these projects begins Friday, August 20, when the projects will be posted on the H-GAC Transportation Web site, http://www.h-gac.com/transportation <file://localhost/x-msg/::263:www.h-gac.com:transportation> . To obtain a printed listing of candidate projects, call Lynn Spencer, Transportation Program Coordinator, at (713) 993-2436. All comments must be received by H-GAC no later than 5 pm, Friday, October 1. Written comments may be mailed to Lynn Spencer, Houston-Galveston Area Council, P.O. Box 22777, Houston, Texas 77227, emailed to  lynn.spencer@h-gac.com <mailto:lynn.spencer@h-gac.com> , faxed to (713) 993-4508 or submitted online.

Green building group will show Suzuki video

A video presentation of Dr. David Suzuki's keynote address on the role and responsibility of being stewards of the environment from the 2002 Greenbuild event in Austin will be shown at the US Green Building Council-Houston chapter meeting on August 24 at 5 pm. Suzuki, who is chair of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. The event, which is free, will be at The Houstonian Hotel & Spa. RSVP to tmurray@m-architects.com

Houston planning awards

The Houston Section of the American Planning Association is reinstating its Houston Area Award, and has put out a call for award nominations. Houston-area planners and planning organizations can nominate their projects and initiatives in the following categories: enhancing public spaces, development in context, adaptive re-use/historic preservation, strategic planning, effective partnerships, planning media coverage award, and student project award. Nominations must be received by Friday, October 1st. Winners will be announced at the Houston APA Awards Reception in December. It is not necessary to be an APA member to nominate a project. Participants can file their nominations electronically. For more information, contact Kelly Dietrich at KCDietrich@catw-tx.org <mailto:KCDietrich@catw-tx.org> , or at 281-210-3900.

NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES

URBANISM

The end of suburbia?

According to a Rutgers University report, ≥The Beginning of the End of Suburbia?≤ Long Island has recently lost jobs and population to New York City. The study, which tracks population and employment data between 1969-2001, finds that the suburbs suffer from congested traffic and expensive housing, and that many young people, ≥empty-nesters,≤ and recent immigrants are choosing the city instead.  Between 1990 and 2001, the cityπs population grew by nearly 10 percent compared with Long Islandπs 6.6 percent.  "This relentless suburbanization has reached its low tide and the core areas are starting to be attractive," said Joseph J. Seneca, a public policy professor who co-authored the study. However, the authors donπt claim that the shift is permanent.  Some of the urban spike may be attributable to the dot.com boom of the 1990s.  The events of September 11 may also affect long-term growth.  And some findings may be specific to Long Island, which is running out of land that can be cheaply developed.

Do parking lots have to be ugly?

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel architecture writer Whitney Gould invited Caren Connolly, former professor of urban design at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, to critique that cityπs surface parking lots.  Connolly finds much to dislike, as most surface lots are mere ≥paved deserts.≤ But Connolly does approve of lots that are extensively landscaped and paved with porous material.  Connolly says that underground lots, topped by parks or roof gardens, are the ideal solution, and points to Chicagoπs new Millennium Park, built over underground parking, as the prime example. But she actually admires at least one Milwaukee surface lot with its ≥lushly landscapedänative grasses, lilies, flowering shrubs, sedum, rudbeckia, and other vegetation that not only helps screen the cars and catch water but creates a garden effect. Itπs a pleasure to walk through.≤ Milwaukee city policy now discourages surface parking lots downtown. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/aug04/249797.asp

Los Angeles sets new rules for Wal-Mart

Los Angeles city council voted 13-2 to allow Wal-Mart to open stores in the city only after the company pays for an economic impact study, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.  The ordinance applies to any retailer occupying over 100,000 square feet that also does over 10% of its business in grocery sales. This study must forecast possible loss of jobs, wage depression, or harm to neighborhood businesses. The city can deny permits to Wal-Mart based on the studyπs results. Wal-Mart representatives claimed they are pleased with the measure, saying that at least it wasnπt an outright ban. But Nelson Lichtenstein of the Center for Work, Labor, and Democracy at UC Santa Barbara said the cityπs action is ≥highly significant," and added that the law could help transform the way the world's largest company does business. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-walmart11aug11,1,4390961.story?coll=la-headlines-california

More sidewalks and fewer vacant buildings

According to an editorial in the Columbus Dispatch, that city could become more inviting by ≥taking action on two unglamorous fronts: sidewalks and vacant buildings.≤  Columbus has already made tentative steps in this direction by passing a building code that requires all new roads be accompanied by sidewalks, and by passing an ordinance that puts pressure on owners of vacant buildings to maintain their buildings. But in both cases, enforcement has been lacking. A road to a new mall was built without the mandated sidewalks, and city officials have been stymied by state laws that allow out-of-town mortgage companies to buy up vacant properties without immediately recording their deeds, so that the city doesnπt know whom to cite for ordinance violations. The editorial urges the state legislature to close this loophole. http://www.dispatch.com/print_template.php?story=dispatch/2004/08/10/20040810-A8-00.html

PLANNING

Five ways to build community

REALTOR Magazine, a publication of the National Association of Realtors, reported on five successful strategies for building livable communities. The article also examines cities that exemplify a particular approach:  North Little Rock, Arkansas for safety; Arlington, Virginia for density; Raleigh, North Carolina for education; Dallas for transit, and Bloomington, Indiana for green space.  The article explains how each city achieved and benefited from its particular goal. http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.NSF/pages/feature2june04?OpenDocument

Maryland announces Priority Places initiative

According to a statement from the Maryland Department of Planning, the state has implemented a Priority Places Strategy to promote Smart Growth in existing communities throughout the state.  The Smart Growth Subcabinet, comprising all of the state agencies charged with growth and planning, will coordinate the stateπs activities. Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlichπs strategy doesnπt call for new funding; instead it promises to put ≥all of the resources, regulatory power and expertise≤ of the state at the service of projects that show the most potential to ≥spark broad-based development trends and land-use patterns that are good for the economy, quality of life, and the environment,≤ whether these ≥patterns≤ occur in cities, suburbs, or small towns, according to the Priority Places website. Marylandπs Smart Growth legislation, created by former Governor Parris Glendening, originally mandated the priority places concept, and smart growth advocates say it is significant that Glendeningπs successor, while re-branding the ideas, nevertheless maintained support for them. http://www.priorityplaces.com.

Southern California "Compass" plan concentrates growth

With its six-county region's population likely to grow by 6 million people to 23 million by 2030, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) plans to absorb that growth without destructive traffic and pollution increases by concentrating development in urban areas and along transportation corridors. According to a report in the Daily Breeze, SCAG's latest effort to find a solution, dubbed Compass, was a two-year effort shaped in part by input from local residents. Ultimately, planners concluded that denser housing and commercial development in only 2 percent of SCAG's planning area would keep congestion down, promote economic prosperity, and enable the region to meet its air quality goals. SCAG executive director Mark Pisano says that Compassπ plan to build three-story office, mixed-use, and retail developments in areas with ready access to mass transit will add 400,000 units of new housing, and increase mass transit use by 50-70%.  Single-family homes will still be built in many areas. ≥This is not a change in the Southern California lifestyle," Pisano said. http://www.dailybreeze.com/content/news/3003674.html

Incorporating transit into suburban design

The Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) of Riverside County in the San Diego-Los Angeles region released bus design guidelines aimed at ≥creating consistent transit-friendly standards,≤ in hopes of making transit considerations a major factor in all new design, according to The Press-Enterprise. John Kneepkens, spokesman for the Riverside Transit Agency, said "When planning shopping centers or housing developments, we want officials to think of transit beforehand so we don't have to come back to make it transit friendly."  To that end, RTA has requested that the agency be included in the early stages of planning. Since 2003, more than 500 developments have been examined for compatibility with bus service. Several new large housing developments have incorporated bus-friendly features, which include creating bus turnouts instead of curb stops, accessible pathways from commercial buildings to bus stops, shorter routes from housing developments to bus stops, uniform codes on bus shelters and benches, and designing large developments to include the above features.  About 2% of all Riverside County trips are made by bus. http://www.pe.com/localnews/desertpass/stories/PE_News_Local_turnout04.588b5.html

Technology and urban planning can help boomers ease into old age

Attendees at the recent National Governors Association meeting in Seattle were shown ways that high-tech tools and urban planning can help the states prepare for the coming wave of elderly baby-boomers, reported The Seattle Times.  There are 77 million ≥boomers,≤ the eldest of whom are now 58 years old. The states currently spend $77.5 billion on long-term health care, and governors are looking for ways to keep elders independent. Careful urban planning and relaxed zoning codes can lead to mixed-use neighborhoods in which elders can walk, rather than drive, to meet their social and medical needs.  Intel representatives said the chip-making company aims to make the home "a node of diagnosis and care."  They demonstrated prototypes for home-health technologies, such as a walking cane that allows a caregiver to monitor an elderly personπs progress down the street via computer. The conference also looked at changes to laws and tax codes that can help provide more efficient senior health care.

Overcoming market ≥blind spots,≤ revealing urban ≥hidden assets≤

The Urban Markets Initiative (UMI) of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program intends to make information on urban issues more readily available.  UMI consists of five pilot projects: the University of Memphis will attempt to create a new methodology for measuring neighborhood decline. The Urban Institute will develop a suite of "decision support tools" to help cities manage change in real estate markets.  The Center for Transit Oriented Development will develop a Housing and Transportation Affordability index to integrate housing and transportation costs. M.I.T and Boston's Metropolitan Area Planning Council will prototype and test a new approach for sharing data within a metropolitan area. Asset Builders will develop the Payment Aggregation Information and Dissemination Initiative (PAID), which will address biased credit scoring by implementing a system that reports previously unreported items such as utility and rent payments. http://www.brookings.edu/metro/umi.htm

Helping developers create urban spaces

In an interview with The Denver Post, Denverπs new community planning and development director Peter Park talks about ways the city can ≥untangle the regulatory knot≤ that makes development unnecessarily complicated, so that the city and developers can deepen the ≥conversation about the role of good planning and excellent design in capturing the community's vision.≤ Park wants to make the development process ≥more transparent and predictable.≤ He wants to ≥develop a culture of urban design,≤ but doesnπt think Denver can achieve this by passing more regulations. ≥There's a finite amount of money," Park says. "If a developer must spend it on the entitlement and regulatory side, there's less for good design and materials.≤  Park has three main priorities for his city: to ≥build a community of design≤; to ≥align planning, permitting, and inspection to make Denver an easier place to do business,≤ and to ≥demonstrate how transit creates and regenerates successful urbanism.≤ http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~75~2317469,00.html

TRANSPORTATION

Indonesia adds monorail

Ground was recently broken in Jakarta for a major new monorail system. Two lines are being built: the "Green Line" with 14.8 kilometers and 17 stations, and the "Blue Line" with 12.2 kilometers and 12 stations. PT Jakarta Monorail, a consortium of Indonesian and foreign investors, including the Hitachi Asia Company, is building the system. This will be Hitachi's largest straddle-beam monorail system outside of Japan. Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony for the $630 million project (about $37 million per mile). http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/Jakarta.html

Las Vegas monorail ridership strong

Officials of the Las Vegas Monorail announced that the system has carried more than a half-million passengers during its first half-month. "Since opening day, our ridership levels have remained strong, with the monorail averaging 30,811 rides each day, said James Gibson,  chairman and CEO of Transit Systems Management, the project's  management firm. ≥We anticipate an increase in ridership and revenues in the months ahead as the convention season comes into full swing and the monorail's hours of operation are expanded from its current 16-hour day to a 20-hour day. Over $1.5 million in ticket revenues have been generated by the 523,794 riders that passed through fare gates from the July 15 opening to the end of July. The monorail also generates millions in revenues from advertising on trains and in stations. http://www.monorails.org

Funding cuts proposed for Amtrak and urban rail projects

According to the Surface Transportation Project publication Transfer, the House Appropriations Committeeπs budget for FY 2005 would cut federal funding for Amtrak to $900 million, 35 percent below current levels, 56 percent below Amtrakπs request, and 12 percent below President Bushπs recommendation. Amtrak President David Gunn warns that if the Appropriations budget is passed, Amtrak will cease operations in 2005. Ernest Istook (R-OK), Chair of the Transportation Subcommittee, also wants to reduce funding from $1.32 billion to 1.03 billion for the ≥New Starts≤ program, which has helped fund new local rail systems. Transfer further states that Istook plans to impose ≥new criteria and other limitations≤ to reduce future rail funding. If the House Committee-approved restrictions are approved, they ≥would disrupt the current pipeline of projects, and it is believed these changes would lead to the systematic curtailment of future federal commitments to new rail transit projects.≤ http://www.transact.org/transfer/trans04/8_09.asp

Demand rises for Honda and Toyota hybrids

Honda sold more than 14,000 Civic Hybrids in the first half of this year, a 24.8 percent increase over sales in the first half of 2003. Toyota has sold 21,783 Prius hybrids, an increase of 119.4 percent over last year. Toyota also announced in late June that its current U.S. order backlog is at 22,000 vehicles. Honda claims its new Accord Hybrid will deliver more power and performance than the current Accord V6, while achieving the fuel economy of a four-cylinder Civic. The new Accord Hybrid goes on sale this fall.

ENVIRONMENT

Glendening sees Smart Growth as third wave of environmentalism

"Smart Growth is becoming THE issue in state and local politics and it is the citizen advocacy and community groups that are bringing it to the forefront and keeping it there," said Smart Growth Leadership Institute President, former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening in a speech in Baton Rouge. Glendening described some of the movementπs successes, and pointed the way to further challenges.  The message of his Maryland administration was, ≥Sorry, the state will not pay to subsidize sprawl.≤  By practicing Smart Growth, the state saved 400,000 acres from development, while encouraging growth in selected areas.  27 states have at least partially followed Marylandπs example.  Calling himself a ≥passionate environmentalist,≤ Glendening stated that the environmental movement is now in its third ≥wave.≤ First, he said, Teddy Roosevelt created the national parks. Then, inspired by Rachel Carsonπs Silent Spring, government worked to limit pollution. The anti-sprawl, Smart Growth movement should be wave number three. ''If we are going to be successful in this third wave, we must stop sprawl,'' Glendening said.  http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4188&state=19&res=800 <http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4188&amp;state=19&amp;res=800>

POLITICS

Rethinking term limits

Columnist Neal Pierce writes that the ≥intense passion≤ for legislative term limits has ≥long since waned,≤ but that we are still living with the results of the 1990s reform. He looks at California, which will lose ≥almost 300 years of institutional memory≤ after the next election, when a number of legislators are forced out of office. Pierce points out three ≥liberal lions≤ who are leaving, but says that Republicans, including veteran anti-tax crusaders, are equally affected. http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/peir0712.htm

HOUSING

Supersize us

Permanent Buildings and Foundations Magazine reports that the average size of the American home has risen from just under 1,000 square feet in 1950 to 2,330 square feet in 2004. That's over a 250 percent increase even though the average family size dropped 20% over the same period. Whatπs the explanation? According to a recent poll of 500 homeowners, one third think that all family members should have their own bedrooms, and 17 percent think they need at least one more bedroom than they have children. In 1950 only one home out of a hundred had two and a half bathrooms or more. Today, the report says 56 percent of homes have that many bathrooms. The same survey reported that nearly half of the respondents (46 percent) admit that they are "wasting at least half of the space of their homes."

EVENTS

REGIONAL AND STATE

Walkability workshop, Aug. 24-25, Houston. The Houston section of the American Planning Association hosts a workshop led by Dan Burden on creating walkable spaces. http://www.houstoneapa.com, and for more on Burden, http://www.walkable.org/

Commute Solutions awards, Aug. 25, Houston. Commute Solutions celebrates their Leadership Awards at the Houstonian Hotel in the Galleria area. Kim.Green@h-gac.com.

Neighborhood conference, Sept. 11, Houston. The City of Houston Planning Department hosts a city-wide conference for neighborhood entitled ≥Directions & Connections: Charting a Path for Your Neighborhood≤ at the George R. Brown Convention Center. http://www.houstonplanning.com

First Ring Suburbs, Sept. 23, 30, Oct. 7, Dallas. The Greater Dallas Planning Council hosts a symposium to explore ≥first ring suburbs.≤ http://www.txplanning.org/EdOp/GPDCsymposium.pdf

NATIONAL

Rail~Volution, Sept. 18-22, Los Angeles. The 10th annual Rail~Volution conference that will explore how regions reinvent themselves as more livable places with transit. To register, visit http://www.railvolution.com

New Partners for Smart Growth, Jan. 27-29, 2005, Miami Beach. The 4th annual conference sponsored by the Local Government Commission and Penn State.  http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/Smart Growth/