December 13, 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
"Texas traffic is such that by the time a freeway expansion
is complete, it is often just in time for the next needed expansion."
- Gov Rick Perry, writing in the Houston
Chronicle, December 4, 2004. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2930658
"Traffic congestion is not essentially a problem. It's the solution to our basic mobility problem, which is that too many people want to move at the same times each day. Efficient operation of the economy and our school systems requires that people go to work, go to school, and run errands during about the same hours so they can interact with each other. We cannot alter that basic requirement without crippling our economy and society. This problem marks every major metropolitan area in the world."
- Anthony Downs, Senior Fellow at the
Brookings Institution, writing in Access Magazine. http://www.uctc.net/access/access.asp
LIVABLE HOUSTON
INITIATIVE
Next meeting: Nanotechnology and Houston's future - January 26
The topic next time will be nanotechnology and the potential it has for transforming Houston's economy. The next meeting is Wednesday, January 26, noon-1:30 pm, Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons, second floor. Topic to be announced. 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
Will Houston be next 'Tuxedo Park'?
City challenged to lead world through
energy transition
In a speech to the Houston Technology Center, investment banker Matthew Simmons challenged the city to become the next "Tuxedo Park." The term refers to the privately funded laboratory that Wall St. tycoon Alfred Lee Loomis created in the 1930s. He employed some of the world's greatest scientists, and their research led to the creation of radar and ultimately to the development of the atomic bomb. Simmons said global oil production is expected to peak in coming years, and went through a number of "Plan B" responses, such as developing renewable energy sources, then showed the shortcomings of each. Simmons says that all Plan B alternatives are mere "bridges to Plan C," which is "new forms of energy, non-existent today." Simmons asked, "Can Houston be the 'solution,' or does the city fade as fossil fuels peak?" He then gave reasons why Houston could become the "next Tuxedo Park": the city has political clout, excellent research institutions, and the world's best energy engineers. http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/HTC-120104.pdf
Thinking big by thinking small
Nanotechnology called key to Houston's tech future
Nanotechnology was a constant subject during a three-day scenario-building process about Houston's future, hosted last week by the Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University. Researchers from Rice and a private company told the group that nanotechnology would be the next big thing and would revolutionize the way energy is produced, transmitted, and used. Nanotechnology is the science and art of manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale. Houston is essentially the home of the most advanced nano work and because of the work at Rice, the Texas Medical Center, and the city's extensive chemical knowledge and infrastructure it could well be the center of nanotechnology in the future. Wade Adams, Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice, said the explosion of silicon technology in the last decades would pale in scope beside the opportunities in nanotechnology. The Shell Center participants viewed nano as critically important for Houston's future. For more on nanotechnology, see http://www.nanotechfoundation.org/
and http://www.texasnano.org/
Toll road concerns rising
Eckels says 'no plans' exist for such a road
Some residents of the Heights were relieved to learn that the
rumored toll road that would pass through their neighborhood between 610 and
downtown may be less certain than previously thought. According to the
Houston Chronicle, residents had worried that TxDOT planned to build a toll
road on its recently acquired Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad right of way.
But Harris County Judge Robert Eckels denied that the county had any such
plans for the property, at least the part in the Heights. TxDOT is looking into
building a toll connector between 290 and I-10, in which case it may sell the
land to the city for development as a hike and bike trail, or for light rail
extension. Metro says it currently has no plans to build rail in the area. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2930991. In related news, members of the Citizens Transportation Coalition, nervous that Eckels' remarks left some wiggle room, went to Houston City Council to begin a process toward proposing state legislation to give the City some power to control Harris County's aggressive plans for toll roads within the City limits. http://www.citizenstransportationcoalition.org.
'Green Homes' workshop
December 15 at University of Houston
Cultivate Green, a nonprofit that was incubated by the Houston
Advanced Research Center (HARC), will sponsor a Green Homes workshop at the
Gerald D. Hines School of Architecture at the University of Houston. The
conference runs 6-9 pm, and features speakers such as Charles Tapley, Linda
Paisley, and others, talking about using native plants and grasses in landscape
design, and about environmentally friendly home construction and remodeling.
Landscape architects, designers, builders, homeowners, and home buyers are
encouraged to attend. Topics covered will include growing native plants
and grasses without pesticides or fertilizers, and with minimal water. To
register or get more information, contact Terri Kurtin at tkurtin@harc.edu <mailto:tkurtin@harc.edu> or
281-363-7926.
Good Bricks Award
Dinner Friday Jan 28
The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance will honor the recipients of "Good Bricks" awards for "outstanding projects that preserve and document our architectural and cultural history." The event begins at 7 pm at the Texas Room of the Houston Club, 811 Rusk. Developer Ed Wulfe is honorary chair. Tickets range from $150 single (limited availability) to $20,000 for some tables. Ticket order forms can be downloaded from http://ghpa.org/awards/ <http://ghpa.org/awards/>
and mailed to 712 Main St, Suite 110, Houston 77002 or faxed to
713-216-2143.
Streets getting 'meaner'
Study finds pedestrian deaths going up,
Houston 10th on fatality list
In cities across America, pedestrians are being killed by motorists in increasing numbers. According to a report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), in 2003, 827 pedestrians died in the US. Between 1994-2003, 51,989 pedestrians were killed. Orlando is the city with the most increased Pedestrian Danger Index - up 117 percent in ten years. In fact, the four most dangerous cities - including Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale - are all in Florida. Houston ranks 10th. STPP makes a number of recommendations, such as upgrading sidewalks, slowing traffic, and promoting more walking, and also calls for more federal spending on pedestrian safety. Some cities' Pedestrian Danger Index went down: Salt Lake City is the most reduced, at nearly 50 percent, followed by Portland, OR (thirty percent), and Austin, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, at 20 percent each. http://www.transact.org/library/reports_html/ms2004/press_release.asp
TEXAS NOTES
Public transportation spurs nearby housing
Dallas residents increasingly
interested in housing near rail
Dallas-area developers are increasingly finding that their for-sale and rental units near DART stops are big sellers, according to the Dallas Morning News. That trend is only expected to increase, with the number of Dallas housing units within a half mile of mass transit stops expected to grow by more than 300 percent by 2025. Dallas ranks with Portland, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York as a leader in the nation-wide trend to build housing near rail stops. "Today location, location, location is synonymous with transit-oriented development," Jennifer Dorn, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, recently told a real estate agents' meeting. "Over the next 20 years, at least one-quarter of all American households are likely to seek housing near transit." The National Association of Realtors calls this transformation one of the biggest shifts in housing since the post-war move to the suburbs. Surprisingly, one developer has found that few residents in his Plano apartment projects use light rail to commute. They simply want to live near it. The developer said. "Having DART light-rail access is something they [residents] still want, whether they use it or not."
NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES
URBANISM
First the place, then the city
Great Cities initiative concentrates on urban details of public
space
The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) has launched its "Great Cities Initiative," according to its website. PPS says that, too often, city planning is in the hands of specialists working only on their narrow focus. Using a hypothetical park and library as examples, PPS points out that park planners don't take the library into account, and vice versa, so that an area that should be one "place" often remains disconnected. In their new initiative, PPS is working with planning professionals and ordinary citizens to establish place-making goals and techniques. In what PPS terms Place Games, planners and citizens are taught a combination of interviewing and observational techniques which help them determine a given area's needs, and PPS then works with planners to achieve these goals. The first Great Cities experiment has begun in Omaha, and has now been extended to San Mateo, CA and Tucson, AZ. For information on bringing the Initiative to other cities, contact Ethan Kent at ekent@pps.org.
http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/november2004/november2004_feature
Top 20 neighborhoods
Districts rated as best to 'live, work and hang out'
The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) released its "20 Best North American Districts" list, and chose Vancouver's Granville Island as the continent's best neighborhood. The Top 10 was rounded out by East Village, New York; North Beach, San Francisco; Camden, ME: Coyoacan, Mexico City; Ritterhouse Square, Philadelphia; The Plateau, Montreal; Kensington Market, Toronto; Center City, Ponce, Puerto Rico; and Fells Point, Baltimore. No Texas neighborhood made the Top 20.
http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/november2004/november2004_neighborhoods
New Urbanism Latino-style
Hispanic cultural preferences can help build compact cities
At a time when California is still home to strong pro-suburban forces, policy makers hoping to contain sprawl should look at the state's burgeoning Latino community as a natural market for New Urbanist development, according to Opolis magazine. The magazine says Latinos have a built-in cultural preference for urban density and shared public space. If city planners can "overcome their prejudices" regarding Latinos and other immigrants, they can find a ready market for dense urban development. The author, Michael Mendez, points out that traditional Latino housing styles, adapted to the Anglo environment, lend themselves to density. He also notes that Latinos tend to use city parks in the same intense way they frequent plazas in their native countries. Generally speaking, Latinos tend to be more sociable and community oriented, tendencies that the New Urbanist development hopes to encourage. http://www.mi.vt.edu/Opolispub1.asp
<http://www.mi.vt.edu/Opolispub1.asp>
Awards in Atlanta
Regional Commission recognizes urban projects
The Atlanta Regional Commission's Development of Excellence awards were recently announced. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, good urban design and environmental sensitivity were amply rewarded. The midtown condo project that won top honors is a 20-story, 498-unit project that sold out within a year. The award recognizes that project's smart growth-oriented, mixed-use design. Among other awards, a project by Perry Homes and the Atlanta Housing Authority won for best mixed-income design, and the Atlantic Station development won for best environmental innovation for its brownfield restoration. http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/horizon/1104/15award.html
New Urbanism for Albuquerque
Plan calls for downtown redevelopment in Albuquerque
The Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Commission of Albuquerque recently listened to public comments on the proposed zoning changes that could lead to the a New Urbanist development in East Downtown (EDO), an 8- by 7-block section of downtown. According to the Albuquerque Tribune, the organization 1,000 Friends of New Mexico called the EDO plan "a gift" and said "the entire state will benefit by this project." Even a previous opponent of EDO development called the proposal "a great plan." The chair of the Commission cited "affordable housing," "transportation," and "protection of historic neighborhoods" as concerns in the development of the plan. http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news04/111104_news_edo.shtml
Boom in downtown San Diego
Freeway-based city now a 'model for fighting sprawl'
Determined to rein in sprawl, city leaders in San Diego are pushing for the dense urban development of downtown, and, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, it's working. Downtown's population is now 27,000, and the city hopes to have 89,000 people living there in 25 years. San Diego County has seen decades of sprawling development. County population rose from 550,000 in 1950 to 3 million today, and the growth has largely been in the suburbs. And with the price of housing rising dramatically - the median price of a home is up $102,000 in one year, to $489,000 - residents are having to drive farther out from the city in search of affordable housing. But city officials hope that residents will choose downtown condos over suburban tract homes. Environmental concerns are also beginning to restrict sprawl. San Diego County is home to more endangered species than any county in the US, and the land that has been set aside to protect these species now makes for an undeclared "no-growth zone." John Norquist, president of the Congress for New Urbanism, says "California is ahead of the curve on this stuff. LA is becoming much more like a European city." http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/10249927.htm?1c
Boomers do downtown
Why are 50-somethings giving up their big houses and their
suburbs too?
The fact that some baby-boomers reaching
early retirement age are giving up their large houses and moving into
townhouses is not surprising, according to Governing columnist Otis White.
About ten percent of house-owners typically move into smaller
quarters—townhouses or condos—after the children move out. But the Boomers are doing so in even larger numbers: 20-30 percent. And not only are they downsizing their homes, they're also moving into downtowns. But why is that, when suburbs often offer their own smaller housing units? Apparently it's because the Baby Boomers crave more excitement and more street life than their parents did. "People are spending money to go to Europe to look at their streets," said an expert at the Urban Land Institute. "That's what they want, that sort of street life. Cities are beginning to understand that." In fact, some suburbs are now developing their own version of street life in an attempt to prevent reverse urban flight. http://www.governing.com/notebook/prev.htm
TRANSPORTATION
Transit is growing
Study documents effects of increased transit
Mass transit use is up in cities across the country, and transit enjoys public support, but still continues to face challenges, according to "Trends Affecting Public Transit Effectiveness," a report by the American Public Transit Association. The study looks into a number of concerns as they relate to transit: the environment, health, and mobility related to both age and physical disability. It recommends an increase in the transit infrastructure and the developing of a new customer-oriented approach to enhance transit. The study also recommends using transit-oriented development to create sustainable communities and to encourage smart growth. http://www.apta.com/government_affairs/policy/trends_affecting.cfm#_Toc464706571
'Context-sensitive' roads
New Urbanists and traffic engineers collaborate
Two groups that have generally worked at
cross-purposes—New Urbanists and traffic engineers—have recently begun working together to create a framework for 'context-sensitive' roads. That is, roads built with specific community conditions in mind. According to a press release from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), CNU members recently sat down with representatives of the Institute of Traffic Engineers to try to reconcile differences. Public demand has caused traffic engineers to become interested in context-sensitive roads. But that doesn't mean the two groups will reconcile their very different criteria easily. Traffic engineers only recognize two contexts, urban and rural, which they mainly use to set speed limits. But New Urbanists recognize seven contexts, ranging from natural areas to urban districts. "We want this document to drop into state Department of Transportation design manuals," said one urbanist. ITE is expected to issue new "proposed recommended practices," possibly as early as fall 2005. http://www.cnu.org/news/index.cfm?formAction=press_release_item&press_release_id=54&start=1&EndRow=20&CFID=8304113&CFTOKEN=32808741
Why don't you drive, Dad
16-year-olds no longer automatically get their drivers' licenses
A significant cultural shift has occurred in California and across the country, but has largely done so beneath the cultural radar. According to the Los Angeles Times, 16-year-olds are less and less inclined to get drivers' licenses. The national rate of 16-17-year-olds with licenses dropped from 54 percent in 1983 to 43 percent in 2002. In California, home to the car culture, the numbers are even lower: Less than 27 percent of the state's 16- and 17-year-olds were licensed last year. There are a number of reasons why teens are driving less. Poverty rates among young people have risen, leaving fewer teens with the money to pay for cars, insurance, and even driving instruction. Schools across the country have phased out Driver's Ed programs, leaving kids and their parents to pick up the tab for private instruction. The trend has left parents chauffeuring their kids even after they graduate from high school. One California mother bought a sporty new car, hoping to lure her two daughters into getting their licenses, but they haven't taken the bait. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-teens2dec02,0,5974103.story?coll=la-
ENVIRONMENT
Green China?
China plans a massive, environmentally friendly rebuilding
project
By 2010, China wants all of its cities to reduce their buildings' energy use by 50 percent, and to retrofit 25 percent of all existing buildings to be more green. As reported in Metropolis, Qiu Baoxing, China's vice minister of the Ministry of Construction, told a sustainable development conference in Portland, OR that China realizes that it faces environmental challenges, both because the urban population will grow by 250 million in the next 20 years, and because highly polluting coal is their only native fuel. In order to meet these challenges, the Chinese government is embarking on "one of the largest rebuilding projects in history." Listeners were impressed with China's goals, but some not were convinced that these targets are reachable. Others expressed concern that China intends to use environmentally savvy Western builders only long enough to learn their technologies, which they will then pass on to Chinese builders. The vice minister tried to allay these fears, and encouraged Western firms to simply learn the Chinese way of doing business before applying for a license. http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=1055
London 'congestion charging' good for environment
Reduced traffic leads to less pollution
London's 2003 congestion charging measure, which charges drivers 5 pounds to enter central London, has already proven successful at reducing congestion. According to a report in Science Direct, it now appears the measure has environmental benefits as well. Levels of NOx, which leads to acid rain, vegetation decline, ozone formation, and greenhouse gases, are down 11.9 percent in central London. PM10, or airborne particulates, are down 11.9 percent, and CO2 is down 19.5 percent. An abstract of the report concludes, "The evidence presented shows that the congestion charging schemes could assist in attaining both the UK government's targets on air pollution as well as those relating to climate change and other international obligations." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VH3-4DR1MFW-2&_coverDate=01%2F01%2F2005&_alid=228594789&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=6055&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5b173ac557668c7a18d2c0314be1967b
SPRAWL
Losing farmland in Greater
Cincinnati
Smart growth group releases report
The Ohio counties surrounding Cincinnati have lost 18 percent of their farmland since 1980, and the Kentucky counties south of the city have lost 11.8 percent since 1987, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. In Ohio, this continues a trend in which the state has lost 7 million farm acres, 30 percent of the total, since 1950. The Smart Growth Coalition for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky launched studies on land-use costs, and found that suburban residential development requires $1.12 in services for each dollar in taxes and fees, while farms cost the public 49 cents, and industrial and commercial projects 45 cents. Conservationists want policies that will prevent "the negative consequences of poorly planned suburban sprawl." Butler County, OH has had some success in preserving farm land through a land trust, but, given the high prices now being paid for farm land, many farmers are reluctant to put their acreage into trusts. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041113/NEWS01/411130410
EVENTS
NATIONAL
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/SmartGrowth/
Note to readers: If you have news to
share, have reports from events, or would like to add subscriber names, please
let us know at issues@gulfcoastideas.org.
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)
crossley@gulfcoastideas.org
http://gulfcoastinstitute.org