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Six New Fitness Zones Placed In South Los Angeles Parks
Kaiser Permanente, The Trust for Public Land, and the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles are helping people be more active, thanks to several outdoor, all-weather equipped Fitness Zones popping up at public parks. Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry, District 9, dedicated the first of six Fitness Zones in the South Los Angeles area on January 14.
''According to the LA County Department of Public Health, 37.8 percent of adults are obese in the community surrounding South Park,'' said Perry. ''This Fitness Zone, made possible by Kaiser Permanente and CRA/LA, will provide much-needed free physical activity opportunities for the entire neighborhood.''
''Kaiser Permanente wants to ensure good health extends beyond our doors,'' said Diana Bontá, RN, DrPH, Vice President, Public Affairs, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region. ''Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry and the Trust for Public Land have come together to provide Fitness Zones in Los Angeles parks because we know that healthy communities and a healthy environment are critical to individual health and wellness.''
''We are proud to partner with Kaiser Permanente and Community Redevelopment Agency to create these fitness zones,'' said Sam Hodder, California Director of The Trust for Public Land. ''We know that exercise is important to good health and giving local residents a nearby place where they can work out provides a vital tool to improving their well-being.''
Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit has provided $900,000 in Healthy Eating, Active Living grants over a 3-year period (2008 - 2010) to the Trust for Public Land to support their ability to expand the zones as part of park development and revitalization, park planning and acquisition, as well as advocate for green space and parks and provide expertise to cities and communities as they plan for more open space.
With the creation of outdoor exercise centers in established community parks, the Trust for Public Land has introduced more people to the benefits of exercise and made 11 Los Angeles-area parks safer, more inviting, and more active.
''The Fitness Zones in South Los Angeles help meet our healthy neighborhoods goals by greening and beautifying our project areas and also by assisting in the personal health and well-being of families who live in the communities we serve,'' said Alejandro Ortiz, CRA/LA Commissioner.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks has been involved every step of the way, from mapping the site to final inspections. The department and will provide continued oversight and maintenance of the Fitness Zones. The all-weather equipment is ideal for any fitness level and for ages 13 and up.
''Studies have shown that providing free and easy to use exercise equipment dramatically increases the opportunity to engage in physical activity,'' said Jon Mukri, General Manager, City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. ''The Fitness Zones have become hubs of community activity by creating a group atmosphere that feels social and helps people be more active.''
1/14/2010
Resource(s): http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=23290&folder_id=266
Nation’s First Systemic Bike Transit Network Unveiled in Claremont, Calif.
Located on the same LA Metrolink Line, Bikestation Claremont Joins with
Bikestation Covina to Create a Systemic Bike Transit Network
Long Beach/Claremont, Calif., February 8, 2010 — Mobis Transportation has announced the development of Bikestation Claremont, located at the Metrolink station in the historic Claremont Depotin downtown Claremont. Since Bikestation Claremont is on the same transit line and shares the same access technology as Bikestation Covina, it creates the nation’s first bike transit system. This bicycle network enables greater use of alternative transportation methods like bicycles and it increases the practicality of public transit for many people. Bikestation Claremont provides a complete bicycle transit center with a variety of services and amenities that make bicycling more secure and convenient, including secure bike parking, restrooms, retail accessory sales, and bike repair and rental services.
Bikestation Claremont will enable more people to use bicycles for transit by addressing the most common concerns – preventing bike theft with secure parking; improving convenience through a range of services; and addressing the critical issue of the “first and last mile.” The first and last mile is the typical distance commuters need to move from the transit station to a destination and it frequently represents an obstacle to broader usage of public transit. Bicycle transit is a solution to the first and last mile challenge, and by locating Bikestation bike transit centers on multiple points on the same transit line, it shows a growing demand for alternative transit options and enables more people to bike and use public transit more often, improving the efficiency of the mass transit system.
Bikestation Claremont will be 600 square feet and offer a range of bicycle transit services and amenities, including electronically secured indoor bike parking, a repair stand and tools, retail accessory sales, a restroom and a changing room, and repair services and bike rentals across the street at Jax Bicycle Center. Secure bike parking will be accessible 24/7 to members. Designed to fit aesthetically within historic downtown Claremont, the location provides convenient access to the Metrolink station, other public transit options, businesses and communities, and the campuses of the Claremont Colleges.
“By providing convenient and economical bike-transit services at major transit lines and within close proximity to urban destinations, Bikestation can play a primary role in educating the public about the benefits and the ease of using public transportation and other alternative modes,” said Andrea White-Kjoss, president and CEO of Mobis Transportation/Bikestation.
“We’re very pleased to include Bikestation Claremont as a key element of the city’s overall bicycling program. Our goal is to fulfill sustainable principles by providing alternative modes of transportation to reach local and regional destinations, and encourage walking and bicycling in our communities for recreation, local shopping and multimodal transportation,” said Brian Desatnik, Housing and Redevelopment Manager, City of Claremont. “Toward that end, Bikestation Claremont is located in what we’ve designated as our Bike Priority Zone – a two-square mile area encompassing the Village, the Claremont Colleges, residential neighborhoods, mixed-use areas and transit centers where we’ve provided safe bicycle routes, pedestrian walkways, and are in the process of adding additional bike parking. By creating this infrastructure, we’re providing a livable, walkable and bikeable community.”
Bikestation Claremont will be open for operation on February 24, 2010. Membership includes 24/7 electronic access to Bikestation Claremont and any of the other Bikestation locations throughout Southern California and across the country, such as those in Covina, Long Beach, Palo Alto, Washington, D.C., and Santa Barbara. Memberships are available at an annual rate of $96 per year, a monthly rate of $12 per month, or a daily rate of $1 per day sold in packs of 10, plus a $20 annual administrative fee.
Learn more about Bikestation Claremont at www.bikestation.com/claremontca/location.asp .
2/8/2010
Resource(s):
Will Developers Have Last Word on Visalia’s Smart Growth Plan?
Drafted since Visalia’s building surge in 2005, its Southeast Area Specific Plan was to ensure smart growth for some 850 rural acres at the city edge. Now the high urban design standards may be diluted as too costly and seemingly unwarranted by the local demand.
With a prospective $900,000 tag price for the whole development, reports Visalia Times-Delta, the draft plan envisions a mix of varied-income single-family homes, small-lot row houses, and multi-family dwellings, along with shops, offices and schools in well-defined, walkable neighborhoods, featuring curved streets, alleys, biking trails and open spaces. Visalia Principal Planner Paul Scheibel described the sometimes delayed planning process as ''the most complex'' in a long time. Still, while some developers see the virtue of the inclusion of affordable housing, green space and other ''quality-of-life amenities'' in the plan, most would like to shelve it and start over or pursue their individual projects.
But the absence of overall planning philosophy would lead to design and style mishmash, exactly what the city wanted to avoid, said Assistant City Manager Mike Olmos, hoping that a series of just-launched meetings with area landowners and prospective developers to discuss the draft plan before its release for public input in the summer will result in ''tweaks'' only. Others expect a total overhaul, with Councilman Mike Lane saying, ''We need major modification to the plan.''
Early in the planning process, city consultants thought the proposed standards would likely increase developer and ultimately buyer costs by at least 20 percent, but now developer consultant Darlene Mata argues that as recession-squeezed builders reduced home sizes, project amenities and buyer prices in standard developments, the price difference could reach 40 percent. Developer Bob Ausherman, who complained that delays of his 60-acre mixed-use project within the plan area have cost him and partner Kevin Fistolera some $30,000 a month, doubted the ambitious smart-growth plan could work in Visalia.
Former Councilman Greg Collins, an urban planner, said the plan, even if costly, ''would have made for great neighborhoods,'' cautioning against its rejection simply because of the depressed market or a perception of homebuyers' preferences. ''I think,'' he commented on the debate's real issue, ''developers are more interested in doing their traditional cookie-cutter neighborhoods with a convenience store in the corner.'' Nevertheless, the assistant city manager counts on a compromise, which would make ''economic efficiency'' a higher plan priority. ''That's the message we're getting from the development community,'' he said. ''In the end, they're the ones that are going to deliver (this plan). They're the ones that are going to come in and build it.''
2/4/2010
Resource(s): www.visaliatimesdelta.com/
Los Angeles Considers Replacing Traffic Lanes with Public Park Space
The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles is proposing that traffic lanes between 9th and Olympic Avenue in downtown be reduced by two lanes and replaced with public green space. +In addition to providing desperately needed open space in dense downtown Los Angeles, the reduction in lanes would also serve the purpose of creating a more pedestrian-oriented environment.
''The bottom line is, we need more park space,'' said Mike Pfeiffer, president of a downtown neighborhood stakeholders group.
''According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, this is the first time the city has considered replacing asphalt with parkland. ''We decided with the city that we could close some of the lanes on the street and create a new street that was smaller and more pedestrian-friendly,” said Lillian Burkenheim, the redevelopment agency's project manager for downtown. As the article notes, the concept of street narrowing has become increasing popular in planning and engineering circles—as streets become narrower, drivers become more cautious, making the street more appealing for pedestrians and other modes of transportation.
The idea of turning asphalt to parkland has become so popular that a similar idea is being proposed a few blocks away at Hill and 9th streets. New residents to downtown want to convert an underused parking lot into a residential park.
1/6/2010
Resource(s): www.latimes.com/
State Lawmakers Move to Free the Public from Costs of “Free” Parking
Long felt a natural American right, free street and other public or private sector parking is being increasingly recognized as a subsidized market commodity that encourages driving instead of using transit or biking and walking. California legislators may abate this problem by limiting the commodity supply.
''Free parking has significant social economic and environmental cost. It increases congestion and greenhouse gas emissions,'' said Democratic Senator Alan Lowenthal, whose bill would make it worthwhile for municipalities to reduce free parking, also by setting its lower minima for businesses. Though their parking may seem free for customers, observed Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) analyst Justin Horner, the businesses charge them with the lots' maintenance, insurance and lighting through higher goods or service prices, just like street parking is paid for by the entire community through higher taxes.
Opposed by Republicans, but backed by the NRDC and the Sierra Club, reports Los Angeles Times writer Patrick McGreevy, the bill offers these municipalities more state funds for parking garages and transit programs, along with bonus points in competition for state grants. ''The problem with free parking,'' commented Senator Lowenthal, ''is it’s not free.''
1/29/2010
Resource(s): www.latimes.com/
Whittier, California, To Use ''Grass-Roots Pressure'' To Promote Light-Rail Route
The Whittier Daily News reports that Whittier city officials plan to use ''grass-roots pressure,'' not money spent hiring expensive consultants to promote a light-rail line that would run from East Los Angeles to Whittier. Councilman Owen Newcomer noted that an analysis had been done in the past, and that ''what Whittier needs to do is mobilize its residents.'' He described the effort as ''similar to the way the city successfully fought a proposal to build a state prison hospital at the former Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility.''
Meanwhile, other cities ''have formed a coalition and are planning to lobby Metro in favor of the line along the freeway,'' and some critics argue that Whittier should be better the Washington Boulevard line.
1/9/2010
Resource(s): www.whittierdailynews.com/
Long Beach Proactive in Becoming Bicycle Friendly
The City of Long Beach in southern California has become a leader in the region for creating a more bicycle friendly community. City Manager Pat West, a longtime cyclist, presided over a ceremony dedicating a bike sculpture in the city with the proclamation: ''Long Beach, the most bicycle friendly city in America.'' ''We may not be there yet… but we're striving for that,'' West said in this article in the Los Angeles Times.
Long Beach has collected over $17 million in state and federal grants the last couple years to improve its bike system through traffic improvements, education and a bike sharing program. Improvements include creating traffic circles on less-traveled streets and designating bike boulevards for preferred cyclist routes. In addition, the city is considering dedicating entire lanes of road to bicycles and replacing prime parallel parking spots with bike parking corals. Charles Gandy, the city's bike mobility coordinator notes that ''We can fit 15 customers where we used to fit one… This is about differentiating Long Beach from L.A. and Orange County.''
One of the more controversial projects the city implemented was creating a ''sharrow'' by painting an entire automobile lane green to remind drivers that bicyclist have the same right of way and that the road must be shared between the two modes of transportation. Although the sharrow was met with confusion at first, drivers have become more careful about the rights of bicyclists while bicyclists have become more consistent about where they ride. Gandy notes: ''We haven't given cyclists any more privileges than before the green stripe; we've just made it more obvious.''
1/26/2010
Resource(s): www.latimes.com/
Bike Friendly Café Opens in Oakland
A café catering to bicycle riders has opened in Oakland, creating a new neighborhood center in a low-income area of the city. KNTV, a news station based in the Bay Area, did an extensive interview with patrons and the owner of the café in this video. The café Shindig opened on what was a previously vacant site once home to a fishing bait store. Shindig includes mounting racks for riders to store their bikes, a bicycle powered television, and recycled furniture and light fixtures. The café’s owner, Sal Bednarz, hopes that the café will become a local meeting spot where neighbors interested in bicycle culture can meet together and be an example of how businesses can be both sustainable and profitable.
1/12/2010
Resource(s): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9pdoBq0Yyc#watch-main-area
DOE Announces $20.5 Million for Community Renewable Energy Projects
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has announced the selection of five projects to receive more than $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects, such as biomass, wind, and solar installations. These projects will promote investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs, help communities provide long-term renewable energy and save consumers money. They will also serve as models for other local governments, campuses, or small utilities to replicate, allowing other communities to design projects that fit their individual size and energy demands.
''Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio,'' said Secretary Chu. ''These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.''
The selected projects will be leveraged with approximately $167 million in local government and private industry funding. DOE estimates that these projects will provide enough clean, renewable energy to displace the emissions of approximately 10,700 homes.
Projects selected for awards include:
City of Montpelier (Montpelier, Vermont)
This project will further Montpelier's energy goals by supporting installation of a 41 MMBtu combined heat and power (CHP) district energy system fueled with locally-sourced renewable and sustainably-harvested wood chips. The CHP system will be sized to provide heating to the Vermont Capitol Complex, city owned schools, the City Hall Complex, and up to 156 buildings in the community's designated downtown district for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. By providing 1.8 million KWh of power to the grid, the system will maximize its operating efficiency and reduce thermal costs for users in the community. Montpelier will conduct outreach to encourage replication regionally and nationally through its project partners, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Veolia Energy North America. DOE share: $8,000,000.
Forest County Potawatomi Tribe (Forest County, Wisconsin)
The Forest County Potawatomi Tribe proposes to implement an integrated renewable energy deployment plan that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity for the Tribe's governmental buildings, displacing natural gas and propane. The renewable energy installations will include: a 1.25 MW biomass combined heat and power facility that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity; a biogas digester and 150 kW generation facility; three 100 kW wind turbines (788,400 kWh/year); and three dual-axis 2.88 kW solar PV panels (14,000 kWh/yr) located at the Tribe's Governmental Center. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Phillips County (Holyoke, Colorado)
This project proposes a community-owned 30 MW wind energy project with an ultimate goal to build a 650MW wind farm within Sedgwick, Phillips, and Logan counties in Northeastern Colorado. This project will impact the local economy by sharing the project's revenues with local landowners and other project participants, by generating local jobs, substantial property taxes, and providing clean renewable energy for the area's primary communities. Plans for sharing this ownership model are part of the business plan and will be coordinated with DOE to increase national delivery of the message. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) (Sacramento, California)
SMUD will install the state's first-ever ''Solar Highway,'' which will feature three PV system installations on 2 miles of highway right-of-ways (300kW of concentrating PV, and 400 and 800 kW of flat plate PV distributed at 2 sites), with total capacity of 1.5 MW. SMUD will also install a full scale co-digestion process of fats, oil, and grease (FOG) and liquid food processing waste with sewage to produce biogas with estimated power recovery of 1-3 MW, and install two low-NOx anaerobic digesters fed by two dairy facilities that will produce 500 kW of combined heat and power and generate 600 kW of electricity through a molten carbonate fuel cell. The projects will demonstrate that solar PV and anaerobic digesters can be readily implemented through collaborative partnerships, and avoid siting issues and transmission constraints that pose barriers to renewable energy capacity additions. SMUD will partner with the State of California (CEC, CalTrans, and CARB) and DOE to promote replication of their approaches, technologies, and implementation strategies statewide and nationally. DOE share: $5,000,000.
University of California at Davis (Davis, California)
UC Davis' proposed Waste-to-Renewable Energy (WTRE) system is one component of a campus oriented mixed housing and commercial development venture. The system would generate power from a renewable biogas fed fuel cell. The organic waste will enter a receiving station in which it can be collected and prepared for digestion. Once the appropriate mix has been created in buffer tanks, the waste will flow to the reactor where methanogenic bacteria will generate methane and carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. These gases will flow to the Bio-methane Upgrade System for hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide removal, so that cleanup is to a level appropriate for use in a fuel cell system, and the cleaned gas is stored. Housed alongside the WTRE system within the Community Energy Park will be an advanced storage battery and a 300kW fuel cell that will be fueled by the on-site biogas and provides electric power to West Village end-users. DOE share: $2,500,000.
1/21/2010
Resource(s): http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=290
DOE Announces $20.5 Million for Community Renewable Energy Projects
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has announced the selection of five projects to receive more than $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects, such as biomass, wind, and solar installations. These projects will promote investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs, help communities provide long-term renewable energy and save consumers money. They will also serve as models for other local governments, campuses, or small utilities to replicate, allowing other communities to design projects that fit their individual size and energy demands.
''Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio,'' said Secretary Chu. ''These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.''
The selected projects will be leveraged with approximately $167 million in local government and private industry funding. DOE estimates that these projects will provide enough clean, renewable energy to displace the emissions of approximately 10,700 homes.
Projects selected for awards include:
City of Montpelier (Montpelier, Vermont)
This project will further Montpelier's energy goals by supporting installation of a 41 MMBtu combined heat and power (CHP) district energy system fueled with locally-sourced renewable and sustainably-harvested wood chips. The CHP system will be sized to provide heating to the Vermont Capitol Complex, city owned schools, the City Hall Complex, and up to 156 buildings in the community's designated downtown district for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. By providing 1.8 million KWh of power to the grid, the system will maximize its operating efficiency and reduce thermal costs for users in the community. Montpelier will conduct outreach to encourage replication regionally and nationally through its project partners, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Veolia Energy North America. DOE share: $8,000,000.
Forest County Potawatomi Tribe (Forest County, Wisconsin)
The Forest County Potawatomi Tribe proposes to implement an integrated renewable energy deployment plan that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity for the Tribe's governmental buildings, displacing natural gas and propane. The renewable energy installations will include: a 1.25 MW biomass combined heat and power facility that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity; a biogas digester and 150 kW generation facility; three 100 kW wind turbines (788,400 kWh/year); and three dual-axis 2.88 kW solar PV panels (14,000 kWh/yr) located at the Tribe's Governmental Center. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Phillips County (Holyoke, Colorado)
This project proposes a community-owned 30 MW wind energy project with an ultimate goal to build a 650MW wind farm within Sedgwick, Phillips, and Logan counties in Northeastern Colorado. This project will impact the local economy by sharing the project's revenues with local landowners and other project participants, by generating local jobs, substantial property taxes, and providing clean renewable energy for the area's primary communities. Plans for sharing this ownership model are part of the business plan and will be coordinated with DOE to increase national delivery of the message. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) (Sacramento, California)
SMUD will install the state's first-ever ''Solar Highway,'' which will feature three PV system installations on 2 miles of highway right-of-ways (300kW of concentrating PV, and 400 and 800 kW of flat plate PV distributed at 2 sites), with total capacity of 1.5 MW. SMUD will also install a full scale co-digestion process of fats, oil, and grease (FOG) and liquid food processing waste with sewage to produce biogas with estimated power recovery of 1-3 MW, and install two low-NOx anaerobic digesters fed by two dairy facilities that will produce 500 kW of combined heat and power and generate 600 kW of electricity through a molten carbonate fuel cell. The projects will demonstrate that solar PV and anaerobic digesters can be readily implemented through collaborative partnerships, and avoid siting issues and transmission constraints that pose barriers to renewable energy capacity additions. SMUD will partner with the State of California (CEC, CalTrans, and CARB) and DOE to promote replication of their approaches, technologies, and implementation strategies statewide and nationally. DOE share: $5,000,000.
University of California at Davis (Davis, California)
UC Davis' proposed Waste-to-Renewable Energy (WTRE) system is one component of a campus oriented mixed housing and commercial development venture. The system would generate power from a renewable biogas fed fuel cell. The organic waste will enter a receiving station in which it can be collected and prepared for digestion. Once the appropriate mix has been created in buffer tanks, the waste will flow to the reactor where methanogenic bacteria will generate methane and carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. These gases will flow to the Bio-methane Upgrade System for hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide removal, so that cleanup is to a level appropriate for use in a fuel cell system, and the cleaned gas is stored. Housed alongside the WTRE system within the Community Energy Park will be an advanced storage battery and a 300kW fuel cell that will be fueled by the on-site biogas and provides electric power to West Village end-users. DOE share: $2,500,000.
1/21/2010
Resource(s): http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=290
Concerned About Public Safety, Seattle Mayor Wants to Rebuild Seawall Sooner Than Planned
Two weeks after taking office, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn surprised the City Council with a news-conference proposal to ask voters this May to approve $241 million in bonds for urgent replacement of the city’s crumbling seawall along the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
Completed in 1936, time-worn and additionally weakened by a 2001 earthquake, the often patched-up seawall is slated for full reconstruction by 2015 or 2016 as part of the state’s $4.2-billion project to replace the equally fatigued and vulnerable viaduct with a deep-bore two-level highway tunnel. Mayor McGinn, who opposed the tunnel option during his race last year, writes Seattle Times reporter Emily Heffter, sees seawall replacement as a separate issue that demands immediate attention because of ever-higher public safety risk. His proposal would raise property taxes about 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and ensure completion of the new, earthquake-resistant seawall at least one year earlier, by 2014.
Asked for clarification by a Seattle Times editorial and a City Council letter – signed by eight members, but not his political ally and fellow Sierra Club volunteer, newcomer Mike O’Brien – Mayor McGinn denied any link between his criticism of the tunnel and his call to speed up reconstruction of the seawall. ''We do indeed have a different opinion about the tunnel, but that disagreement should not stop us from fixing a public-safety risk right now,'' he told the council, whose support he needs to put the bond measure on the ballot.
Willing to delay the ballot from May to the August primary, he noted that his out-of-pocket paid opinion poll found 70 percent of respondents ready to vote for the property tax increase. He also stressed that bonds would bring in the money quickly, and that revenue from such sources as tax districts or parking taxes could spur other waterfront improvements, including pedestrian and biker-focused upgrades. In a Seattle Times guest column, the mayor reiterated his key point. ''The seawall isn’t related to the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement except as it relates to safety. Rather than tying these issues together, my intention is to separate them. Regardless of whether there is a tunnel in our future, the fact is that we need to replace the seawall. And even with the deep-bore tunnel, the plan has always been to replace the seawall first,'' he pointed out. ''I believe the seawall is vitally important. We can’t allow it to get caught up in the politics or long construction schedule of the tunnel.''
1/18/2010
Resource(s): http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Developer Pushes to Build Another 5,000 Homes in Central Oahu
Having finished the 40-year construction of 16,000-home Mililani Town in central Oahu two years ago, the Bakersfield, developer Castle & Cooke has asked the state Land Use Commission (LUC) to reclassify 768 rural acres nearby for another two master-planned and long-stalled projects, with 5,000 more dwellings.
Called Waiawa and Koa Ridge Makai, reports Honolulu Star-Bulletin writer Allison Schaefers, the projects would offer 1,500 and 3,500 housing units, respectively. The latter also would feature 500,000 square feet of commercial space, recreation centers, churches, parks and an elementary school. Expected to cost between $200,000 and $1 million, said Castle & Cooke Executive Vice President Bruce Barrett, the homes in the lower price range would provide more affordability for central Oahu, while the whole development could generate some 2,500 jobs and millions of dollars in state and Honolulu County revenue. ''We wanted to create an environment that draws people to the community and makes them want to stay there,'' he stressed, confident that ''smart growth'' will help temper traffic.
Residents, noted project manager Dean Minakami, would find most of what they need locally, including a central gathering place, shopping, entertainment, medical facilities, bike paths and other amenities. ''We took the best of Mililani,'' he said, ''and addressed the current needs of Central Oahu residents for a live, work and play community.''
Should it get all approvals and permits, the company could break ground in late 2012. Its officials have already formed a broad community ''visioning'' group to discuss local needs further, while a series of just launched public hearings, the writer observes, is bound to ''reopen old wounds and mend some old fences.'' Some area groups and businesses – including the Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board, Wahiawa General Hospital and Costco – favor the current plan. Others – such as the Mililani/Waipio/Malemanu Neighborhood Board and the Sierra Club of Hawaii – continue their strong opposition, resenting a misuse of agricultural land and predicting groundwater shortages, congested roads and overcrowded schools. ''Our main objection is the loss of important ag land, particularly when Oahu is talking about food self-sufficiency,'' said Sierra Club Director Robert Harris. ''This kind of growth is like a cancer,'' warned a neighborhood board member, retired Lt. Col. Ann Freed. ''Instead of keeping the density in town, they are spreading it out all over the island. The second-city concept didn’t work in Kapolei, and it won’t work here.''
1/22/2010
Resource(s): www.starbulletin.com/
Maui Plans Expansion of Wind Turbines Throughout the Island
Inspired by the 2009 New Partners for Smart Growth conference and by President Obama’s push for renewable energy, Maui County Council Vice-Chair Mike Molina introduced a bill to allow small wind turbines in all county zoning districts. ''This is just one small piece of the puzzle within the whole green movement to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels and significantly reduce greenhouse gases,'' Molina observed in this Maui News article. He added that the 2009 conference attendees ''were amazed with all of Hawaii’s sun and wind that we were so far behind on using this technology.''
The state is now getting 97 percent of its electricity from fossil sources, the most nationwide, while residents are paying the highest fuel prices because of transportation costs. This makes alternatives urgent, Molina said, adding that his bill is expected to pass by year’s end.
The County Mayor Charmaine Tavares, Planning Director Jeff Hunt and other officials have been moving in a similar direction, with provisions for small-scale renewable energy installations likely to become part of an updated and streamlined county code now in the works. That would augment the island’s large-scale wind farm projects, the writer reports, noting that Maui’s current land use rules allow small wind turbines only in agricultural districts, where they have recently been sprouting up, mostly at homes or businesses without close neighbors.
''Some people will object to the visual impact, I’m sure; but others will realize that this is a necessary step for us to lose our dependence on fossil fuels,'' commented Director Hunt on the effort to facilitate small wind turbines across the island. Maui Energy Co.’s President Leo Caires, who sold seven turbines last year, cites a number of consumer advantages. A typical 33-foot tall turbine generates 1 to 3 kilowatts at any moment but can produce between 100 and 100,000 under perfect wind conditions. Since the average home needs up to 400 kilowatt hours a month, its prospective electric-bill savings can reach from 50 to 80 percent. Small wind turbines and materials are available for $6,000 to $20,000, but application of a federal wind tax credit can reduce the purchase price by 30 percent. In addition, the combined federal and state solar system tax credits can cover up to 50 percent of the cost.
Molina says the bottom line is that his bill would boost the island’s economy, expanding small wind turbine sales, providing jobs, and reducing household utility bills in the long run, after the initial investment is paid off.
1/7/2010
Resource(s): www.mauinews.com/
Proposed Ascension Parish Comprehensive Plan Focuses on Smart Growth
Projecting Ascension Parish’s population of some 102,000 last year to nearly double by 2030, county leaders expect its new comprehensive plan to save unincorporated land from sprawl, concentrate most growth in service areas, and ensure both denser and better urban design. Drafted by Boulder, Colorado-based Winston Associates in a broad public input process, with help and a $100,000 grant from the Baton Rouge Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX), reports Baton Rouge Advocate writer David J. Mitchell, the smart-growth plan is now taking its final shape for prospective adoption by the Parish Council later this year.
Mindful of the fate of earlier parish master plans, insufficiently supported and largely disregarded, the writer observes, officials hoped for the latest public workshops to help attendees reconfirm their long-term development choices. “I want to see something that comes out of here that is workable, that we can implement and follow,” said Parish Councilman Benny Johnson, “and I think we’ve got good people working on it.”
Focused on a full range of issues, from growth concepts to basic livability elements such as sidewalks, the four-scenario plan anticipates investment of a few hundred million dollars into a regional sewage treatment system as a tool for directing growth. Designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the system delineates service boundaries for the comprehensive plan, which requires many inside dwellings to access the future sewer service and precludes individual package treatment plants elsewhere, effectively blocking major new outside subdivisions unless service areas are added, possibly by sharing the system-linkup costs.
Parish officials secured money to start construction of the main treatment plant, with developer bids scheduled for March, but a source of funds for the whole system remains uncertain. Also, Parish Planning Director Ricky Compton said that some of the plan’s provisions differ from what many may expect, that developers would have to bear part of county service costs, and that more people are leery of the impact than initially thought.
Nevertheless, the challenges must be met. “If we want to improve the quality of life in the parish, development is going to have to get more expensive,” he stressed. “I can agree to lose some battles but win this war.” Learn about the plan, its architects, and related work at www.planascension.org/Home.html.
1/10/2010
Resource(s): www.2theadvocate.com/ ; www.ascensionparish.net/
Federal Grant Allows Group to Advance Planning for 25-Mile Trail Link Between Three Downtowns
As the Lafayette City-Parish strives to ensure smart growth, it finds a keen ally in the Transportation Recreational Alternatives in Louisiana (T.R.A.I.L.) nonprofit, hard at work on its ambitious Atakapas-Ishak Trail initiative. Named after the old regional branch of Native Americans and pursued by T.R.A.I.L. President Scott Schilling since 2008, the 12-foot-wide biking and hiking trail will eventually link the Lafayette, Beaux and St. Martinville downtown areas, running for some 25 miles through forests and mostly open land, often along bayous now accessible only by foot or boat.
Aided by the Lafayette Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Rotary Club of Lafayette North, the three cities and many volunteers, reports Lafayette Independent weekly magazine, T.R.A.I.L. has recently secured a $100,000 per year grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Recreational Trail Program. Received through the Lafayette-based Community Foundation of Acadiana, the grant will help T.R.A.I.L advance design and engineering work, now focused on the trail’s first segment, from downtown Lafayette southeast to Beaver Park, Vermilionville, and the Jean Lafitte Cultural Center.
Encouraging readers to join the ranks of T.R.A.I.L. volunteers, the writer points to wider trail benefits. ''An opportunity to walk and bike as transportation encourages exercise, the use of mass transit, and reduces greenhouse gasses. Alternative transportation routes will also allow current residents of limited means access to resources and jobs previously unavailable to them,'' he writes. ''By simply developing safe bike paths and walkways, the Acadiana area will be on track to having an urban aesthetic that compliments its economic and cultural riches.''
1/26/2010
Resource(s): www.theind.com/ ; www.2theadvocate.com/
Online Smart Growth Course Required for Maryland Commissioners
An online course focusing on smart growth and planning is intended to help newly elected commissioners throughout the state gain a better understanding of smart growth and comprehensive planning, says the Cumberland Times-News. The education course is part of the Smart and Sustainable Growth Act of 2009, which lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to approve in March. The course is mandatory and can typically be completed in about 6 hours and is free for counties.
It is hoped that the course will help commissioners make better decisions about permitting development. Well-trained volunteer commissioners are seen as the front line in implementing smart growth principles on a local level. The course is not pass or fail but does allow for extensive review. In addition, the general public can access the complete course material at www.planning.maryland.gov.
1/3/2010
Resource(s): www.times-news.com/
Baltimore Launches Free Bus Circulator Program
Baltimore has launched a bus circulator program though its downtown area that is completely free. The Charm City Circulator consists of 21 hybrid electric buses operating seven days a week connecting major landmarks like the Inner Harbor and John Hopkins University.
The system comes at a time when many municipalities are cutting or reducing free service in downtown areas. For example, Portland, Oregon, had to start charging on its Fareless Square system to save money, while Seattle has cut back on offering free rides downtown to only rush hour.
The Charm City Circulator is financed by a 16 percent tax on parking. The city hopes by offering free service, it will break down the psychological barrier of spending hard cash on transportation, even if mass-transit is the cheaper option. The project has had strong support from the business and political community in Baltimore.
1/18/2010
Resource(s): www.wired.com/
Montgomery County Planning Board Lifts Building Ban in Two Dense Urban Areas
Given the Montgomery County Council’s tentative approval last November of a $27.5-million allocation for additional classrooms in the crowded Bethesda and Germantown school zones, the County Planning Board unanimously lifted their six-month development moratorium, criticized by some for undercutting smart growth.
Required by county law when school enrollment reaches a tipping point, reports the Washington Post, the moratorium was seen by opponents as being at odds with the county’s image, efforts to attract businesses and jobs, and the push for dense development near Bethesda metro stations. Though moratorium results are unclear, because the recession stymied the construction industry and its permit applications on its own, incoming Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce Chairman Patrick O’Neil blamed officials for ''a bad message'' anyway. ''It really was elevating by law one public policy over another, school capacity over smart growth and transit-oriented development,'' he said, now happy about their review of the school funding question and the end of the moratorium.
Still, County Board of Education President Patricia O’Neil cautioned that the issue is far from settled. ''We have submitted a robust capital improvement budget that meets the schools’ needs, not just the paper needs for the purpose of lifting the moratorium,'' she said about the requested $1.5 billion over six years. ''We can’t be playing games. We want it fully funded to take care of the children’s needs, not the developers’ needs.''
1/14/2010
Resource(s): www.washingtonpost.com/
New Restrictions on Impervious Surface Runoff under Industry and Local Assault
Slated to go into effect on March 4, tougher development runoff rules to protect streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay face a backlash from builders and some local officials who believe the rules are likely to induce sprawl rather than smart growth.
Called for by the state’s Stormwater Management Act of 2007, writes Baltimore Sun reporter Timothy B. Wheeler, the rules require ''environmental site design'' for new development in order to minimize impervious surfaces and let soil and vegetation absorb most stormwater instead of collecting it in tanks for subsequent piping to local creeks. There are somewhat eased standards for redevelopment projects.
Opponents want the state to change or delay the rules. ''For redevelopment, it’s going to be so expensive that it’s a whole lot better to go (build in) a cornfield somewhere,'' argued Maryland State Builders Association lawyer Michael C. Powell at a crowded MDE meeting, attended also by lawmakers and gubernatorial aides. He and others asked that projects already in the pipeline be exempt and that the redevelopment definition be widened, as some some urban-type projects are now excluded.
''In my opinion, no growth is not Smart Growth,'' said Kensington Mayor Peter C. Fosselman, complaining that he and other local officials would have to rewrite local laws and conduct more reviews and inspections while they struggle to balance their budgets. Environmentalists countered the arguments, pointing out that development is responsible for about a forth of Chesapeake Bay pollution, and that some governments elsewhere, including Philadelphia, have enacted similar or even stronger rules to reduce impervious-surface runoff.
MDE Deputy Secretary Robert M. Summers said department staff is reviewing the rules and House Environmental Matters Committee Democratic Chair Maggie McIntosh felt the General Assembly would make sure the stormwater runoff measure has no unintended side effects. ''We do not want to make it prohibitive or too costly to do urban or infill development,'' she stressed. ''That will not provide smart growth. It will do just the opposite.''
In a letter to the Sun, an MDE meeting participant, South River Federation Executive Director Erik Michelsen, rebuked developers for willful misrepresentation of the runoff requirements. ''In almost every case study presented, developers claimed the new regulations would cut into the density of their development,'' he wrote. ''What they failed to acknowledge is that the new regulations have a flexibility that allows for off-site mitigation or for the developer to pay a ‘fee-in-lieu’ if stormwater management can’t reasonably be handled on the site. Density can still be achieved, smart growth can be preserved, but dollars will be passed to the local governments to assist with targeted restoration of degraded creeks and streams.''
See the 2007 law details at www.mde.state.md.us/Programs/WaterPrograms/SedimentandStormwater/swm2007.asp.
1/18/2010
Resource(s): www.baltimoresun.com/
Medway, Massachusetts, Looks To Become State-Designated ''Green Community''
Medway, Massachusetts, ''is going green in order to save some green,'' reports The Milford Daily News. As part of ''an effort to become more competitive for state grants and save money on utilities,'' Medway is striving to become a state-designated 'green community.'''
Medway must meet several criteria in order to achieve this designation, according to the article. First, Medway ''must revise its zoning bylaws to allow alternative energy generation facilities and renewable energy manufacturing facilities in designated locations.'' It must also develop both an expedited permitting process and a policy that addresses fuel-efficient vehicles. The town ''will have to establish an energy inventory of all municipal buildings and put in place a program to reduce energy use by 20 percent throughout the next five years.'' Finally, Medway must require all residential construction more than 3,000 square feet and all new commercial or industrial construction to reduce energy costs.
1/25/2010
Resource(s): www.milforddailynews.com/
Farmland Preservation Helps Agriculture, Frees Funds for Urban Reinvestments
Although some real estate agents, home builders and others threatened Kent County commissioners with ''a political cost'' for approving preservation of 25,000 of the county’s 170,000 rural acres in years ahead, the program passed on a 13-6 vote last month. Despite ''cruel'' economic times and budgetary cuts, the Grand Rapids Press Editorial Board notes, commissioners set aside $275,000 in seed money for the program this year, expecting to leverage almost $4 million in matching grants from foundations and other groups, with about three dozen farms, which have already applied for aid, ready to keep a total of 3,000 acres undeveloped.
''This isn’t just a program for rural Kent County. It also helps Grand Rapids and other cities, which for too long have been hurt by systematic disinvestment,'' the editorial board points out. ''Farmland preservation can help direct smart growth to where expensive infrastructure, including water, sewer, road and services, already exists.''
Another big plus is job creation, the board says, citing a recent report from Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute. According to the report, West Michigan farming is a $2.4 billion business, providing 26,000 jobs and $579 million in labor income for Kent and seven nearby counties, with another 5 percent growth in sales expected to add 1,300 jobs, $120 million in agricultural output, and $5.2 million in tax revenue. ''Once the benefits of preservation start mounting,'' the editorial board concludes, ''many residents will stop asking 'why?' and start wondering, 'What took us so long?'''
1/3/2010
Resource(s): www.mlive.com/
Department of State Seeks American Corporate Engagement at World Urban Forum
Preparing its agenda for the United Nations’ fifth World Urban Forum (WUF V) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, March 22-26, the Department of State expects the American contingent to include many private-sector participants, especially from companies engaged in urban planning, sustainable architecture, information technology, economic development or smart growth. More than half of the world’s population already lives in cities, with 70 percent projected by 2050, says the Department of State in an invitation to private sector, stressing the need ''to make urban growth environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, and economically valuable.''
Focused this year on the theme The Right to the City – Bridging the Urban Divide, the forum is ''a premier international opportunity to discuss business applications, successes, and lessons learned'' among governmental, non-governmental and corporate decision-makers addressing ''challenges and opportunities presented by urban development on the global scale.'' Speaking to the 2008 Nanjing forum, Brazilian Consul General Marcos Caramuru de Paiva told delegates all these challenges and opportunities demand joint action. ''Our home planet is only one,'' he said. ''We change addresses but consume the same globalized products, we travel the same way, we use the same natural resources and we develop together.''
1/27/2010
Resource(s): www.state.gov/
DOT-HUD-EPA Partnership Looks to Boost Investment in Smart Growth
The first administration to make smart growth a federal policy, President Obama entrusted its implementation to the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which created an interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities last June and now work to inject some $667 million more into the economic foundation for a ''cleaner and greener'' America.
With nothing more important now than creating jobs, wrote DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a Seattle Times guest column at the start of the 9th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, February 4-6, ''(w)e need communities where residents have easy access to jobs; where there are clean, reliable options for transportation to work and school; where housing is affordable and energy efficient; and where clean and renewable energy is abundant.''
To help that happen, they wrote, HUD is launching its Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, with $140 million in planning and challenge grants for innovation, and with funds for a new program to lower homeowner utility bills by allowing inclusion of home-energy upgrade costs in mortgages. Simultaneously, DOT is proposing $527 million to let its Office of Livable Communities fund low-income neighborhood transit expansion or similar initiatives, and offer state and local transportation agencies grants for more transportation choices that spur economic development. And the EPA Office of Sustainable Communities is strengthening its work with HUD, DOT, state and local officials ''to ensure that unprecedented investments in clean-water infrastructure support existing communities, create jobs, protect vital resources like the Puget Sound, and strengthen our country’s foundation for prosperity.''
Though the government ''can set the pace for change and provide critical funding support,'' LaHood, Donovan and Jackson pointed out, the initiative is not the government’s alone. ''We are looking to emulate Seattle and regions across America that for years have provided leadership and support, innovative ideas and partnerships, and a long-term commitment to building livable, economically competitive communities,'' they stressed. ''Working together, we can provide consumers and communities with the sustainable housing and transportation choices they need to build a stronger future for our country.''
2/3/2010
Resource(s): http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
PBS Series Looks at National Planning
Professor Robert Fishman, an urban design and planning professor at the University of Michigan, writes about the impact of national planning in the United States for Blue Print America a documentary airing on PBS that tries to understand the future of transportation and urban planning in the United States.
In his article, “1808 – 1908 – 2008: National Planning for America,” Professor Fishman notes that it is a commonly held misconception that urban planning is not conducted on a national scale in the United States. Instead, Fishman argues, national planning has played a prominent role in America’s urban history and that the federal government itself was re-created after the Articles of Confederation to allow greater participation in infrastructure planning. The two main pieces of legislation Fishman discusses in this article are the 1808 Gallatin Plan that was responsible for the creation of federally backed roads and canals; and Theodore Roosevelt’s 1908 set of conservation and transportation initiatives that, in Fisherman’s words, ''guided the 20th century.''
Fishman’s article is an interesting look at the history of what has been traditionally been a behind-the-scenes for in the United States. National planning has played a profound role in history—from providing cheap land and rail road access to farmers, to building the infrastructure that helped create the Sunbelt during the depths of the depression. Federal planning has been a tremendous force in the United States, and Fishman notes that it continues to be one of the major forces shaping local and state urban policy. He concludes his article by wondering what the future may hold, and who will rise up with the leadership necessary implement a bold new plan for America’s future.
1/8/2010
Resource(s): www.pbs.org/
HUD Secretary: Nation Must Debunk 'Drive to Qualify' Myth and Connect Housing to Jobs
Communities nationwide may inscribe various local meanings to ''sustainability,'' said Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan at the 9th Annual New Partners Smart Growth Conference in Seattle, but their common question is how to ''meet the needs of today without compromising the futures of their children and grandchildren.''
Outlining HUD efforts to ''tie the quality and location of housing to broader opportunities such as access to good jobs, quality schools, and safe streets,'' and to reverse frequent perception of the federal government as ''a barrier to smart growth rather than a partner in smart growth,'' Secretary Donovan said it’s no coincidence the sudden 2008 recession often hit hardest the neighborhoods farther away from transportation, good schools and economic possibilities. ''For all the implications of 'sprawl' – from job loss and economic decline, to alarming obesity, asthma rates and segregation, to the loss of habitat and global warming, to our dangerous dependence on foreign oil – all of them are driven by one fundamental problem: The mismatch between where we live and where we work,'' he told a session moderated by a Smart Growth pioneer, former EPA Development, Community and Environment Division (DCED) head and now District of Columbia Office of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning.
''Whatever else we do to address these problems, America must find a way to connect housing to jobs.'' With the average household spending over half of its budget on housing and transportation, and with businesses unable to compete globally without workers who can afford to live nearby, the secretary observed, few of the recently numerous market failures ''have been as catastrophic or had as many economic and environmental consequences as 'Drive to Qualify,''' a blunder facilitated by real estate agents and mortgage lenders.
Since ''the beltways and highways that drove investment away from the urban core and connected employment centers outside city limits were built by the federal government,'' the federal government must now rectify the results through a ''New Federalism Attuned to Place.'' President Obama, the secretary continued, has already moved ahead – by signing the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) last year to create jobs and brace the economy, by ordering the first agency review of all federal policies since the early 1980s to see whether they encourage or obstruct ''locally-driven, integrated and place-conscious solutions,'' and by requiring agencies to forge unprecedented-scale partnerships.
One such partnership is the HUD-DOT-EPA sustainability partnership. Rooted in six Livability Principles, to provide more housing and transportation choices and to lay the foundation for a new economy, the partnership reflects the federal government’s determination to speak ''with one voice'' on housing, transportation and environmental policy. The task isn’t to tell communities ''what to do or how to do it,'' but to offer them the resources and tools to help them realize their own visions for achieving the outcomes we all want, Secretary Donovan said, announcing a new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities as “the center-point of all HUD’s sustainability efforts.” Overseen by HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims – a Washington State native, three-term King County executive, strong advocate of Smart Growth, and the department’s ''Designated Silo Buster'' – the office, with $200 million this year, will be led by Director Shelley Poticha, formerly with the Transportation for America and Reconnecting America nonprofits.
Inviting multi-jurisdictional and multi-sector partnerships and consortia to compete for the office’s planning and challenge grants, the secretary urged their regions to build the capacity to integrate not only economic development, land use, transportation, and water infrastructure investments, but also workforce development with transit-oriented development.
Among the office’s new tools, currently under development, will be one to measure where a home is located in relation to jobs, schools and transportation – an ''Affordability Index'' that will affect many HUD formulas to ensure distribution of federal money according to ''the true affordability of a home.'' An expanded Energy Efficient Mortgage and a new Transportation-Efficient Mortgage will be based on the fundamental premise that markets work best when consumers and communities get sound information, and that ''by making information on utility and transportation costs widely available, we can drive a much broader scale of change than government ever could alone, ensuring that we never again foster a culture of 'Drive to Qualify.'''
Committed to change, Secretary Donovan said he sees his department’s entire budget of nearly $44 billion as bound to advance sustainability, intending to use its every dollar ''to put more power in the hands of communities and more choices in the hands of consumers,'' especially those in older industrial city cores, where recession voided 15 years of revitalization gains in just months. ''The sharp decline after years of progress was magnified in minority communities – where African Americans and Latinos have experienced not only a drop in homeownership rates and lost billions in wealth, but also suffered disproportionate declines in public health, educational and economic opportunities,'' the secretary stressed. ''These developments point to a broader challenge facing localities: that you can’t have a truly sustainable community if you promote segregated development patterns and concentrated poverty.''
HUD’s new Choice Neighborhood demonstration will soon commence to prove that neighborhoods can achieve a new kind of sustainability, ''bringing to bear private capital and mixed-use, mixed income tools'' to transform all their housing. As this requires revision of HUD’s fair housing policies, largely unchanged since the 1968 passage of the Fair Housing Act, HUD Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity John Trasvina, in consultation with Deputy Secretary Sims, is ''adopting a broader definition of fair housing that includes not only the racial makeup of housing, but also its orientation to opportunity – to public transportation and job centers.'' Calling the new approach ''Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,'' Secretary Donovan said he and Deputy Sims have instructed Director Poticha to work with Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development Mercedes Marquez ''toward that end as we develop HUD’s new Consolidated Plan.''
Noting that the ''sprawling of the American landscape was decades in the making – its remaking won’t happen overnight,'' and that he and Deputy Sims bring different perspectives to the issues – he from the east coast and the New York City level; the deputy, from the West and the King County level – Secretary Donovan highlighted their shared viewpoint. ''One thing that drives us both is a belief that when you choose a home, you don’t just choose a home. You also choose transportation to work and to school. You choose public safety for your children. You choose a community – and the choices available in that community,'' he said. ''A belief that our children’s futures should never be determined – or their choices limited – by their zip code.''
2/4/2010
Resource(s): http://portal.hud.gov/ ; http://7thspace.com/
Suburbs as Art
Christoph Gielen is a German artist who has a fascination with the perfect geometries of America’s suburbs, creating an exhibit piece documenting the most artistic among them. His art consists of high-quality aerial photographs of America’s suburbs, along with commentary on how artificial and unsustainable the suburbs really are. When viewed from a helicopter, it is an interesting contradiction to see highly rational geometric suburbs within the context of unplanned and unnatural sprawl.
Gielen notes, ''I hope to trigger a reevaluation of our built environment and the methods of its development, to ask: What can be considered a viable, ecologically sound growth process?''
A slideshow of his work can be seen at the link below.
1/14/2010
Resource(s): www.metropolismag.com/
Federal Grants for High-Speed Rail Promise Jobs and 21st Century Transportation System
In ''an absolute game-changer for American transportation,'' the $8 billion from the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program has now been awarded to jump-start long envisioned and delayed rail projects, said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. LaHood made the statement as he welcomed President Obama and Vice President Biden in Tampa, Florida, where they announced $1.25 billion for a 168-mile-per-hour Tampa-Orlando line. 31 states and the District of Columbia will receive awards, LaHood said. ''In addition to 13 corridor investments, we are also awarding several grants for improvement projects and planning. These efforts on existing routes and emerging corridors will lay the groundwork for future high-speed and intercity rail development.''
The highest grant, $2.25 billion, will spur construction of a 220-mile-per-hour Los Angeles-San Francisco line. Other top grants to boost regional connections will go to following rail projects: Eugene-Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, B.C. – $598 million; St. Louis-Chicago – $1.1 billion; Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago – $822 million; Detroit/Pontiac-Chicago – $244 million; Cleveland-Cincinnati – $400 million; Charlotte-Richmond-Washington, D.C. – $620 million; the Baltimore-Boston corridor – $112 million; and other Northeast corridors – $371 million.
Secretary LaHood pledged that passenger rail will become more efficient across the country, with high-speed rail offering competitive trip times, reducing both congestion and carbon emissions on key inter-city routes, and creating jobs. ''High-speed rail will create jobs now and for the foreseeable future,'' he elaborated on his department’s web page, citing commitment from more than 30 companies to launch or expand rail-related production if they win contracts for portions of the grant money. Those will be jobs in ''planning rail networks; designing, producing, an laying miles and miles of track; building, installing, maintaining, and operating equipment; constructing or upgrading stations, tunnels, and bridges; and operating the routes,'' the secretary wrote, stressing, ''And let’s be clear about this: that $8 billion will do its job-creation work right here in America.''
1/28/2010
Resource(s): www.whitehouse.gov/
Study Says Poverty Increasing in Suburbs
A new study by the Brookings Institute concludes that America’s suburbs have become home to the largest and fastest-growing poor population in the country. Between 2000 and 2008, poor populations increased in the suburbs by 25 percent, five times that seen in the inner city and smaller towns. Suburbs in cities with a heavy emphasis on manufacturing, especially those in the Midwest, saw the largest increase in poverty within the suburbs, while those in the Northeast actually experiencing a slight decline. Sunbelt cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix were some of the worst hit by the recession. Because of high unemployment rates in these areas, the report’s authors believe that the Sunbelt will experience the greatest increase in poverty over the next two years.
1/20/2010
Resource(s): www.brookings.edu/
Blog Examines Cities with Low Car-Ownership Rates
An article on the Human Transit blog looks at the three common factors that determine which cities in the United States have a lower rate of car-ownership. The author, public transit planning consultant Jarrett Walker, notes that different areas of cities may have different rates of car ownership and that it can be difficult to gain an actual picture of what is going on based on city-wide statistics. However, even with this caveat, three major factors can be determined in car-ownership rates: high rates of poverty, dominate universities, and the age when the majority of the city was built out.
The most common factor was age. Older cities often were built in a era before the automobile and continue to sustain an urban fabric that is unfriendly to automobiles. In addition, higher rates of poverty and established universities often are found in these older areas. The author notes that because older cities were designed for pedestrians, they exhibit a lower rate of car-ownership and that ''density + design'' might serve as a solution to getting more people out of their cars.
1/20/2010
Resource(s): www.humantransit.org/
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Group to Examine City's Sustainability
Portsmouth residents will help craft a new sustainable vision for the city over the next few months through the Sustainable Portsmouth initiative, reports the Portsmouth Herald.
Sustainable Portsmouth is ''an effort led by volunteers who seek to engage the community in a transformation of the way the city handles a wide range of environmental and energy issues.'' The seeds of the initiative were sewn ''following the 2005 master plan to create a more sustainable Portsmouth,'' and formally launched last fall. ''It has involved residents, business owners and those directly involved in the city government. To reach that goal, organizers have a five-year plan that residents in study circles will be helping to craft.''
1/25/2010
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/
Bill to Delay Stronger Water Quality Safeguards Can Undercut Smart Growth
''Smart growth has gotten a lot of lip service over the last 10 years,'' says a Newark Star-Ledger editorial, joining major New Jersey environmental groups in criticizing fast-track legislation to make the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wait another two years to implement its already delayed 2008 water quality management rule. The rule would let DEP restrict development if the necessary septic systems or sewer line extensions encroached on wetlands, brownfields or other fragile sites.
DEP, noted Star-Ledger writer Brian T. Murray a few days earlier, has previously extended the rule’s initial implementation deadline from April 2009 to April 2010, to give counties time for updates of their wastewater management plans. Now Senate Democratic Deputy Majority Leader Paul Sarlo and others have quietly moved to set the deadline for April 2012. ''At this time, 20 out of 21 counties are nowhere near complete with their plans and cannot comply with the requirements,'' explained Senator Sarlo’s chief of staff Chris Ellert. ''They have to engage consultants and engineers to comply with these plans at a time when budgets are tight. This is another unfunded mandate.''
The business-based Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition doesn’t like the tougher DEP water management rule at all. ''We think it’s a terrible way to manage land use in this state,'' complained its founder Ted Zangari, ''to do so by determining where sewer service extensions are applied or not.'' In contrast, conservationists deplore any further delay of the rule. ''This legislation will freeze the water quality protections adopted in 2008 for three years,'' pointed out New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel. ''In the meantime, it’s business as usual to pave over New Jersey by letting developers run sewers everywhere. There also is a clause by which they will grandfather all projects coming in from now and until the freeze expires, creating more sprawl.'' He and other environmental leaders describe the timing of the bill as a ''stealth'' move that lawmakers expected to be overlooked during the holiday season.
The Star-Ledger editorial agrees that Senator Sarlo’s legislation can ''dumb down'' smart growth. ''Elected officials and developers shake their heads over vanishing farmland, congested roads and crowded schools, not to mention overtaxed water and sewage systems. They all vow to do better,'' it observers. ''So what happens when the state attempts to implement a rule to bring sense to haphazard development? Lawmakers – when they think no one is looking – kick it to the curb.''
1/4/2010
Resource(s): http://blog.nj.com/ ; www.nj.com/
Governor Corzine Leaves Office with Mixed Environmental Record
On his last day in office January 19, Democratic Governor Jon Corzine made smart-growth advocates both seethe and cheer – first, by signing a bill to extend the July 2010 expiration date for frozen builder permits until July 2012, then by vetoing a bill to delay implementation of stronger water quality safeguards from this April to the next.
Stopped by the Permit Extension Act of 2008, reports Newark Star-Ledger writer Brian T. Murray, the expiration clock for permits that would otherwise have expired by January 2007 was set to resume clicking this July, with the expectation of sufficient economic improvements by then to spark construction and new jobs. Now it will remain idle for two more years. The business-based Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition’s founder Ted Zangari applauded the bill’s enactment. ''Developers and businesses spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and multiple years getting dozens of permits on their projects, only to be met by a terrible recession,'' he said. ''They are now going to be able to keep those approvals on ice until the first sign of life on the market, rather than have to start anew.''
New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF) Campaign Director David Pringle countered that lawmakers let builders ''take advantage of the economic mess'' by skirting any stronger environmental, public health and land use protections enacted since 2007. ''If it was just to protect projects hurt by bad economic times,'' he observed, ''they could have drafted a bill that would extend those permits for projects that meet any new environmental standards.''
Conversely, Governor Corzine’s rejection of the bill (S2985/A4345) to delay tougher water quality protection for another year buoyed all who urge change, with the Star-Ledger Editorial Board calling it a ''victory for smart growth.'' Beginning in April, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will implement its July 2008 regulations, which enable it to restrict development if proposed septic systems or sewer line extensions would affect wetlands, wildlife habitat or other fragile tracts. ''Smart growth depends on exactly this kind of planning. For too long, New Jersey has allowed haphazard development without concern for wetlands, brownfields or other environmentally sensitive areas. DEP, for its part, has responded to requests from individual counties for deadline extensions, and even provides $200,000 to help counties pay for planning costs,'' the Editorial Board pointed out. ''It’s time for county officials to live up to the goals of smart growth and start planning for the future.''
1/20/2010
Resource(s): www.nj.com/ ; http://blog.nj.com/
Post-Hurricane Katrina Cottages Enter Mainstream Affordable-Housing Movement in New York
First designed by New Urbanism practitioners Andres Duany and Steve Mouzon as a much more livable alternative to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, ''Katrina Cottages'' have since won many industry and public champions. The cottages are now becoming a model for green, highly affordable, flood-resistant housing on Long Island.
In March 2010, reports The New York Times, Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County will begin work on its first Katrina cottage in Islip, hoping to build another three or four this year. The 918-square-foot Craftsman-style cottage on an undersized vacant lot received from the town last year will include a small foyer, a living room, an eat-in kitchen, a closet area with a laundry room, two bedrooms and a wheelchair-accessible bath. It will also feature solar panels, low-maintenance vinyl siding and ENERGY STAR appliances, though no air-conditioning.
At an estimated cost of about $100,000 with volunteer labor, Islip’s Community Development Agency (CDA) Executive Director Paul Fink feels the cottage ''will wind up being less expensive than rent'' for many applicants. The winner of the cottage will be selected by a lottery from a pool of earners making no more than 50 percent of the area median income – $47,700 for a family of two. He hopes the town will eventually see some 10 new such cottages each year.
Over the past 30 years, nonprofits like the Long Island Housing Partnership (LIHP) have built about 1,200 affordable homes in Islip. Depending on federal and state subsidies, they cost between $145,000 and $245,000, observed LIHP Executive Vice President Diana Weir, calling Katrina cottages a ''great alternative'' for smaller households. That’s the affordable market segment Director Fink wants to help. “If we look at who is applying to our lotteries, we have more and more smaller families over the last few years,'' he said. ''We have far more single parents and far more single individuals looking to buy a house.''
CDA Chairman Christopher D. Bodkin, who introduced the Katrina cottage idea, and Islip Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Eugene Murphy, who endorsed it enthusiastically, look forward to the first cottage. ''Besides its affordability, it’s a smaller house and it fits into the community,'' stressed Commissioner Murphy. ''It is meant as good starter housing to get people out of basements. For what they pay for rent, they can build equity in a house.''
Habitat for Humanity architect Ed Miller and his colleagues glanced at a Lowe’s catalogue for general outlines, but the cottage design is their own. ''The house is small, but it has nice curb appeal, a nice big porch that a family can sit on, going back to the old days when you could sit on the front porch and talk to your neighbors,'' the architect said, promising to give each new cottage ''its own unique look.''
Learn more about Katrina cottages at www.katrinacottages.com.
1/7/2010
Resource(s): www.nytimes.com/
Crosland Banks on Charlotte Light Rail for Its Urban Village Near Scaleybark Station
Since the 9.6-mile LYNX light-rail line between uptown Charlotte and I-485 at South Boulevard opened in November 2007, its monthly ridership has averaged 15,000. In fact, the 10 millionth rider boarded a train last month. These feats are being closely watched by builders eager to capitalize on transit-oriented development once the market improves, with at least one on the move now.
The Crosland real estate company, reports the Charlotte Observer is readying a design for a 36-acre, mixed-use Crosland Greens urban village near the Scaleybark light-rail station, some three miles southwest of uptown. The first-phase groundbreaking is expected later this year. Crosland chief financial officer Stephen H. Mauldin, said his company coordinated its urban village design with a similar mixed-use project planned by Pappas Properties directly across the boulevard, to ensure a cohesive look for development in the Scaleybark Transit District.
Starting with commercial and office space, Crosland Greens, zoned for a minimum density of 17 units per acre, will eventually feature about 700 residences – apartments, condos, townhouses and single-family homes, affordable for all income earners. Also including a grocery store, small shops, restaurants and other services, the village will encourage residents to walk and meet their needs locally without driving elsewhere. Crosland officials, the writer adds, promise to make Crosland Greens a leading-edge example of sustainable development planning and practices.
1/25/2010
Resource(s): www.charlotteobserver.com/
Charlotte Seeks Federal Grant for Streetcar System Construction
With the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) listing a 10-mile Charlotte streetcar line among key priorities in its 2025 plan, the City Council voted 7-4 to seek a $25-million federal grant to build the line’s initial 1.5-mile uptown segment. The request is opposed by one Democrat and all three Republicans on the Council.
The Obama administration has recently let the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provide matching funds for streetcar projects, capping such grants at $25 million per city, reports the Charlotte Observer. The uptown segment of the streetcar line is expected to cost some $37 million, which means Charlotte would have to spend at least $12 million or more if it got a smaller grant. To be on safe ground, City Manager Curt Walton has identified $24 million the city could use – $2.5 million set aside for streetcar design and engineering, $10.5 million from the economic development budget, $7 million from a business corridor revitalization fund, and $4 million in “smart growth” funds.
Democratic Mayor Anthony Foxx, a former two-term council member and vocal streetcar advocate, is hoping for the best. “For every local dollar that goes into the grant, we get two federal dollars back,” he said, with CATS officials estimating ridership for the 1.5-mile uptown segment – which would tie into LYNX light-rail tracks – at 950 daily trips in the first year, and for the whole 10-mile line at 16,000 by 2030.
“Implementing the Charlotte Streetcar Project will spur economic development along a key Charlotte corridor, supporting local neighborhoods and connecting diverse areas of the city with the downtown business center,” points out CATS on its web site, calling the project an economic engine. “It will enhance connectivity between regional transit corridors, connect Charlotte’s two downtown transportation hubs, and reduce short inner-city auto trips, parking demand and vehicle emissions.”
On the day of the council’s vote, a Charlotte Observer editorial noted that Democrats, some from neighborhoods on the streetcar route, stress its potential to attract development. It also cautioned against missing the opportunity for federal aid. “Some people don’t think the streetcar is a good idea to start with. Some people think any transit spending is wasteful. We disagree,” the editorial said. “The need for good public transit will only grow stronger as the city grows, traffic worsens, gas prices rise and the city struggles to escape its auto-generated ozone pollution problem.”
Learn more about the streetcar and other CATS plans at www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/Rapid+Transit+Planning/Center+City/Home.htm.
1/25/2010
Resource(s): www.charlotteobserver.com/
Ohio Land Bank Works with Fannie Mae in Troubled Neighborhoods
The Cuyahoga County Land Bank is working with Fannie Mae to acquire and restore foreclosed properties throughout the Cleveland metropolitan area, according to a Smart Growth America blog. The two agencies worked out an agreement allowing Fannie Mae to sell the Cuyahoga County Land Bank houses for only a dollar while also making available $3,500 for demolition if the home is unsalvageable. This deal presents a win-win for both agencies: Fannie Mae no longer need to pay maintenance for foreclosed properties and the land bank can prevent homes from being bought up by speculators, reducing market supply bringing it to a more sustainable level for actual demand. Housing prices would be able to stabilize, reducing the number of foreclosures and preventing further property value decline. If successful in Cuyahoga County, Fannie Mae hopes to expand this pilot plan to other distressed communities.
1/7/2010
Resource(s): http://blog.smartgrowthamerica.org/
Legislative Task Force Revives State Focus to Improve Transportation in Ohio
Created by House Speaker Armond Budish and 20 other Democratic co-sponsors in March 2009, the bipartisan Compact with Ohio Cities Task Force has released its 20-point urban redevelopment and smart growth report. The report urges extra incentives to help cities regain residents and businesses and seeks a dedicated funding source for transit.
''We are saying that we need to start offering incentives that give preferential treatment to development that reuses our existing infrastructure, not building new greenfield development out in rural areas,'' said Task Force Chairman, Cleveland Representative Michael Foley. Cities, he pointed out, have long been at a disadvantage, with 87 of the state’s 88 counties offering tax breaks and other financial incentives for new development.
Westlake Republican Representative Nan Baker agreed with her Democratic colleague. ''Urban centers do need to succeed in order for the areas that surround them to succeed, so I do support that thought process,'' she said. ''We do need to make sure that it’s truly a genuine partnership between the cities and the suburbs and that everyone has a place at the table.''
The task force, note Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Aaron Marshall and Toledo Blade Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Provance, also stressed the need to advance related measures already in the pipeline. They include a six-month moratorium on home foreclosures and creation of county land banks, such as only Cuyahoga County has, to purchase vacant and foreclosed properties for redevelopment. Both bills are delayed in the Republican-controlled Senate. In addition, the task force called for renewal and expansion of the Third Frontier investment in high-tech and biomedical research and job creation, and recommended legislation to allow formation of multi-jurisdictional, public-private ''transportation innovation authorities'' (TIAs), which would raise revenue for key road, bridge, rail and other transportation projects.
Promising to make TIAs a priority in his caucus this year, House Speaker Budish emphasized that to discourage sprawl, they should be focused on areas with existing infrastructure, including roads, rail, water and sewer lines, utilities and other services. ''The preference is for jobs to come back to the urban communities,'' he reiterated. ''Getting people to their places of work and around the cities is really important.''
1/12/2010
Resource(s): http://blog.cleveland.com/ ; http://toledoblade.com
Lehigh Valley Must Act Regionally for Economic Vitality and Sustainability
Dedicated to regionalism, urban revitalization, and smart growth in Lehigh and Northampton counties, the Bethlehem-based Renew Lehigh Valley (RenewLV) nonprofit is planning a grassroots lobbying campaign. The campaign will push for approval of a proposed joint health department, a public forum on the advantages of passenger rail and multimodal transportation, and creation of a regional water council to ensure sustainable management of water and wastewater services.
Since 1959, when Call-Chronicle Newspapers Managing Editor W.D. Reimert first blamed fragmentation of the valley’s governance for its fiscal and service inefficiencies, the valley has gained statewide recognition for its ''strong regional identity and a culture of regional cooperation,'' writes RenewLV Executive Director Steven Bliss in an Allentown Morning Call guest opinion, concerned that despite significant progress, fragmentation persists. ''With 68 municipalities, 46 police departments and 17 school districts, the Lehigh Valley is still far from realizing Reimert’s vision of regional thinking,'' the RenewLV executive director observes, pointing to key opportunities for advancement in 2010.
The establishment of the bi-county Lehigh Valley Health Department, the first of its kind statewide, would become '' a national model for how a region can draw together'' to work for healthier individuals, families and communities, he writes, with his group intending to urge constituents to contact elected officials in support of this health care partnership.
Similarly, forthcoming release of a passenger-rail-restoration feasibility study, funded by both counties and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., should help communities explore the benefits of ''a balanced transportation system that better supports alternative modes of mobility, such as rail, bus, walking and biking'' – all subjects of the planned RenewLV forum in the first half of the year. And given recent study findings that regional consolidation of water and wastewater infrastructure could save the valley between $40 million and $60 million a year by 2020, the group will be working with various private and public sector partners to help it happen.
Regional cooperation ''is no quick fix,'' but ''the stakes are real,'' Bliss concludes, stressing that regionalism is about ensuring ''an economically vibrant region,'' with a high quality of life, a strong urban core, and a joint approach to common challenges.
1/2/2010
Resource(s): www.mcall.com/
Tennessee Conservation Voters Urge Lawmakers to Strengthen Environmental Protections for Better Economy
In a state as reliant on its beauty, biological diversity and tourism as Tennessee, it’s time for elected leaders to “both understand and honor” the importance of natural treasures for its economy, way of life and public health, says Tennessee Conservation Voters (TCV) Executive Director Chris Ford. At the onset of the new decade, Ford writes in a Tennessean guest opinion, the Tennessee General Assembly must begin to protect natural resources “in a sustainable manner that doesn’t divorce strong economic development from strong environmental protection.”
Accordingly, he calls on lawmakers to focus on five priority tasks: 1) to restore dedicated real estate transfer tax allocations for the Wetlands Fund, State Land Acquisition Fund, Local Parks and Recreation Fund, and Agriculture Resources Trust Fund; 2) to preserve water quality and oppose efforts to weaken stream and river protection; 3) to ban mountain top removal by restricting issuance of permits for coal-mining operations that could alter ridgelines and pollute streams; 4) to improve air quality through measures to regulate open burning and aerial spraying, while promoting renewable energy bills; and 5) to safeguard environmental outlays in a difficult economy and fight to keep enforcement, park and other conservation positions.
“As always, we will continue furthering proposals positive to our cause and working to defeat ones harmful to our goals, not only in the five priority areas above,” the TCV executive director pledges. “We ask Tennesseans to work to protect our way of life for the future, one that includes positive economic growth, strong environmental protection and a sustainable life for future generations.”
Learn more about TCV at www.tnconservationvoters.org.
1/24/2010
Resource(s): www.tennessean.com/
Utah Residents Oppose Possible Bus Service Reduction
Faced with a $38 million sales tax revenue shortfall over the last two years, the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is considering bus service cuts and elimination of all three express routes through Weber, Davis and Salt Lake counties. The prospect of such cuts is making residents unhappy.
Planned for April, reports Salt Lake Tribune writer Maria Villasenor, the elimination would save $850,000 in the UTA budget, with officials convinced express bus riders could easily switch to the FrontRunner commuter train. However, residents attending public hearings on the matter didn’t agree. Several park-and-ride lots for buses, they pointed out, are miles away from FrontRunner stations, whose parking already overflows. In addition, residents said, some cities on bus routes lack train stations, and buses make more convenient stops than TRAX light rail throughout downtown Salt Lake City.
With many worried about worse road traffic and air pollution, Layton resident Brenda Hulphers would understand perhaps some ''scaling back'' of express bus frequency, but ''not completely eliminating the routes.'' After UTA presentations, others complained about lack of opportunity to comment other than in writing. They preferred a meeting format that would have let them voice their objections over a microphone. ''I felt that our opinions were being a little bit skirted,'' said resident David McIlrath, who collected more than 500 signatures against UTA proposals. ''It’s almost like they don’t want us to talk.''
1/19/2010
Resource(s): www.sltrib.com/
Smart Growth Expert Outlines Key Issues for Vermont Voters
Reminding voters that Vermont’s land consumption grows 2.5 times faster than its population, and that land-use decisions “have long-range social and economic impacts,” Smart Growth Vermont Executive Director Noelle MacKay tells them to ask gubernatorial candidates, local contenders and themselves how each would ensure the things Vermonters most want.
Mackay mentions clean air and water, downtown businesses, safe neighborhoods, a sense of belonging, affordable housing, open spaces and local agriculture. She points out that scattered development “costs us all more money,” both in long-distance driving and in municipal spending on public services, infrastructure and maintenance. “We believe that land-use issues should be guided by a set of smart-growth principles that incorporate centralized development, protection of natural resources and our working landscape, development of transportation options, and healthy neighborhoods where we can walk or bike to our destinations and have ready access to recreation,” she writes in a Burlington Free Press guest column. “These principles strengthen our communities and help us retain Vermont’s unique sense of place.”
Consequently, Director MacKay outlines some key questions for gubernatorial candidates, beginning with this: “How would you make sure new development take place within planned growth centers and that more jobs, homes and investment are made in our town centers?” They also should say how would they “encourage more Vermonters to get out of their cars,” what legislation, policies and appropriation they would pursue to expand affordable housing, and what would they do to “make active working lands for farming, forestry, natural areas, public recreation and other open space a priority,” and to ensure support of the state’s rural economy. In local races, residents should quiz their city council or select board candidates about the town’s plan provisions to encourage smaller lots in its center, along the lines of the traditional development patterns; about regulations and bylaws to protect scenic vistas and open lands; about neighborhood sidewalk and trail links, and means to expand carpooling; and about ways to focus growth in town centers and avoid strip development along scenic roads.
No less important are questions individuals should ask themselves. One is, “Should I locate my business in the town center so my employees and I can walk to work?” Others include: can I buy, rent or build my next home within downtown walking distance, drive fewer miles a day, support local farms by buying more of their products or spend a little more at a local merchant’s store instead of driving out to a big-box. And finally, “What can I do in my own community to make a difference?”
Inviting readers to visit Smart Growth Vermont’s web site for additional information, including more on smart-growth principles, Director MacKay stresses, “Understanding these principles and knowing where to turn for help are two major steps toward a brighter, cleaner future for Vermont.”
Learn more at www.smartgrowthvermont.org.
1/17/2010
Resource(s): www.burlingtonfreepress.com
DOE Announces $20.5 Million for Community Renewable Energy Projects
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has announced the selection of five projects to receive more than $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects, such as biomass, wind, and solar installations. These projects will promote investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs, help communities provide long-term renewable energy and save consumers money. They will also serve as models for other local governments, campuses, or small utilities to replicate, allowing other communities to design projects that fit their individual size and energy demands.
''Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio,'' said Secretary Chu. ''These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.''
The selected projects will be leveraged with approximately $167 million in local government and private industry funding. DOE estimates that these projects will provide enough clean, renewable energy to displace the emissions of approximately 10,700 homes.
Projects selected for awards include:
City of Montpelier (Montpelier, Vermont)
This project will further Montpelier's energy goals by supporting installation of a 41 MMBtu combined heat and power (CHP) district energy system fueled with locally-sourced renewable and sustainably-harvested wood chips. The CHP system will be sized to provide heating to the Vermont Capitol Complex, city owned schools, the City Hall Complex, and up to 156 buildings in the community's designated downtown district for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. By providing 1.8 million KWh of power to the grid, the system will maximize its operating efficiency and reduce thermal costs for users in the community. Montpelier will conduct outreach to encourage replication regionally and nationally through its project partners, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Veolia Energy North America. DOE share: $8,000,000.
Forest County Potawatomi Tribe (Forest County, Wisconsin)
The Forest County Potawatomi Tribe proposes to implement an integrated renewable energy deployment plan that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity for the Tribe's governmental buildings, displacing natural gas and propane. The renewable energy installations will include: a 1.25 MW biomass combined heat and power facility that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity; a biogas digester and 150 kW generation facility; three 100 kW wind turbines (788,400 kWh/year); and three dual-axis 2.88 kW solar PV panels (14,000 kWh/yr) located at the Tribe's Governmental Center. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Phillips County (Holyoke, Colorado)
This project proposes a community-owned 30 MW wind energy project with an ultimate goal to build a 650MW wind farm within Sedgwick, Phillips, and Logan counties in Northeastern Colorado. This project will impact the local economy by sharing the project's revenues with local landowners and other project participants, by generating local jobs, substantial property taxes, and providing clean renewable energy for the area's primary communities. Plans for sharing this ownership model are part of the business plan and will be coordinated with DOE to increase national delivery of the message. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) (Sacramento, California)
SMUD will install the state's first-ever ''Solar Highway,'' which will feature three PV system installations on 2 miles of highway right-of-ways (300kW of concentrating PV, and 400 and 800 kW of flat plate PV distributed at 2 sites), with total capacity of 1.5 MW. SMUD will also install a full scale co-digestion process of fats, oil, and grease (FOG) and liquid food processing waste with sewage to produce biogas with estimated power recovery of 1-3 MW, and install two low-NOx anaerobic digesters fed by two dairy facilities that will produce 500 kW of combined heat and power and generate 600 kW of electricity through a molten carbonate fuel cell. The projects will demonstrate that solar PV and anaerobic digesters can be readily implemented through collaborative partnerships, and avoid siting issues and transmission constraints that pose barriers to renewable energy capacity additions. SMUD will partner with the State of California (CEC, CalTrans, and CARB) and DOE to promote replication of their approaches, technologies, and implementation strategies statewide and nationally. DOE share: $5,000,000.
University of California at Davis (Davis, California)
UC Davis' proposed Waste-to-Renewable Energy (WTRE) system is one component of a campus oriented mixed housing and commercial development venture. The system would generate power from a renewable biogas fed fuel cell. The organic waste will enter a receiving station in which it can be collected and prepared for digestion. Once the appropriate mix has been created in buffer tanks, the waste will flow to the reactor where methanogenic bacteria will generate methane and carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. These gases will flow to the Bio-methane Upgrade System for hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide removal, so that cleanup is to a level appropriate for use in a fuel cell system, and the cleaned gas is stored. Housed alongside the WTRE system within the Community Energy Park will be an advanced storage battery and a 300kW fuel cell that will be fueled by the on-site biogas and provides electric power to West Village end-users. DOE share: $2,500,000.
1/21/2010
Resource(s): http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=290
Kimberly, Wisconsin, Approves Smart Growth Plan
Kimberly’s Plan Commission and Village Board each unanimously approved a 20-year comprehensive plan to bring the city into compliance with Wisconsin’s Smart Growth law. The law requires municipalities to have a land-use plan in place that addresses future housing and transportation needs. The approved plan calls for further development of the Kimberly trail system and zoning that protects existing residential areas. In addition, potential roundabouts and other traffic claiming measures are included in the plan. Officials hope that the plan will help guide future decision making and keep development in line with an overall vision for the community.
1/5/2010
Resource(s): www.postcrescent.com/
Milwaukee Region Gets on a Regional Transit Track
''Regional transit doesn’t just improve the way we move people and goods – it improves the overall economy in southeast Wisconsin,'' said Democratic Governor Jim Doyle said at a joint press event with key state lawmakers and business executives from Milwaukee Racine and Kenosha counties, unveiling the Regional Transit and Jobs Investment Act.
Instrumental in behind-the-scenes negotiations on the act’s details, Democratic Senator John Lehman echoed the governor. ''There has been an unprecedented coalition of business leaders, community leaders and citizens saying improved transit and the job creation it will bring are critical for our communities,'' he pointed out. ''This bill clears a pathway – if we choose – to move forward.''
Building on a regional transit framework set forth by Governor Doyle last September, the bill creates a three-county Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA) to build and manage the proposed 30-mile KRM commuter rail line – between the cities of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee – and to apply for matching construction funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under its New Starts Grant Program. It also authorizes formation of an Interim Regional Transit Authority (IRTA) in Milwaukee County, with a focus on bus system and connectivity improvements, and allows local governments in the surrounding counties of Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee to vote on creation of their own IRTAs.
A Milwaukee IRTA would be funded mostly from a one-cent multipurpose sales tax increase approved by its voters in an advisory 2008 referendum. The others could use local vehicle registration fees and hotel or property taxes. Each IRTA would be expected to eventually join the SERTA, providing the region’s population with integrated, interconnected bus and rail services.
''We now have a good, solid plan for a Southeastern Regional Transit Authority,'' concluded Governor Doyle. ''We have the support of local communities, the support of legislators and the support of the state’s business leaders. Now, let’s get to work and get it done.''
1/19/2010
Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/ ; http://dailyreporter.com/
DOE Announces $20.5 Million for Community Renewable Energy Projects
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has announced the selection of five projects to receive more than $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects, such as biomass, wind, and solar installations. These projects will promote investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs, help communities provide long-term renewable energy and save consumers money. They will also serve as models for other local governments, campuses, or small utilities to replicate, allowing other communities to design projects that fit their individual size and energy demands.
''Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio,'' said Secretary Chu. ''These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.''
The selected projects will be leveraged with approximately $167 million in local government and private industry funding. DOE estimates that these projects will provide enough clean, renewable energy to displace the emissions of approximately 10,700 homes.
Projects selected for awards include:
City of Montpelier (Montpelier, Vermont)
This project will further Montpelier's energy goals by supporting installation of a 41 MMBtu combined heat and power (CHP) district energy system fueled with locally-sourced renewable and sustainably-harvested wood chips. The CHP system will be sized to provide heating to the Vermont Capitol Complex, city owned schools, the City Hall Complex, and up to 156 buildings in the community's designated downtown district for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. By providing 1.8 million KWh of power to the grid, the system will maximize its operating efficiency and reduce thermal costs for users in the community. Montpelier will conduct outreach to encourage replication regionally and nationally through its project partners, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Veolia Energy North America. DOE share: $8,000,000.
Forest County Potawatomi Tribe (Forest County, Wisconsin)
The Forest County Potawatomi Tribe proposes to implement an integrated renewable energy deployment plan that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity for the Tribe's governmental buildings, displacing natural gas and propane. The renewable energy installations will include: a 1.25 MW biomass combined heat and power facility that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity; a biogas digester and 150 kW generation facility; three 100 kW wind turbines (788,400 kWh/year); and three dual-axis 2.88 kW solar PV panels (14,000 kWh/yr) located at the Tribe's Governmental Center. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Phillips County (Holyoke, Colorado)
This project proposes a community-owned 30 MW wind energy project with an ultimate goal to build a 650MW wind farm within Sedgwick, Phillips, and Logan counties in Northeastern Colorado. This project will impact the local economy by sharing the project's revenues with local landowners and other project participants, by generating local jobs, substantial property taxes, and providing clean renewable energy for the area's primary communities. Plans for sharing this ownership model are part of the business plan and will be coordinated with DOE to increase national delivery of the message. DOE share: $2,500,000.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) (Sacramento, California)
SMUD will install the state's first-ever ''Solar Highway,'' which will feature three PV system installations on 2 miles of highway right-of-ways (300kW of concentrating PV, and 400 and 800 kW of flat plate PV distributed at 2 sites), with total capacity of 1.5 MW. SMUD will also install a full scale co-digestion process of fats, oil, and grease (FOG) and liquid food processing waste with sewage to produce biogas with estimated power recovery of 1-3 MW, and install two low-NOx anaerobic digesters fed by two dairy facilities that will produce 500 kW of combined heat and power and generate 600 kW of electricity through a molten carbonate fuel cell. The projects will demonstrate that solar PV and anaerobic digesters can be readily implemented through collaborative partnerships, and avoid siting issues and transmission constraints that pose barriers to renewable energy capacity additions. SMUD will partner with the State of California (CEC, CalTrans, and CARB) and DOE to promote replication of their approaches, technologies, and implementation strategies statewide and nationally. DOE share: $5,000,000.
University of California at Davis (Davis, California)
UC Davis' proposed Waste-to-Renewable Energy (WTRE) system is one component of a campus oriented mixed housing and commercial development venture. The system would generate power from a renewable biogas fed fuel cell. The organic waste will enter a receiving station in which it can be collected and prepared for digestion. Once the appropriate mix has been created in buffer tanks, the waste will flow to the reactor where methanogenic bacteria will generate methane and carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. These gases will flow to the Bio-methane Upgrade System for hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide removal, so that cleanup is to a level appropriate for use in a fuel cell system, and the cleaned gas is stored. Housed alongside the WTRE system within the Community Energy Park will be an advanced storage battery and a 300kW fuel cell that will be fueled by the on-site biogas and provides electric power to West Village end-users. DOE share: $2,500,000.
1/21/2010
Resource(s): http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=290
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