UrbDan Planning

I found out upon arriving in Washington D.C. on my recent trip that I had unintentionally scheduled the visit with absolutely perfect timing.  I discovered that the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Subcommittee (part of the Appropriations Committee) had scheduled a series of hearings entitled, “Livable Communities, Transit Oriented Development, and Incorporating Green Building Practices into Federal Housing and Transportation Policy” over two days.  The first hearing hosted Ray LaHood and Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  The second hosted John Norquist, president and CEO of CNU and former mayor of Milwaukee, Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute, Grace Crunican, Director of the Department of Transportation in Seattle, Mary A. Leary, Senior Director of the Easter Seals Transportation Group.

It was a fascinating experience for me.  I had never been to Washington D.C. before, let alone a subcommittee hearing.  Apparently, this was the first time the secretaries of these two departments came before the Subcommittee in a very long time.  It was clear that the Chairman, John W. Olver (MA), has been pressing for more cooperation between DOT and HUD to promote more sustainable communities for even longer.  When asked how he felt about their appearance at the hearing he responded by saying, “I will admit that I am pleased” with a proud smirk, which recieved a roar of laughter from the crowd.

I’ve linked the full testimonies below:
Ray LaHood
Shaun Donovan
John Norquist
Robert Puentes
Grace Crunican
Mary A. Leary

James Howard Kunstler has authored of many books about our built environment and urban planning blunders, including “The Geography of Nowhere,” “Home from Nowhere” and “The Long Emergency.”  He recently sat down for an interview with Deb Woodell from the blog, Whistling Past the Graveyard, about the place of cemeteries in New Urbanist communities and had this to say about the future of the urban planning profession:

WPTG: There seem to be nearly as many zoning designations for cemeteries as there are communities. In my town, Winslow Township, NJ, they’re a “non-conforming use.” Two towns up the highway, they have specs down to lot size, frontage, percent of paved surface, and the like. So what’s the best way to include cemeteries in master plans and the like? Is there a need for some uniformity?

JHK: You may find this answer impertinent, but I genuinely believe that the disorders of “The Long Emergency” will be such that planning departments will be dismantled for lack of government funding and the public will ignore the zoning laws as the motoring experience and all its niggling demands shrinks into history.

Thanks for ruining my day Jim…

…we have a President that speaks my language.  Here he is a particularly good response to question during a recent speech in the Sunshine State…

Q    Cities throughout Florida are having a difficult time because of the mortgage crisis.  Growth has slowed.  We fund our transportation infrastructure needs through impact fees.  Now that we’re not getting that, we’re falling behind in our ability to keep up with road work, municipal water projects, being able to bring the solar panel down here to an inland port.  We need commuter rail.  We need lots of things for infrastructure in this state.  If we ran out of oil today, we would not be able to move anything around in this state, honest to God.  And I hope you’re going to help get that thing in the Gulf — to turn that around.  We don’t want to drill oil in the Gulf, thank you.  Right on.  (Applause.)  We’ve got a beautiful, pristine state.

So I want to ask you, how will we get our state going again in transportation?  I’m very worried about our dependence on foreign oil, and I don’t want to drill in the Gulf.  I want some commuter rail and I want to improve our transportation — (applause).

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we have targeted billions of dollars at infrastructure spending.  And states all across the country are going through what Florida is going through.  There was a study done by the American Association of Engineers — that might not be the exact title, but engineers from all across the country.  We get a “D” in infrastructure all across the country.  We saw what happened in Minneapolis, where a bridge collapsed and resulted in tragedy.  And not only do we need to rebuild our roads and our bridges, our ports, our levees, our dams, but we also have to plan for the future.

This is the same example of turning crisis into opportunity.  This should be a wake-up call for us.  You go to Shanghai, China right now and they’ve got high-speed rail that puts our railroads to shame.  They’ve got ports that are state-of-the-art.  Their airports are — compared to the airports that we — you go through Beijing Airport and you compare that to Miami Airport?  Look, this is America.  (Applause.)

We always had the best infrastructure.  We were always willing to invest in the future.  You know, somebody — Governor Crist mentioned Abraham Lincoln.  In the middle of the Civil War, in the midst of all this danger and peril, what did he do?  He helped move the Intercontinental Railroad.  He helped to start land grant colleges.  He understood that even when you’re in the middle of crisis you’ve got to keep your eye on the future.  (Applause.)

So transportation, when it — is not just fixing our old transportation systems, but it’s also imagining new transportation systems.  That’s why I’d like to see high-speed rail where it can be constructed.  (Applause.)  I would like for us to invest in mass transit because potentially that energy efficient.  And I think people are a lot more open now to thinking regionally, in terms of how we plan our transportation infrastructure.  The days where we’re just building sprawl forever, those days are over.  (Applause.)  I think that Republicans, Democrats, everybody recognizes that that’s not a smart way to design communities.

So we should be using this money to help spur this kind of innovative thinking when it comes to transportation.  That will make a big difference.  All right?  (Applause.)

“Remarks by President Obama at Fort Myers Town Hall”, February 10, 2009, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Fort-Myers-Town-Hall/

This article by David Brooks in the Opinion section of the New York Times highlights the results of recent Pew Research Center surveys.

It is a bit discouraging, but instructive.  American preferences are never what is in short supply!

You may not know it to look at them, but urban planners are human and have dreams. One dream many share is that Americans will give up their love affair with suburban sprawl and will rediscover denser, more environmentally friendly, less auto-dependent ways of living.

Those dreams have been aroused over the past few months. The economic crisis has devastated the fast-growing developments on the far suburban fringe. Americans now taste the bitter fruit of their overconsumption.

The time has finally come, some writers are predicting, when Americans will finally repent. They’ll move back to the urban core. They will ride more bicycles, have smaller homes and tinier fridges and rediscover the joys of dense community — and maybe even superior beer.

America will, in short, finally begin to look a little more like Amsterdam.

Well, Amsterdam is a wonderful city, but Americans never seem to want to live there. And even now, in this moment of chastening pain, they don’t seem to want the Dutch option.

Click to read more…

Pew Research Center survey links:

• McDonald’s and Starbucks: 43% Yin, 35% Yang
• For Nearly Half of America, Grass is Greener Somewhere Else