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Wednesday, May 24th
Celebrating Celebration
I’ve been hearing about Celebration, Florida for a decade or so. I recently had my first opportunity to visit. I had to be in Orlando, but wasn’t about to go to one of the big attractions. Celebration fit the bill for a morning of insightful architectural browsing.
I have to say I’ve heard quite a few negative things about Celebration—in retrospect more than it deserves. No, it’s not better than a city, but it is better than most modern suburbs. It appears to approach sustainable. I guess some people just don’t like Disney or just don’t like Florida. I thought it was also pretty successful both in terms of utility and architecture.
There are parks, lakes, a shopping district, a church, post-office, hotel and more. The architecture is a mix of American styles found in many early urban suburbs. There are plenty of walking and biking paths. There is plenty of on-street parking, some businesses are incorporated into residential designs. There’s a lot of construction still going on and a good mix of housing types.
What didn’t I like about it? There are a few minor issues and one major issue I have with it. First, the major issue is its location. It’s not connected to downtown Orlando or any major area by light-rail or just proximity. However given that a gated community or typical auto-oriented subdivision could have been here instead, the people who built this are pretty serious about what they were doing (and still are doing).
Small things I noticed include the fact that the post-man doesn’t walk. I didn’t see a postman, but all the mailboxes are the drive-up kind. This may be determined by the post master rather than the developers.
Secondly, I didn’t see a grocery store. That’s certainly essential. Maybe it’s in the works. I didn’t see a library, although I did see a “town hall,” and some other buildings which appeared civic in nature.
Other than that, it might just be the best thing going in Central Florida (how much that says is up for speculation). If you have to be here it’s the best place (I’ve found so far) to be.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 05.24.06 @ 04:43PST
Tuesday, May 23rd
What Do You Really Know about Biofuels?
Biofuels are big in the news these days, but what do we really know about them? Have we been asking the right questions about this latest miracle technology?
Here's a little multiple-choice quiz for all you biofuels bonzos out there: which of the following questions concerning your favorite unproven technology is the most inconvenient?
- With agricultural efficiencies in the US based on massive inputs of petroleum for farm equipment fuel, truck and train transport, pesticides, and fertilizers (the latter two largely synthesized from oil), how will biofuels reduce our dependency on fossil fuels?
- Since biofuels are intended to facilitate continued automobile dependency, how will their widespread use do anything to reduce sprawl, heat-bubble effects induced by paving, or the waste of taxpayer dollars on ever more complex and wider road and automobile-housing systems (themselves paved with huge oil inputs, by the way)?
- Since biofuel use produces co2, how will using it in place of fossil fuels reduce global warming?
Okay, folks, sharpen your pencils (and your minds) and get down to it. This is a timed quiz; you are required to complete it before total ecosystem collapse.
Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 05.23.06 @ 07:43PST
Monday, May 22nd
Spanish Moss and Orange Juice
The bells at the church nearing a parking lot of an outlet mall complex started ringing. It was Sunday and I had gotten there in time to get a parking space—a service could have started early enough to beat the opening of the doors of the shopping complex. The bells seemed to ring of the struggles people in our age often face. On one swing there’s Jesus, on the rebound, shopping. While they seem to go hand-in-hand today—in this example outside of Orlando, they even have adjoining parking lots; Commerce and Christ haven’t always been such bed buddies. (A timely headline, they're holding Baptism's at Disney!) You won’t see a “blessed are the poor” sign outside the Puma outlet. They can’t be here as they might not have a car, let alone money.
My point is not to glossen the apparent (but not necessarily actual) hypocracies here. Instead I wish to draw a comparison between two places on my trip: Savannah and Orlando.
At present it cannot be a fair comparison because I have not yet been to the center of Orlando. That however may not be out of the ordinary for residents or visitors. While downtown Orlando is clearly visible from the highway, the signs seem to suggest there may be an alternate center called Disney Downtown. I’ve only been here for a few hours, and probably not set foot inside the proper limits of Orlando. That paradigm was given up long ago in these parts, however. My guess would be few who come to “Orlando” ever end up inside Orlando and no one here ever sets foot anywhere ever.
You’re right. I’m being dramatic. I did see two “pedestrians” who appeared to be a retired couple dragging wheeled suitcases through lizard-laden grass alongside International Drive near Sea World. Perhaps it’s their first trip from New York, nah, more likely a suburb of Cleveland. Anyway, they’ve been forced to learn their lesson the hard way—even if you never plan to leave your gated resort, rent a car at the airport!
You can’t deny the sunshine. It is the state of that. Unfortunately all the light hasn’t let many here see the short-sightedness of such a lifestyle. There is no way to get much of anywhere without a car. If gasoline were to become unavailable, lines to food and resources could be cut, or worse, ponder what might happen if the air condition were to shut off.
Savannah is a different place altogether. There might not be enough public transit or industry to allow the place to function without the tourists, but the city is certainly walkable and walking is invited through design. In fact, driving in Savannah and specifically looking for a parking space can put some significant bumps into the road to a pleasant stay. The buses run frequently and the routes seem well designed to get tourists from hotels on the outskirts to the historic core.
Imagine for a moment that gasoline (or power) became unavailable. In Savannah the result may be some minor adjustments. Farmland is in close proximity, the streets are walkable, the buildings were built to minimize the effects of heat long before the advent of air conditioning and the squares could serve many alternate purposes—as they have before there was power (or refrigerated railcars).
Those are all “what-if” scenarios for doom-sayers. “What if I just want a vacation?” You might be asking. If all you want is to just be entertained in a sterile bubble, by all means, go to Orlando. This time, perhaps you can take the kids where they could learn a little about not only “what-if,” but what was by going to Savannah. They might even come away inspired by what could be.
Also, I'll write on it later, but here are today's photos of Celebration, FL
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 05.22.06 @ 04:37PST
Saturday, May 20th
Bike Booming
There have been many in the news saying that a new bike boom has developed, and that, like the '70s bike boom, it is a reaction to gas prices.
Unfortunately for those facile theorizers (but perhaps more fortunately for us all), the bike boom of the '70s hit before the '70s oil shock, and was most likely another outgrowth of the celebrated/notorious '60s counterculture (of which I was a part, though, believe it or not, I skipped over the drugs portion). There was an emphasis on community, on environmentalism, on stepping gently, on stewardship, on open exchange--all things that both the car and suburban living impede most effectively, by isolating you from the land, from your neighbors, and from the consequences of your actions.
I suspect that if pervasive drug use hadn't sapped the ambitions of the movement--and it was a great deal more organized and consensual that most younger folk realize--we might be much farther along the road to a sort of society that nurtures community, local economics, and (not at all incidentally) bicycles, rather than being mired in a consumption-crazed, debt-laden morass of intense personal isolationism and social and environmental degradation.
That said, I nowadays see LOTS of clean, obviously middle-class folks of all ages (though mostly in the neighborhood of 30) riding bicycles for utility, and this in LA, a city extremely difficult for bicycling. Lots of the coffeehouse habitues I meet arrive on bikes, everything from an old Batavus road bike with suicide levers to top-end Dahon folders (my, those have certainly improved in ten years!) to plain-vanilla hybrids to fixies to carbon-fiber wunderradden. Noticeably more than two years ago, and my routine is pretty much the same as then--same commute, same hangouts, etc. As in the '70s, this little bike boom seems to have started before the run-up in gasoline prices--which, with inflation factored in, are still lower than back in the day.
Lots of the riders I know personally own cars too and don't mind using them when they feel it appropriate. They just often don't feel it appropriate.
You know what made it possible for me personally to start bike commuting again, some fifteen years ago, after laying off for a few years? U-locks. I quit riding a bike anywhere except to a friend's house or in a big circle on Sundays after having too many of them stolen.
The things that facilitate bicycling are not often what we'd imagine. Bike lanes, for example, are statistically not safer than lack of bike lanes--but they reassure people who are thinking of riding the streets that they are welcome there and that they have a defense of their presence if someone gives them shit about riding. Bike racks too. I usually use parking meters; they're easier to lock to. But bike racks simply say, "Bicycles welcome here." As do showers and bike lockers at workplaces, which also make it possible for people who must dress up for work to ride to work.
That gets more people out on bikes. And the more people out on bikes, the more people will go out on bikes. And the fewer accidents will happen, since bikes become a normal part of the traffic mix.
In London, bicycling soared after the train bombings and has still stayed high, even through last winter. And the rate of accidents for bicyclists has gone down in proportion to their increasing numbers.
So people begin riding bicycles a lot in the US because, I think, they start caring about the world more than is usual here, and about the quality of their own lives. They want to participate in the life of their culture in other than the passive and highly-mediated way that the mass media provide. They wan to participate in their own lives too, feel their own muscles and bones working and taste the air and rain and sun for themselves. Why spend your time watching documentaries--often three-quarters faked--about adventurers who live intensely, when your own daily life can have a dash of adventure in it,and remind you why you were born?
I think people are tired of slouching, of endless feeding and fattening to no end, of being disconnected from life. I think the recent increases in bicycle use reflect a desire to become part of life again, and to live one's own life, rather than that prescribed for one by politicians and industrialists. This may have been spurred more by thoughtfulness resulting from shock and awe at our hypocritical war in Iraq than gas prices, as the '70s bike boom may have been inspired, equally indirectly, by the equally hypocritical war in Viet Nam. But it is a real bike boom, or boomlet at least, regardless of cause, and it gives me hope. Let's see what we can do--or nag our politicians into doing--to keep this bike boom rolling.
Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 05.20.06 @ 16:24PST
Thursday, May 18th
Who Pimped America to the Car?
British journalist Paul Harris, writing about the American obsession with the car, notes that "it did not have to be like this:
"In between the wars many American cities had fully functioning electric tram systems that shuttled millions of citizens from their homes to their jobs without the need for a private car. American cities were more compact, more walkable and had vibrant downtowns that were the centre of urban life.
Even in southern California, which is now seen as the ultimate creation of the automobile, railways and trams were a huge part of life. Los Angeles was served by the largest mass transit system in the nation, including 1,000 trains a day running on the Pacific Electric Railway's 760 miles of track."
He goes on to give a good brief overview of the National City Lines scandal (though not by name); you can read it at:
I Like Driving in My Car
Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 05.18.06 @ 06:09PST
Saturday, May 13th
Gender & Transport Policy Conference Announcement
Sout Africa's Department of Transport will be hosting the First International African Conference on Gender, Transport & Development in August, 2006. From their press release:
Gender dimension has become increasingly important in transport planning and SANRAL, during 2005, commissioned a study to explore the gendered nature of women's transport in rural Eastern Cape. The study was conducted by the Gender and Development Unit of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the main aims were to explore the gender based dimensions of rural women 's travel activities, experiences and needs in order to provide policy and planning guidelines to the authorities. In addition, the impact of the gendered nature of transport and traveling on the social, health, economic and political status of women and girls were researched.
Although men and women have different traveling patterns and behaviour, these differences have, in the past, not been addressed systematically by transport policy and provision. However, in the past ten years transport planners, economists and policy-makers in both the developing and developed world have begun to recognize the differences in travel and travel-related activities of men and women. Despite aforementioned, relatively few of the recent insights have infiltrated transport planning and policy-making practice. As a result, women at a local level continue a daily struggle to overcome the adversities of inefficient local transport systems designed to meet the needs of male wage earners.
Consequently, in attempting to achieve gender equality in transport, transport policy and practice need to take cognizance of gender at the start of all planning activities, in its implementation and throughout the monitoring and evaluation phases. Appropriate transport policy needs to be developed through a gender lens so that both women and men can benefit equitably.
The research concluded that a close linking of gender perspective and rural transport policy be proposed in order to improve rural transport systems and initiatives and to make it more gender-responsive and sustainable. This would require the development of a structural approach to understand gender needs, identify instruments to address those needs, and establish an appropriate policy framework.
In view of aforementioned, the South African Department of Transport (DOT) and The South African National Roads Agency Ltd (SANRAL), in partnership with the Gender and Development Unit of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), decided to host the first ever International African Conference on Gender, Transport and Development: Bridging the divide between development goals, research and policy in developing countries.
The Conference will take place from 27 to 30 August 2006 at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Conference is designed to provide an opportunity for researchers, policy-makers, planners/practitioners and other interested persons/organizations from all parts of the world to share global multi-disciplinary perspectives on issues of gender, transport and development. The Conference aims are to contribute and strengthen the dialogue between countries, disciplines and traditions through the dissemination and presentation of:
Findings of recent research, in particular studies with a focus on women's travel needs, experiences and constraints in developing countries; The information needed to formulate equitable and effective transport policies which take into account gender constraints, experiences and needs; and Innovative research methods and approaches.
For more information, go to
www.gendertransportconf.com.
Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 05.13.06 @ 07:16PST
Friday, May 12th
Cost of Living Pushes Up California Poverty Levels; Working Poor a Growing Phenomenon
California’s poverty rate soars from 15th to 3rd in the nation when regional cost of living—omitted from federal calculations—is factored in and the most current poverty data are used, according to a study released by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). This discrepancy could be hurting the state in federal funding for programs such as food stamps and Head Start.
According to the federal rate, California has slightly higher poverty than the rest of the nation (13.3% to 12.7%); when the rate is adjusted for regional cost of living, that difference widens substantially (16.1% to 12%). With the adjustment, only Washington, D.C. and New York have higher poverty rates. “Conditions particular to California, such as very high housing costs, rising income inequality, and the largest immigrant population in the country, have made poverty a larger social phenomenon here,” says author and PPIC program director Deborah Reed. “The federal calculation doesn’t fully capture the state’s circumstances; a more comprehensive measure would give a better sense of the number of poor and degree of need.”
The federal poverty threshold determines eligibility for several federal programs, including the Food Stamp Program, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Head Start. When these programs do not adjust for regional cost of living, they inadvertently provide very different levels of service to families facing different costs.
Consider housing costs: Rent for a year in California is often more than half the total federal poverty threshold—set at $19,157 for a family of four in 2004. In places like San Francisco, where the HUD-estimated fair market annual rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $21,300, housing costs alone are well above the total federal threshold. Indeed, after adjusting for rental costs, three California counties—Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Monterey—fall in the range of the ten highest poverty counties in the nation, with rates of about 20 percent.
Examining poverty and income trends from 1969 to 2004, the report finds that, in contrast to the rest of the nation, California has a higher poverty rate today than in the late 1960s and 1970s. Why? Poverty has grown in California because low-income families have not shared in economic growth. Between 1969 and 2004, income declined four percent for low-income families, rose 16 percent for families at the median, and rose 41 percent for high-income families. In the rest of the country, income grew for low-income families. “It is a dubious distinction for California that income at the bottom of the distribution has declined. In the rest of the U.S., there has been at least some income growth across the board,” says Reed.
California also differs from the rest of the country in its growing number of working poor. In 1969, only 12 percent of poor families in California had a full-time worker, compared to about 20 percent in the rest of the country. By 2004, over 30 percent of poor California families had a full-time worker, while the rest of the nation held steady at 20 percent.
More key findings from the report, Poverty in California: Moving Beyond the Federal Measure:
Racial and ethnic disparities: Poverty rates among Latinos and African-Americans are roughly double those for U.S.-born whites (about 20% to 9%). At 27 percent, poverty rates for foreign-born Latinos are among the highest in the state.
Single mothers: Children living with single mothers have much higher poverty rates than children in other families (41% to 13% in 2004). However, 42 percent of the state’s poor live in married couple families.
California lags the nation: In 1969, the median income in the rest of the nation was about 15 percent lower than in California—by 2004 it was 6 percent higher.
Child poverty: Children have the highest poverty rate of any age group. Consider that in California, full-time childcare for one preschooler can cost minimum wage workers more than half their income.
Women’s earnings: The rise in women’s earnings has helped to slow poverty growth.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 05.12.06 @ 04:52PST
Saturday, May 6th
Public Workers In Six Mid-Atlantic Locales Cannot Afford to Own Homes Where They Work
Teachers and police officers in the District of Columbia; Fairfax County, Va.; and Frederick County, Md., can’t afford to own a home in the communities where they work. Neither can police officers in Dover, Del.; social workers in Richmond, Va.; or municipal court clerks in Kent County, Md. That was the gist of studies released today by the National Association of Realtors (NAR)® at its Mid-Atlantic Regional Summit on Housing Opportunities.
The new “Paycheck to Paycheck” analyses of incomes and housing costs in 13 localities in the four-state Mid-Atlantic Region and the District of Columbia were conducted by the National Housing Conference’s Center for Housing Research. Communities studied were Prince George’s County, Md.; Prince William County, Va.; Baltimore County-Towson, Md.; Frederick, Md.; New Castle, Del.; Charleston, W.Va.; Fairfax, Va.; Cumberland, Md.; Dover, Del.; Washington, D.C.; and Richmond, Va.
“This growing issue isn’t just about the ability to buy a home. Lack of affordable housing diminishes the quality of life for everyone in the community. Workers who devote a disproportionate share of their income to housing are forced to cut back on other necessities, such as health care,” said NAR President Thomas M. Stevens of Vienna, Va.
Stevens announced NAR is launching a new campaign to create more affordable housing opportunities for public and private sector workers by encouraging and training Realtors® nationwide to work with employers to develop employee-assisted housing benefit plans for their workers. The new program, called “Home from Work,” is already in place in two state Realtor® associations, Florida and Arizona. Realtors® are holding home-buying workshops for employees, arranging one-on-one counseling through nonprofit groups and helping to arrange financial incentives for buyers. Training will be offered later this year to Realtors® in the Mid-Atlantic Region as well as the Gulf Coast.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 05.06.06 @ 05:53PST
Thursday, May 4th
NLC's New Study Redefines American Cities
In order to address the growing complexity and diverse conditions facing America’s cities, the National League of Cities (NLC) has released a new report that redefines this country’s communities. From Meltingpot Cities to Boomtowns: Redefining How We Talk About America’s Cities offers a new look at the conventional labels of urban, suburban and rural, and moves toward a more useful framework for policy-makers at all levels to see cities in a new way and to better understand their challenges.
The National League of Cities joined with the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech to examine nearly 1,000 cities ranging in population from 25,000 to 500,000. (The nation’s largest and smallest cities are not included in the study.) Six types of cities emerged:
• Spread Cities represent the largest proportion of cities between 25,000 and 500,000 population and are characterized by low densities, few households with children, and few immigrant residents. Many of these are core cities in medium-sized, low-density metropolitan areas, while others are larger suburbs. Examples of Spread Cities are LaCrosse, Wis, Greenville, SC, and Pinellas Park, Fla.
• Gold Coast Cities have older, wealthier, and more educated populations and tend to be suburban communities in metropolitan areas. Their citizens have high average median incomes ($62,000) and the most people with bachelor’s degrees More than 70 percent of the population are homeowners. Walnut Creek, Calif, Coral Gables, Fla, and Wheaton, Ill, are examples of Gold Coast Cities.
• Metro Centers are core cities in medium-sized metropolitan areas that have diverse populations and an older housing stock. Nearly all have large populations (more than 200,000 people); a relatively low percentage of homeowners, and low median household incomes ($36,000). Norfolk, Va, and Tacoma, Wash, are Metro Centers.
• Meltingpot Cities are diverse, dense cities that have many families with young children. Meltingpot cities are predominantly located in the Pacific region of the country and have the lowest median age (31), the highest percentage of children under 18 (47 percent), and the highest percentage of foreign-born residents (33 percent). Examples of Meltingpot Cities are Hawthorne and Norwalk, Calif.
• Boomtowns are characterized by rapid population growth, newer housing stock, wealthier residents, and families with children. Boomtowns generally have the highest percentage of homeowners (73 percent), and high median household incomes ($58,000). Gilbert, Ariz, and Broken Arrow, Okla, are examples of Boomtowns.
• Centervilles are primarily core cities in micropolitan areas and are the smallest and least dense cities in the study. They generally have the lowest percentage of foreign-born residents (5 percent) and the lowest median household incomes ($34,000). Although these cities are similar to Metro Centers in that they perform more urban-like functions, they still maintain their rural character. Paducah, Ky, and Richmond, Ind, are Centervilles.
Christiana Brennan, co-author of the NLC report said, “There is no longer a ‘typical’ city, just as there are no helpful one-size-fits-all approaches to the varying issues that cities face. As a result, policy decisions or programs based on distinctions such as central city, suburb, and rural, and metropolitan and non-metropolitan labels are not as useful to decision-makers and others attempting to understand and ameliorate local challenges.”
For example, both Huntington Beach, Calif, and Henderson, Nev, are similiarly sized suburban cities, with populations around 190,000. “But when you begin to look more closely at them, you can see how very different they are,” Brennan said. “Huntington Beach, with its older, wealthy population is a Gold Coast city. Henderson is a residential Boomtown located at the edge of one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. They may be similar in size, but their service mix, goals, and the people they serve are not. Local officials in each of these cities would probably take a very different approach to governing and to providing services and programs for their citizens,” Brennan said.
The United States is home to more than 19,000 cities, each confronted with challenges and choices unique to their perspective. For example, many suburbs, especially suburbs near urban core cities, have become some of the most racially and ethnically diverse places in metropolitan areas, typically a central city characterization. The new “city types” represent an effort to develop a more accurate reflection of the changing nature of the municipal landscape and the diversity that exists among cities and can be used to address a variety of policy issues from finance, governance and inequality to housing and transportation.
Along with Brennan, other authors of the report are Dr. Christopher Hoene, NLC research manager, and Dr. Robert E. Lang, director, Metropolitan Institute.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 05.04.06 @ 06:26PST
Wednesday, May 3rd
Ridding The Streets of Clutter
There's been many times in the history of cities that they've been seen as disorderly and chaotic and inevitably a push ensues that seeks to minimize, if not eliminate this chaos and disorder. The City Beautiful Movement was one such attempt.
Later attempts did not operate within the confines of an urban area like City Beautiful. Suburbanization was also an attempt to minimize chaos and disorder, although by relocating rather than rebuilding.
In my own neighborhood I recoiled the first time I heard about the philosophy that sought to make the neighborhood unoffensive to potential suburban relocatees. The result: an urban suburb.
Like many cities, downtown Pittsburgh is now the focus of a residential building boom. That means folks are moving in from the suburbs. On the surface it would seem they are seeking city life. Within that trend, however, there will be a push to remove "offensive" aspects of city life, like say folks waiting for buses.
That push came alive this week when a developer, taking on its first urban project, asked the city to re-rout buses. The article revealed the company fears that smog from the buses, loitering in front of buildings, and traffic congestion could hinder its plans for residential and retail development.
Listening to local talk radio, the subject came up and the proposal went over like a lead baloon. Later reports had the Port Authority (Pittsburgh's public transit agency) offering to cooperate.
I'd like to refer to two quotes on the matter, the first from Jane Jacobs.
Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a marvelous order for maintaining the freedom of the city. It is a complex order. Its essence is the intricacy of sidewalk use, bringing with it a constant succession of eyes. This order is all composed of movement and change, and although it is life, not art, we may fancifully call it the art form of the city and liken it to a dance -- not to a simple-minded precision dance with everyone kicking up at the same time, twirling in unison and bowing off en masse, but to an intricate ballet in which the individual dancers and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an orderly whole.
The second is from Lewis Mumford:
Well, I can't find it, but it has to do with the potential for a creative society when very different molecules come together (in a city).
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 05.03.06 @ 08:04PST
Tuesday, May 2nd
US Light Rail Booms
The International Railway Journal's April issue includes a good overview of light rail's successes in the US market. To quote:
"What’s happening in Denver is typical of what happened in virtually every city that opted for LRT," says Schumann. "It invariably starts with some people asking: 'Why are you wasting my money on this?' After it's up and running, the question becomes: 'When can we have more?' The same thing is occurring now in Minneapolis and Houston, which are relative newcomers to LRT."
The complete article:
US Light Rail Booms
Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 05.02.06 @ 06:33PST
