Minutes, January 24, 2000
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Date: January 24, 2000
Place: American Institute of Architects, 3000 Richmond Suite 500
Time: 11:30
The meeting started with the Picture Houston Community Image Survey results display. Victoria Herrin commented that the real science is to manipulate the pictures, ie., change small things on the same picture and see the response.
Picture 38 had the lowest score of –6.7. It was the parking lot of Kroger at West Gray. The highest scoring was a busy walkable area in Seattle with streetside cafes and many trees. It seems that people like to see people in action and they do not want to see wires or wide areas of concrete with no green around it. Light rail pictures usually are favored with positive responses.
After this, the introductions of the meeting participants took place.
David Crossley said that the issue is how to move from talking to actually "doing". How to move the leadership into community in a better way. His proposals are as follows:
-What is the initiative? Does it have a name? It’s working title is Houston Gulf Coast Smart Growth Initiative.
Proposed Mission:
(Sometimes equity is included in this definition).
D. Crossley asked if this could be agreed upon as a mission statement. Some participants commented that there is no action word, no "implementation" part in it. Iit was suggested to include "implement" and "explore" as well as words like "build consensus".
New Proposed Mission:
Goals to implement this mission are from the Attributes of a Livable Community handout.
Goals
Economy Related Goals
Kay Crooker stated that it was unnecessary to include the "tax " word at all. Could we say "high quality taxable value" another participant asked. David Crossley said that taxation is an issue. He said that if economic growth is so successful, why are tax rates are going up while infrastructure, which is supposed to be developed using the tax revenue, is declining in parts of the city? Crooker said she did not think it was necessary to include "tax" here. Another participant commented that smart growth is smart decision making also. Tax rate is not key, but, if we want smart decisions, then we need smart decision makers and then we’ll end up with stable tax rates ultimately.
David Crossley mentioned that in a couple of local counties tax rates are going to 0.
Then participants asked if the phrase "raising sufficient revenue" could be used instead of tax.
K. Crooker said that especially if "decreasing tax rate" is included in the goals, the first thing the government will do is cut grants for trees, parks, etc to decrease the tax rate, which does not help our cause.
Another participant stated that in many cities people are willing to accept increased tax rates if they know the revenues will go to parks, trees, etc. David Crossley said that in some city it is stated on parking meters that the revenue from meters goes to parks, trees and that people are more willing to pay for the parking.
It was decided to restate the sentence on taxation to "fair and stable tax policy’ rather than "stable or decreased tax rates".
Also, some participants commented on what was meant by "High quality jobs". It was decided to change it to "diverse high quality jobs".
One participant asked what was meant by "stable jobs" in the economic goals. David Crossley said that , as an example, a stadium construction is a few years’ project and once it is constructed, the construction jobs will go away. Then it was decided to change that sentence to "stable job market" to better emphasize the meaning.
Community Related Goals
Victoria Herrin asked where in the goals "human health" is included.
using "broad range of housing choices" instead. David said that it is better to set the goals as large as one can. A participant responded that building ordinances are meant to be minimum standards, not to promote high quality. Type, value, and aesthetics of housing are different choices.
A participant stated that there could be amendments to state laws saying that if someone’s work is helping "smart growth", it should be encouraged via grants.
David said that people come to Houston for jobs, not for the wonderful ecosystem, because of the Gulf Coast. His point is that it has never been emphasized that, aside from jobs, Houston could be a great place to live in terms of its natural resources. Also, community, he said, is your neighborhood, do you want a community where you have relationship with your neighbors, or not? People should have choices about it.
At the end of this discussion on the goal statement "high quality, diverse housing", it was agree not to change the statement for its wide potential value, that it brings a lot to be talked about, thought about. One recommendation is to add "choices" at the end of the statement: High quality, diverse housing choices.
Also, it is decided to add "safety" and "human health".
Environment Related Goals
The meaning of open space is questioned: Is it vegetation, trees? What about adequate and usable green space instead of adequate green space?
Balance is an important word in discussing environmental problems, commented another participant.
Should it say adequate public green space? David Crossley said that he does not want to say "public", "private". The goal should include the broadest possibilities.
David mentioned urban farms at this point. Nearly all food comes from outside thebut we have 90 urban farms in Houston. There is a growing movement for localized food supply. Y2K scare showed us the importance of having a closer supply of food.
A participant said that "transportation" is not covered as attribute of livable communities. David answered it was included under the heading access/mobility in the community related goals. Smart transportation systems like rail-network are important. Another participant said actually transportation is also important as far as food supply goes.
Dianne asked where preservation/rehabilitation, brownfields go? Preservation of housing? Is it a goal also?
Amended goals:
Economy
Community Related Goals
Environment Related Goals
Groups and individuals will be asked to consider and sign on to these goals and the mission.
[Download Mission and Goals: Word | Acrobat ]
After the goals were defined, David suggested forming study groups each area.
Major work groups:
Economy:
Community:
Environment:
Steering:
[Download list of study groups: Word | Acrobat ]
A participant asked what the end of this would be. David answered that on some issues, implementation may start today, while some other issues may take longer or be dropped out. The question is if this is a good organizing set right now.
A participant said that as far as economy goes, infrastructure should be focused on first. First, we must fix what is wrong with Houston. We should consider these issues:
Some people note that it costs less to live here, but if demand drives cost, is it a good sign that housing and property values are so low here? We should be focused on reality, not mythology.
Next, the committees and the members of each committee will be determined. For this, there will be another meeting soon.
A participant said that organizational support in addition to personal support is very important to realize the goals and to have the resources for progress. She said that she could try to get her organization to provide support, but for this, an outline of what we want to do should be available in a written, distributable form. David answered that the minutes, mission, goals, and teams will be made public on the web.
The next meeting date is determined to be on 23 February. The meeting place tentatively will be the American architects Association.
David mentioned the idea of forming a Smart Growth Political Action Committee and an attempt to field an entire slate of Smart Growth candidates in coming regional elections beginning with those in 2001.
David added that he will send a note to everyone announcing the Steering Committee Meeting.
Victoria Herrin said that Transportation 2000 flyers are available and for extra copies or more information, she could be reached at 713-837-7804.
The meeting continued with David Crossley’s presentation he gave at the Woodlands Rotary Club.
Low-rez Acrobat version (1.8 megabytes)
Notes of the presentation are as follows:
We now have a new exploding economy and global challenge. More than 55% of the people in the U.S. work for small firms. New economy is not about High Tech as it is perceived. It is about new ways to apply knowledge.
Speed, quality, flexibility, networks, and knowledge are most important elements of the new economy. Knowledge workers seek quality of life, health, safety, sense of place, and sense of community.
People want open and green space. People hate traffic congestion. We need to increase people’s choices.
Clusters of density and transit oriented edge cities are some choices offered. Walkability is an important issue in a community.
An overview of what is happening in U.S. cities are:
Vancouver: Complex community planning begun in the 1960s has made the city very livable. Good neighborhoods, unobtrusive density, many little parks in nearly every block
Portland: regional planning since 1970s. Portland actually has an Urban Growth Boundary beyond which it is illegal to develop. Portland has a good and growinglight rail system.
Maryland: Priority funding areas
Utah: Had a huge visioning process, proceeding with a market based-plan that has questioned many existing market myths.
Atlanta: Atlanta’s problems are similar to Houston’s in terms of air quality, congestion, and growth. Chamber of Commerce wrote legislation for state to set up Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. Post Properties CEO John Williams is the region's major champion of smart growth. SMARTRAQ offers regional transportation and air quality strategies.
Atlanta’s heat island studies have emphasized the importance of shade trees and reflective surfaces to lower the inner city temperatures and reduce ozone formation. Victoria Herrin noted that a similar study was being done by NASA in Houston.
The conclusion is that knowledge loves quality, creativity wins, and it is important to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the region and build on them
Houston sits in a complex ecosystem that includes the confluence of the Canadian Prairie (Katy Prairie), the Great Northern Forests, Coastal Prairie and Estuaries, and the Gulf of Mexico and we as Houstanians are not very much aware of the resources Houston has.