Minutes, December 15, 1999

Place: Houston Environmental Center - Upper Kirby District Community Center

David Crossley opened the meeting with his notes from the San Diego Partners for Smart Growth Conference that he attended November 17-19. Click here for highlights from the Conference.

After these highlights of the San Diego Conference, the meeting participants introduced themselves. Approximately 30 people were in attendance.

Discussions followed the introductions:

- In places like Atlanta and Silicon Valley, the business community is driving the Smart Growth effort. Bob Stout then said that it strikes him that a driver to fund such an effort in the Houston region is necessary, something like the Turner Foundation is doing in Atlanta. Crossley replied that it is important to inform regional foundations that Smart Growth could be the center of their funding policies as the Funders' Network is proposing. There is no foundation in Houston that bases its giving on Smart Growth yet. Gulf Coast Institute (GCI) has applied to Houston Endowment for funding. Crossley also mentioned that there is a fund named Irvine Foundation in California which invited the Houston Endowment to a meeting to discuss funding and networking in Texas, Florida, and California based on their common characteristics.

- In the November 11 meeting, it was decided to explore the possibility of using the Imagine Houston reports as the basis for a new Houston effort. Crossley mentioned that the Imagine Houston Steering Committee Report and the Focus Group Reports are different and the summary does not really summarize the details.

- David Crossley suggested holding a conference in March-April involving the community and to discuss a plan for the region.

- Bob Stout stated that it is better to quit studying and do something instead. He suggested we move ahead with a plan to implement Imagine Houston. Crossley answered that there is a gap between 1994, the year Imagine Houston was produced, and 1999, and that gap should be studied to represent the current inclinations of the community. Bob Stout asked if we have other resources other than Imagine Houston, and the R/UDAT study from the Whitmire years was mentioned.. Then Victoria Herrin from the City of Houston Planning Department stated that the City is considering updating the existing Imagine Houston Report.

- Bob Stout mentioned that such an effort, or conference should be made. He argued that participation over a region, not solely from inner Houston, is necessary. David Crossley answered that a type of study called Scaled Comparison Study has demographic validity and therefore enables regional thinking. His concern is that getting involvement over a region is a big problem

- Crossley mentioned a Livable Texas Conference that is going to be held in Dallas between February 27-29, 2000. He will make a presentation at that conference.

- A meeting participant suggested that if we want to make it regional, we could involve Mayor of Austin Kirk Watson. The City of Austin has a Smart Growth Initiative

- Crossley suggested bringing ideas about the conference to the next meeting.

- A participant suggested refining Imagine Houston and R/UDAT using a facilitator to keep the effort at a level where it can be a benefit.

- Victoria Herrin from the City Planning Department said that in neighborhood meetings, people almost always ask what happened to Imagine Houston and they want an "action agenda".

- Crossley then stated that he believes that such efforts should not be totally controlled by government offices. Keeping a little bit of independence is desirable, he added.

- David Robinson, who is a planner and an architect, mentioned that in the 1970s the City of Dallas used a system where an independent group studied the city's problems, then brought those to Council where the Dallas Plan was adopted. The Plan is still managed by the nonprofit organization and brought before council each year. Crossley mentioned the Sustainable San Francisco initiative in 1980s, which was a similar plan developed by an outside group. The City actually adopted the plan and hired the head of the group to implement the plan.

- Than David Robinson said that Greater Dallas Planning Council has separate authority and autonomy from the City of Dallas.

- In response to that, another participant added that North Central Texas Council of Governments is a regional council, like the Houston-Galveston Area Council

- There was some discussion about the excellence of GIS facilities in Dallas and Victoria Herrin stated that the City of Houston is working on that. Jeff Taebel noted that H-GAC also has excellent GIS capabilities. He said that the issue is how much one wants to spend on base maps as far as GIS goes .He also mentioned that and action oriented plan is important, while keeping the objectives in sight. He also stated that the term "regional" means different things to different people and a conference should not be another vision exercise.

- A participant suggested that if there is enough public desire on an issue, the government will act, so the public may actually drive the government on smart growth.

- Bob Stout commented that producing 60-70% of the petrochemical products of the U.S. makes the growth and environmental problems of Houston more difficult and complex. We should have a positive purpose and keep in mind the positive things Houston brings to its people while trying to solve its problems.

- Another participant mentioned the Antioxidant Study and Houston’s ozone problem. He said that the "perceived needs" should be identified and it is the key as far as with what issue to start with. Analyzing what drives the city and then planning accordingly is key. He also said that as apart of the Antioxidant Study, he feels that the summary of the study was not a representation of the study such as in Imagine Houston.
He added that in the Imagine Houston study, clean air was not a major issue and now it should be made an important issue.

- Crossley said that he agrees that positive thinking will lead to abstract directions.

- Another participant stated that TNRCC and EPA suggest trade-offs to reach some environmental goals, but we are living in a real world, not an ideal one. He stated that these agencies’ solutions are not always suited to the real world. A participant replied to this by stating that it is a real problem that 40% of air pollution in Texas is not regulated and these agencies have a right and job to regulate it.

- Frank Blake from Sierra Club stated that he thinks transportation is the most important issue for Houston. He said it is not necessary to reinvent things and by looking at existing models, it is possible to offer alternatives to this problem.

- Crossley then stated that we in Houston should have "pioneer spirit". He asked why we couldn’t look at some innovative studies, why we can’t look at examples from Europe, for example, rather than Dallas, why we can’t be a pioneer. He stated that some people argue that light rail is a failed system.

- V. Herrin said that different demographic groups need to be reached for a conference. People who have trouble bringing food to the table cannot be bothered with growth problems.

- Another participant said that this coincides with the question" What is the perceived need? Should the solution also bring economic benefits?

- Frank Blake said that everybody would be interested in "good public transportation".

- Another participant stated that mass transportation is market driven and we should look at "cost vs. benefit". He said that Japan has bad air pollution although people ride bikes, So, the bike as a means of reducing pollution is not a valid conclusion, for example. He said that he thinks that a conference should have objectives/goals and we should decide based on market driven reports or consumer driven reports.

- Another participant said we could use the title "Designing Community for the Future: Transportation, affordable housing, etc."

- V. Herrin said that we could use some preparatory series before the conference; we could go to the communities.

- Bob Stout commented that it is difficult to reach every community in such a big region, and advertising and television should be used as tools.

- A participant who is in real estate development stated that it is easy to get in touch with area civic associations. He said that transportation is a big issue for these groups.

- Another participant added that environmental injustice happens on a transportation level too, especially for people who cannot afford a car in a city with inadequate public transportation.

- Another participant said that since not everyone watches public television, the advertisement for the conference should also be announced on cable channels.

- David Crossley asked for some participants who are willing to work on Imagine Houston to produce a summary based on it.

- Crossley proposed a new political action committee (PAC) to push the Smart Growth agenda. He suggested having Smart Growth candidates in every race in 2001. These could be new candidates or incumbents.

- Also, work groups on transportation, conference, etc. should be formed.

- It is then agreed that identifying tangibles is a huge task, which requires a lot of money. Crossley suggested forming " Funding Committee" that will work on funding.

NEXT MEETING is going to be held on January 20. All meetings will be scheduled for the third Thursday in the month, except March, when it will be the Wednesday before. David Crossley requested the participants inform more people and organizations about the next meeting.

- A participant asked if legislatures have been informed of Smart Growth and emphasized the importance of getting their feedback.

- Victoria Herrin said that the Mayor is planning to have an "Environmental Summit" in the near future.

- Crossley quoted planner and architect Andres Duany who says that the centerpiece of everything is neighborhood structure.

- Victoria Herrin said that neighborhood associations are requesting to look at corridors as a pattern. She said that City Planning usually functions as "Beautifying the City". Another participant said Dallas Plan originally started as "Beautify Dallas" and then the rest, such as transportation solutions, came after that. One led to the other.

- Victoria Herrin said, for instance, that the Richmond Avenue Corridor was not an outside effort, the people there developed it.

- Crossley mentioned that he is going to give a presentation to a Rotary Club and he is trying to reach to different groups and inform them about the Smart Growth movement. He stated that in any such effort, tools are important, and GCI does not have the money to develop the tools that are needed.

– Minutes prepared by Betul Roberts