July 2, 2004
A publication of the Gulf Coast Institute
"People should have the choice to live
somewhere where they can be fat. That's one of the consequences of a free
society."
- Samuel R. Staley, president of the Buckeye
Institute for Public Policy Solutions, quoted in "Car Use Drives Up
Weight, Study Finds" Washington Post.
³Because there are issues of confiscation
of private and State and National sovereignty and other similar concerns, the
Party urges the repeal of HB 3588 authorizing the Trans-Texas Corridor.²
Republican Party of Texas announcing opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor.
See story below.
LIVABLE
HOUSTON / SMART GROWTH INITIATIVE
Models for the 2028 Regional Transportation
Plan
Now that the 2025 Regional Transportation Plan
(RTP) has been adopted, itıs time to start thinking about the 2028 plan.
This meeting will look at RTPs from Denver, San Diego, and Atlanta with a
view toward finding models for the future. The Gulf Coast Institute will
also present a draft of a document that begins to outline a basis for the next
plan. The Livable Houston meeting is Wednesday, July 28th, noon-1:30 pm,
Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons, second floor. Bring your lunch. For
more information call 713-523-5755. The Gulf Coast Institute and the
Houston-Galveston Area Council host Livable Houston/Smart Growth
bring-your-own-lunch meetings that are open to the public on the fourth
Wednesday of every month. http://www.livablehouston.org
Pernot heads for school
With this newsletter, Catherine Rentz Pernot
will be leaving the Gulf Coast Institute to pursue a Masterıs degree in
Journalism at the prestigious University of Missouri Graduate School of
Journalism. For nearly two years, Catherine has reported for this newsletter,
in addition to producing thoughtful analysis of transportation and other urban
issues. She was largely responsible for the 17 Houston Transportation Bulletins
that preceded the adoption of the Metro Solutions plan and the 2025 Regional
Transportation Plan. Her analysis of the 2025 Plan spurred unprecedented
citizen and elected official interest in that far-reaching document. Through
her work and her passion, Catherine has helped elevate the conversation in the
Houston region and has been an invaluable member of the Instituteıs staff.
David Crossley, president
Nashville planning process explained
Rick Bernhardt, Nashville Executive Director
of Planning, recently spoke to a room full of Blueprint Houston participants.
Bernhardt is the executive director of the Nashville metro-planning department
and he spoke about the areaıs general, long-term plan. He has 30 years of
community planning experience under his belt and spoke about planning as
something that really needs to be from the community rather than from the
government. The primary role of the government, he said, was to educate
taxpayers so they can tell the government what to do. He said community
visioning is particularly important to the planning process, ³If you donıt have
a vision, you shouldnıt be doing a plan.² For information about the
Nashville Plan, visit http://www.nashville.gov/mpc/index.htm
Regional Transportation Plan Passes
Houstonıs Transportation Policy Council (TPC)
passed the $77 billion Regional Transportation Plan last Friday. The vote was
not a surprise, as officials had hinted at passage for the past month. It
passed unanimously with no debate about the planıs final contents. The public
debate, however, was much different as indicated by Harris County Judge Robert
Eckels, TPC chair, who said that, ³weıve gone through more discussion on this
plan than any plan in the past.² Eckels and a few other TPC officials
have stressed that the plan is more of a ³list of options² and ³flexible,²
insinuating to wary residents that problems could be fixed later. Residents
commenting on the plan who wanted several road projects removed have questioned
his and othersı sincerity saying that, ³in our experience, if it is too lateı
to change the plan now it isnıt going to get any less too lateı later.² The
Regional Transportation Plan is a 20-year or longer plan required by the
federal government so that regions conform to federal environmental and
financial rules regarding use of the federal transportation funds. It is
updated every three years. To see the Gulf Coast Instituteıs coverage of the
plan, see the Houston Transportation Bulletins at http://www.livablehouston.org/transbulletin/bulletin.html
Public affected Regional Transportation
Plan, H-GAC says
The public played a role in affecting the
Regional Transportation Plan, said Houston-Galveston Area Council
(H-GAC)?transportation director Alan Clark at the last Transportation Policy
Council meeting where officials passed the plan (see story above). Shelley
Whitworth, a staff member at H-GAC who works with the public, said several
road-widening projects were removed and several transit projects actually
added. The exact amount and extent of the changes, however, will not be known
until later as H-GAC has set up a subcommittee to track changes from the
projects the public reviewed in March and April? of this year to the projects
the Transportation Policy Council passed in late June. Robin Holzer, a
community activist who helped organize the public to change the plan, said that
so far she sees more ³cosmetic changes² than substantive changes with a lot of
written and definitional changes in the RTP document and?few actual project
changes.
Getting real about Houstonıs housing
Providing the appropriate housing for
Houstonıs expected growth is going to be difficult, said Roger Lewis, architect
and professor at the University of Maryland who was asked by the American
Institute of Architects (AIA) Houston chapter to gather a team of national
housing experts to recommend policies to deal with Houstonıs housing needs.
Between now and 2025, Lewis said, the City of Houston is expected to double
from 2 million to 4 million, and most of that growth is going to be
low-to-moderate income Hispanic households. Lewis talks about his effort, which
he calls ³Mission Impossible,² at creating recommendations for such growth in a
Washington Post article. He asked two fundamental questions, ³Will these
people, part of Houston's indispensable workforce, be able to find decent,
affordable housing with access to transit, as well as other public facilities
and services? Or will they be forced to buy or rent housing ever farther out in
rural counties surrounding the already-sprawling core?² and said the answers
depend upon the will of City of Houstonıs elected officials. For the article, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5780-2004Jun25.html For the AIA report, http://www.housinghouston.org
Changes sought for Hardy Toll Road
extension
In a meeting last week, representatives from
Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Harris County Toll Road
Authority (HCTRA) heard concerns from Central Houston, the Mayorıs office, and
several nonprofit groups about the planned extension of the Hardy Toll Road
into Downtown Houston. Attendees said there was some fear that
neighborhoods would be negatively impacted and several historic structures
might be imperiled. Art Storey, head of Harris County infrastructure, asked the
Toll Road team and TxDOT to take a look at a couple of alternative alignments
that were proposed at the meeting.
CVS threatens Montrose
Plans for another suburban-style CVS, this
time on Montrose Boulevard, have urban advocates worrying again that the drug
store chain will destroy a promising pedestrian area. Sources say CVS is trying
to buy about 1.25 acres along Montrose at the southeast corner of Richmond.
Last year, there was a skirmish with CVS over the southeast corner of
West Gray and Bagby in Midtown, where a suburban drug store with a large
parking lot ended urbanistsı dream that had begun with the very urban Post
Properties mixed-use project and a new park. In the meantime, CVS is
building a store to downtown rules on Main Street, where an urban store is
under construction.
Houston cost of living higher than
Portland, several other US cities
Houston is the seventy-third most expensive
world city to live in, according to a new Money magazine study of cost of
living. Portland, often viewed by opponents of smart growth as expensive
because of its growth strategies, was at 105, far below Houston. Other US
cities less expensive than Houston include Atlanta, Seattle, St. Louis,
Cleveland, Denver, and Pittsburgh. New York (12), Los Angeles (27), and Chicago
(35) topped the US list. The most expensive cities in the world: Tokyo, London,
and Moscow. http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/11/pf/costofliving/
City makes future a little more
environmentally friendly
City of Houston Council Members recently
passed a resolution that will make the Cityıs buildings a little greener. Any
new or replacement facilities and major renovations of City-owned buildings,
including fire stations, libraries, and multi-service centers, spanning more
than 10,000 square feet are going to now be LEED certified, which stands for
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. ³This resolution effectively
ensures that the City facilities we construct are more energy efficient with a
minimal amount of negative impact to the environment,² explained Issa Z.
Dadoush, P.E., Building Services Department, which serves as the cityıs
in-house developer. Both Dallas and Austin already have similar green building
practices. For more about LEED certification, visit http://www.usgbc.org/leed/leed_main.asp. For the cityıs
press release, visit http://www.ci.houston.tx.us/bsd/20040628.htm
New Mayoral appointees
Mayor Bill White recently named Michael S.
Marcotte as the Cityıs new Director of Public Works and Engineering and Dr.
Carol A. Lewis as Executive Assistant to the Mayor for Transportation Planning.
Marcotte will replace Director Jon C. Vanden Bosch, who is retiring. Lewisıs
position is a new one for the ³transportation mayor.² Lewis is an associate
professor in transportation studies and director of the Center for
Transportation Training and Research at Texas Southern University. Sheıs a
former METRO board member and has conducted research for the Texas Department
of Transportation into topics including smart growth, land use and development,
strategic planning and land value effects of elevated and depressed freeways.
She is also on the Houston-Galveston Area Councilıs Transportation Advisory
Council, as well as the board of the Gulf Coast Institute.
Katy Prairie Conservancy more than doubles
its land
Katy Prairie Conservancy (KPC), a local land trust that
protects natural areas from development, recently doubled its land ownership in
acquiring the Warren Ranch, a 6,500-acre working ranch in west Houston between
I-10 and 290. KPC now has 12,000 acres of land under ownership and another
5,000 that they protect. The new land includes tall grass prairie that is part
of an ecosystem that runs from the Gulf Coast to Canada. Mary Anne Piacentini,
Executive Director of KPC, said that one can find a wide variety of animals
including Snow and Canada Geese, 15 types of ducks, among others on the ranch
at different times of the year. The land will remain a working ranch and
Piacentini says that they may return some areas to tall grass prairies.
Tree planting announced for baseball park
area
The City of Houston will receive approximately
$800,000 from the State and Mayor Bill White wants this money to go toward tree
planting around Minute Maid Park, according to Trees for Houston (TFH)?
TFH is the primary contractor and will partnering with Central Houston
Inc., Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Texas Department of Transportation, City of
Houston, Keep Houston Beautiful, and Harris County Flood Control.? Improvements
include planting and maintenance of trees, and preparation of sidewalks and
clean up.
Republican Party opposes Trans-Texas
Corridor
The Republican Party of Texas recently announced opposition
to the Trans-Texas Corridor, saying that the plan ³is designed to generate
money first and provide transportation second.² The Trans-Texas Corridor is a
new transportation system that will criss-cross more than 4,000 miles of Texas.
It includes building new roads, freight rail, passenger rail, and utilities.
Concerns voiced by the party include loss of private property and local tax
bases, air pollution, cost, ³double-taxation² through tolling, and lack of
mobility benefits for urban areas. Harris County Judge Eckels, a Republican,
supports the Trans-Texas Corridor and has lobbied for a portion near Houston
(I-69) to be a top priority in the projectıs construction. A spokesperson in
Eckelsı office told the Gulf Coast Institute that he was not aware of the
partyıs position and had no comment. http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/2004txgop.htm
Texas Transportation Summit
The Texas Transportation Summit, the stateıs
major transportation conference featuring over 100 speakers, will happen August
10-13 in Irving, Texas. Among the presenters are Texas Transportation
Commissioner Ric Williamson; Texas State Senator Todd Staples, Chairman of the
Infrastructure and Security Committee; US Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey
Hutchison, and US House Majority Leader Tom Delay. Topics include: Mass
Transit, High-Speed Rail, Transportation Funding, Mobility and Toll Equity
Funding, Homeland Defense and Security, Regional Mobility Authorities, TEA-21
Reauthorization, Aviation, Transportation Safety, Construction, Access
Management, Aviation, NAFTA Trade Corridor and Border Issues, Roadways, Toll
Roads and Seaports. To register, visit http://www.texastransportationsummit.com
NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES
PLANNING
Detroitıs massive urban renewal plan
Detroit, an example urbanists use for city
decay, is trying to pick itself back up in what may be the largest urban
renewal program in US history, according to a column by Neal Peirce. Detroitıs
³Far Eastside Plan² will attempt to breathe life with new development into
1,200 acres. According to Peirce, the area once housed 24,000 people, but ³race
riots, rising taxes, crime and the historic flight to the suburbs² crippled the
areas such that it only houses about 4,000 today. http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/peir0524.htm
METROPOLITAN ECONOMICS
Smart Growth is Smart Business
A new report called ³Smart Growth is Smart
Business² profiles how business leaders are supporting smart growth policies
and projects, and puts forth five key smart growth business actions. This
report, produced by the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and the National
Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, profiles 17
business groups (including the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Johnson &
Johnson, BellSouth) that are profiting while revitalizing communities and
improving livability across the nation. It shows how quality of life,
reinvestment in established communities, business involvement in regional
growth management, and long-term investments in smart growth projects directly
affects the bottom line. For the report, visit http://www.sgli.org/sgbp.html
URBANISM
Blandburbs
Joel Hirschhorn, former Director of
Environment, Energy and Natural Resources at the National Governors
Association, recently wrote an article in the Newtopia Magazine entitled
³Sprawl Politics Traps Americans in Blandburbs.² In it he writes, ³The Enron-type
scandals get the headlines, but for decades there have been thousands of
micro-scandals involving the corruption of government by the sprawl lobby. Add
them up and you get the national catastrophe of sprawl corruption; it has made
Americans pay higher taxes, suckered them into expensive and risky automobile
dependency, and slyly seduced them into an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle with
high medical costs.² http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/content/issue17/features/sprawlpolitics.php
MOBILITY
Federal transportation act extended for
fourth time
Legislators in Washington DC have once again
extended the nationıs transportation act (TEA-21) that governs highway and
transit spending over a six-year period. This fourth extension is set to expire
at the end of July. The US Senate, US House, and White House all prefer
different funding levels and have been unable to negotiate a compromise thus far
this election year. http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/
GREENSPACE
Chicagoıs Green Mayor
Chicago Mayor Ricard Daley, known for his goal
of making Chicago the greenest city in America, was quoted in a recent
Metropolis magazine article as saying, ³My belief is that environmental
initiatives should not just be out on the West Coast, in Alaska, or by the
ocean, but in cities. If we donıt do this, the expansion will be overwhelming:
more cars, more concrete, more pollution in the air and water. They wonıt have
any environment left out there, and no one will want to live here either.² The
article looks at his ambitious efforts to build parks, green buildings, and
landscaping across the country. http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_0704/chi/index.html
HEALTH
Automobile dependency increases risk of
obesity, study shows
Automobile dependency increases the risk of
obesity, according to a new study by the Georgia Institute of Technology. The
study found that the more people drive, the more likely they are to be a
statistic among USıs obesity epidemic. How much one drives has more to do with
oneıs risks of obesity than income, gender, ethnicity, and education, said the
study. The people who live closer to shops and restaurants where they could
walk were less likely to be obese than those who live in further away, more car
dependent areas. ³The effect appeared to be largely the result of the
amount of time people spend driving or walking,² said a Washington Post article
reporting on the study. ³Each hour spent in a car was associated with a 6
percent increase in the likelihood of obesity and each half-mile walked per day
reduced those odds by nearly 5 percent, the researchers found.² This is at
least the second study to link obesity with the environment in which one lives.
The Surface Transportation Policy Project completed a study last year called
³Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl² that found those living in more
sprawling areas had higher incidences of obesity. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3062-2004May30.html
EVENTS
REGIONAL AND STATE
Houston Bicycle Club July 4 bike ride, Houston. Call Kathy
Smith 281-495-9990 or http://www.hbc.stevens.com for details
First Ring Suburbs, Sept. 23, 30, Oct.
7, Dallas. The Greater Dallas Planning Council hosts a symposium to explore
³first ring suburbs.² http://www.txplanning.org/EdOp/GPDCsymposium.pdf
NATIONAL
Rail~Volution, Sept. 18-22, Los
Angeles. The 10th annual Rail~Volution conference that will explore how regions
reinvent themselves as more livable places with transit. To register, visit http://www.railvolution.com
Note to readers: If you have news to
share, have reports from events, or would like to add subscriber names, please
let us know at issues@gulfcoastideas.org.
Prepared by Catherine Rentz Pernot
Gulf Coast Growth News is a publication of the Gulf Coast
Institute. The Gulf Coast Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
improving the quality of life in Houston. To support the Institute, go to http://www.gulfcoastideas.org. To join the
Instituteıs 1000 Friends of Houston, go to http://www.1000friendsofhouston.org