Orson Scott Card on smart growth

[nxylas]

This column from science fiction writer and newspaper columnist Orson Scott Card is a few weeks old, but it advocates a lot of what I've said for years.

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2007-04-15-1.html

[ramapo]

1. Mixed-Use Zoning

Yes much of the mess that we call suburbia is the result of zoned isolation that has made the automobile a non-negotiable requirement of life. However I don't think that just instituting a change in zoning will be enough to get us moving in the right direction.

My small, North Jersey suburb currently has a very modest proposal to create a mixed-use zone in the "downtown", which is now a completely dysfunctional collection of a few strip malls separated by a busy two-lane road. It encompasses a few blocks. Hardly anybody walks between the stores so you have the absurd situation of people driving across the street.

Anyway, the zoning proposal includes the sensible idea of apartments above new retail stores. People don't like the idea! It might bring in riff-raff is the basic complaint (fear), as the apartments might be somewhat affordable, although not cheap.

I believe that government will at least have to provide strong incentives to recreate or build from scratch, denser, more livable neighborhoods that can function without the automobile. Many towns in North Jersey once had functioning downtowns, although most of these have passed on. Government should do all it can to encourage massive redevelopment of urban and suburban downtimes while discouraging construction in outlying areas (sprawl).

Cars are at the same time both the most absurdly inefficient means of travel as well as the most convenient, and that is the crux of our problem. Stand on a street corner in Manhattan or any urban center and marvel at the absolute mess caused by the automobile. Fantasize for a moment of the same scene without a car in sight.

It is just too easy to drive your car and nothing much will change until that simple fact changes. NY mayor Bloomberg has proposed congestion entrance fees to downtown. People for the most part go crazy at such a thought. After all, it is our God-given right to drive our car anywhere, any time. Consequence be damned.

Changing that attitude amongst the masses is the real challenge.

[nxylas]

2. Congestion charging has been a great success in London

Yes, it has its critics among motorists with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement, but the increases in air quality and bus service are there for all to see (and breathe). The last time I visited the city, I found myself getting around on buses as a matter of course, whereas I had previously relied on the tube. Even motorists benefit, since reduced congestion means they can get around easier.

[kestrel91316]

3. Here in LA the mixed-use developments have high-end condos

above the retail. Strictly for "The Other Half", and not us little people......