WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20—Climate
change may have an unintended benefit by encouraging reforms in urban planning,
including the development of regional blueprints that can help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by reshaping the growth of U.S. cities and their
farflung suburbs.
A panel discussion on
October 13 at the Brookings Institution entitled "Metropolitan Planning for
Sustainable Growth" offered insights from government and business officials in
California, Utah, and Minnesota, along with opening remarks by architect Peter
Calthorpe of the urban design firm Calthorpe Associates.
Climate change and land
use patterns are inextricably linked, but urban planning that promotes
sustainable growth always triggers pushback, said Calthorpe, who has worked on
regional blueprints in Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and other cities.
Local government leaders
and residents often resist changes that shift the focus away from single-family
housing even though it encourages sprawl and increased GHG through long
commutes and heavy reliance on automobiles rather than public
transportation.
“What the debate always
boils down to is you’re stealing single-family homes. You’re destroying the
American Dream,” Calthorpe said. “Sprawl for the past 50 years has basically
been eroding the quality of life for everyone. They don’t see that a different
type of growth could actually enhance their life.”
The bursting of the
real-estate bubble that helped trigger the economic recession wasn’t caused
just by shaky financing schemes, Calthorpe said. Zoning regulations in many
cities restricted mixed-use developments and multifamily housing, contributing
to a glut of traditional single-family homes that didn’t accommodate shifting
demographics and changing needs in the housing market. Singles, married couples
without children and empty nesters whose children have moved out don’t need
four-bedroom homes, but that’s what was being built.
In 2008, 36% of new
single-family houses had four or more bedrooms; a 10% increase since 1988. Over
the past decade, the average sale price of new single-family homes skyrocketed
more than 60%, from $181,900 to $292,600. At the same time, multifamily
construction dropped from 325,000 units in 2006 to 301,000 units last year.
Cutting Edge in
Sacramento
Regional plans that were
developed in the past typically were made by public works directors who focused
solely on planning roads and highways to meet the demands of growth without
thinking about sustainability or public involvement in the process, says
Michael McKeever, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of
Governments.
“You ended up with
regional plans that really didn’t look at how the regional organism functioned,”
he says. “A lot of this honestly still goes on. We haven’t completely stamped
it out in Sacramento yet either, but we’re working on it.”
McKeever is the former
director of the Sacramento Region Blueprint Project, which established a long-range
vision for how the area will manage an effective doubling of population growth
by 2050. The blueprint planning principles call for a diverse mix of housing
options, compact development with infill projects, more public transportation
choices, conservation of natural resources, and quality urban design. The
project offers workshops and technical assistance for local government leaders
to help implement the principles through local planning decisions.
The Sacramento blueprint
used cutting-edge software modeling programs that track estimated commute and
travel times from individual parcels of land, McKeever said. The software also
analyzes detailed data on natural resources, water supply, and housing stock.
The project was a model
for SB 375, California’s ground-breaking climate change litigation that seeks
to reduce GHG from vehicles through regional guidelines adopted by metropolitan
planning organizations. Passenger vehicles are the largest single source of GHG
in California, accounting for 30% of all GHG in the Golden State.
More fuel-efficient cars
won’t solve the GHG problem because fundamental changes must be made in land
use and reducing commute times, McKeever said. More federal funding should be
allocated directly to metropolitan planning organizations rather than at the
state level, including performance-based funding based on how well regional
plans work.
“Chasing money is a
nonpartisan American value,” McKeever said. “If you put an amount of money on
the table that is noticeable, people will compete for that and change their
behavior rapidly rather than slowly.”
Moving Ahead in Utah
Utah was an early
proponent of regional planning and developed a blueprint process that has been
replicated in other parts of the country. After holding more than 200 public
workshops, Envision Utah created a Quality Growth Strategy in 1999 for Salt
Lake City and the Greater Wasatch Area, including 10 counties, 88 cities and
towns, and more than 150 special-service districts.
Since then, Envision Utah
has partnered with more than 100 communities in Utah to implement the growth
strategy, which integrates land use, transportation, air quality, water use,
and infrastructure planning. By 2020, the blueprint will
lead to some lasting changes, including the conservation of 171 square miles of
land, a 7.3% reduction in vehicle emissions, less traffic congestion, and a
more market-driven mix of housing through changes in restrictive zoning
regulations. Implemented reforms are expected to save $4.5 billion in
infrastructure costs.
“In the process we
lowered costs, cleaned up our air, conserved water, and expanded choice,” says
Natalie Gochnour, chief operating officer of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Envision Utah, which was
data driven with voluntary participation, provided information without becoming
involved in political advocacy, says Gochnour, who served on the Envision Utah
Steering Committee.
Struggling in the Twin
Cities
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have had less success in developing a regional blueprint, says Peter McLaughlin, a Hennepin County commissioner and chairman of the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority. Regional planning is split among various local, county, and regional organizations with varying jurisdictions, and there has been infighting between urban and suburban interests, he said.
“Our transportation and
policy planning structures are politely described as a hodgepodge,” McLaughlin
said. “It’s just a mess, a total hodgepodge.”
But the area has had some success in developing light rail. Beginning in November, the $317 million Northstar Commuter Rail Line line will connect downtown Minneapolis with nearby towns and suburbs. The 40-mile line will connect with the Hiawatha Line, which has 17 stations between downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America. Another rail line is scheduled to begin construction next year.