Additionally, I’ll have some thoughts to share on the emerging areas of “agricultural urbanism”, new developments in form-based zoning codes, and much more.

In the meantime, please feel free to send me any thoughts as we gear back up.

Thanks!

Kevin Klinkenberg

Related posts:

1. Form-Based Regulations for Panama City Beach

For my readers in Kansas City, I think it’s always interesting to think about Portland and compare it to our own city, or other cities in the Midwest of comparable size. In the 1970’s, Portland was a smaller and by all means less-important city than KC. Starting then, they made a conscious series of decisions to embrace walkability, transit, and away from suburban sprawl. The results are impressive, to say the least. Today, Portland is a faster-growing region than KC, draws far more young people, and has a dynamic central city. It’s done all this while being more efficient with public dollars and offering its citizens more options in how to get around. A great lesson for all of us.

Portland TOD video

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/portland-transit-oriented-development.php

Related posts:

1. Transit City or Transit Cities
2. Park: Milwaukee’s former planner embraces rail as key to urban development
3. Klinkenberg presents to City Council/Planning Commission/Downtown Development Authority in Wyoming, Mich.; discusses form-based codes

This video documents one of what I think is the more interesting approaches being proposed – by Andres Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. There’s obviously much I like about the approach he is suggesting, not the least of which is the careful use of design to solve social, urban design and architectural problems.  Too many people approach situations such as these and don’t consider how design can solve many of the pre-existing issues, or certainly how it’s critical to look at urban design in addition to simply building design.

A few random thoughts as I watched the video:

- “high-tech” materials such as this always make me a bit nervous, since they’ve rarely been applied in such a large quantity. I’m interested to see the results on the ground, but also wonder about the opportunity for more traditional building materials.

-I love the “gridded” plan that he proposes for the settlement. It shows again (pet issue of mine) how a seemingly simplistic approach to urban design can in fact have many excellent nuances for daily life

-The scale of this particular problem is staggering. I hope that casual observers can get a feel for how this effort is still just a very small first step. So much needs to be done.

Enjoy the video-

Related posts:

1. Americans Agree: Smart Growth Approach to Transportation Helps Build Communities and Urban Living
2. Cities are “going green,” says a new report, but missing the most important issues and opportunities
3. 180 Urban Design Releases Viral Video About Smart Street Design in Kansas City

What I hope to convey to you in this note is not just the seriousness of our situation, but how you can help at the Federal level while achieving your stated goals of preparing the country for long-term economic and environmental prosperity.

As someone who is generally an optimist, it pains me to write something that is so overly negative. However, the economic situation today is dire for architects, engineers, planners and anyone involved in design. Simply put, all of us have friends and colleagues who are highly qualified, talented individuals that have no work. All of us in ownership situations have had to lay off trusted employees, who have little hope of finding full-time employment. College graduates are facing a job market that is essentially non-existent.

It’s also safe to say that the majority of these folks are people who support the Administration’s agenda of progressive energy policy, transportation reform, environmental advocacy and health care reform. In other words, these are some of your core constituents, who have much talent to offer the country.

And with all due respect, tax credits for new employees, or tax credits of most any kind are worthless to those of us in the design industries. We cannot hire because there is no work, not because we need a tax incentive to do so. Our clients are not proceeding with projects, even in markets where the economy is stable, because lenders will essentially not do any new lending for development projects. The credit markets on Main Street are tighter than they have ever been in many of our lifetimes.

What can be done, then? Plenty. The Recovery Act had many of the right ideals, but lacked proper implementation of those ideals to help maximize the dollars spent. For example, focusing solely on “shovel-ready” projects only benefits a few contractors and subcontractors on the construction side. And, this is not to mention that many of those projects were “on the shelf” because they were poorly conceived, and didn’t meet the needs of the 21^st century.

Instead, any additional stimulus or Federal money spent going forward should focus on how to a) create as many jobs in the supply chain as possible, and b) match up with the Administration’s goals on Sustainability and Livability.

The best way to do this is to fund new efforts now that require the work of architects, engineers, planners and more. By doing so, not only do you help to create jobs in this important sector, but you also get the additional benefit of construction jobs on the back-end of the projects. Funding projects that require thoughtful design solves a) and b) above, and additionally benefits all taxpayers as we move towards more efficiency in the use of resources.

What are some examples of how to do this? The list is much longer than what I have noted below, but some examples include:

1. Grants supporting new plans for municipalities and local governments, emphasizing Livable Communities goals.
2. Grants supporting new form-based zoning and zoning reform for local governments
3. Grants supporting Complete Streets approaches to transportation, as well as planning for integrated land use and transportation plans.
4. Grants for design of civic structures and public parks and plazas
5. Bond issues for design and construction of new educational facilities
6. Seed money for micro-loan programs that implement the planning efforts above

Any of these efforts would be, like many New Deal programs, a long-term investment in the future health of our country. In fact, we can still point today with pride at many of the structures and public spaces that were built in the 1930’s as some of our most-loved places.

In addition, all of these prepare us for a more economically and environmentally sustainable future. Mr. President, you recognized early in your term that we cannot keep building sprawl forever and ever – that we realize now it’s too inefficient and doesn’t meet the needs of our citizens. This is never more evident than in an economic downturn, and it will be even more apparent as worldwide oil supplies put pressure on our lifestyle in the near future.

So in summary, what you have before you now is an opportunity to have a true win-win situation. Put people to work now. Create thoughtful long-term solutions. Help the country make the transition to a more prosperous and livable future.

Please do the right thing – we stand ready to help.

Sincerely,

Kevin Klinkenberg, AIA

Principal – 180 Urban Design & Architecture

AIAKC 2010 President

Related posts:

1. Washington Post Article ‘Obama Paints a New Vision for Nation’s Urban Policy’
2. Kevin Klinkenberg and the annual CNU Congress
3. Kevin Klinkenberg on President Obama’s Plan for Regional High-Speed Rail

I love the snow, and what it does to life in cities. So much of our lives gets consumed by activity and noise, it’s refreshing when we’re forced to have much of that go away. Mainly, it’s wonderful just how quiet the city gets when vehicles can’t travel very well. We forget just how much of the noise of life is vehicular, except when a snowstorm comes and takes most of that away. It’s so… peaceful. Which of course makes you think.

You may wonder what a snowstorm can say about walkability and how we live our lives. Well, since we own this bit of cyberspace, let me share a few thoughts.

For one, it doesn’t take much of a weather event to reveal just how fragile our existence is. And how dependent we are on our machines. For so many, life just shuts down completely. That’s not always bad, except that it’s a forced choice, not a conscious one.

And it also reveals just how much of the “panic” that comes with a big storm is because of our auto-dependency. For example, if you live in a place where walking is the norm, a storm is just an inconvenience – you can still get to the store, the local bar, to work, and the kids can even get to school. But in a culture where all those things require a vehicular trip, we either shut life down completely or over-purchase on our vehicles for winter driving ability. Again, I kind of like how life quiets down from a storm, but not when it’s forced upon us.

Another thing that’s been at the top of the mind of Kansas City, MO residents in particular is snow plowing. Yes, the bane of our existence – we live in a city that is inept at plowing its streets (even though most of the same complainers don’t bother to clear their own sidewalks). But while I’d concede we live in a poorly managed city, is that really the root of the problem?

Like so many of our fiscal issues, it’s impossible to ignore the impact of how our cities are planned and built. KCMO is an extremely spread out municipality, with very low overall population density. This particular pattern of development is extremely expensive to service, with many more lane-miles of roadways than similarly-sized cities that are more compact. While the city contains certain areas (the urban core) that are fairly compact, it has extensive square miles of land that are low-density subdivisions or rural areas. All of those parts of the city still demand municipal services, regardless of their plus or minus contribution to the general fund. It’s nothing new or groundbreaking, but the reality is that the pattern of development we’ve primarily built in the last 50+ years is a money-losing proposition for city governments. It seems strange with all of the fees on new development and new tax revenue to say this, but those are all short-term hits that don’t even come close to paying for the long-term expenses of repair, maintenance and basic services.

It’s a funny catch-22 that the more compact and walkable a city is, the more likely it is able to provide quality municipal services, such as clearing, cleaning and repairing streets. Even though, you may need your vehicle even less!

Topic for another day: should municipal services be tailored to efficiency of the neighborhood, or in planner jargon terms, to Transect Zone?

So, what is the bottom line? Enjoy the snow. Let life slow down a little. But if you care about how quickly or effectively your street gets cleared, start paying to development and land use issues in your city.

Related posts:

1. Why Path to Prosperity? Suburban sprawl causing financial headache for cities
2. Washington Post Article ‘Obama Paints a New Vision for Nation’s Urban Policy’
3. Street Food: Good eats important on the Path to Prosperity