- Obama drops plan to limit global warming gases (Federal Response, Part One)
Source: Washington Post; November 3, 2010
Summary: Due to political reasons, the Obama administration has dropped its proposal to regulate greenhouse gases through a cap-and-trade system. The proposal passed the House, but it was blocked in the Senate. Obama claims there are other ways to get the job done.
Opinion: This is not a Democratic/Republican thing, or else it would have passed when the Democrats had a supermajority. This is a matter of whether the US legislative branch has enough statesmen to actually do their job. The answer is clear. But hopefully, the people in this next story will give Congresscritters some backbone....
- Climate scientists fighting back (Climatologists' Response)
Source: Spokesman-Review; November 8, 2010
Summary: Though traditionally scientists attempt to stay out of the political fray, many have decided that the threat of climate change is too great to be left to the politicians. Originally of the opinion that the truth would win out, they have seen two decades go by without sufficient action. They are now changing their strategy. The American Geophysical Union announced that 700 climatologists will be available to speak as climate experts to ensure that the threat is being conveyed accurately.
Opinion: It's unfortunate that truth is not a respected commodity in politics, so it was inevitable that people with more credibility than politicians would be necessary to straighten this out. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard to find people more credible than politicians, but that's not actually how people think. Mostly, people believe people who tell them things that confirm their preconceptions. But, that's a topic for another time, and another blog....
- As nations dither on climate change, big cities step up (Cities' Response)
Source: McClatchy; November 23, 2010
Summary: Much of the world’s economic activity occurs in cities, so some large cities want to start playing a role in dealing with climate change rather than wait for their national governments. Consequently, several cities joined in the UN climate change talks this month.
Opinion: This is effort is not new. Former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels initiated the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement that allows cities to commit to the goals of the Kyoto Treaty. As of December 20, 2010, there were 1044 cities ( map) which have signed on, including Spokane and Sandpoint. However, having the cities asserting themselves at the international level is new, and a sign that the US federal government is making itself irrelevant through inaction.
- Poor countries join the rich in agreeing to monitor emissions (International Response)
Source: McClatchy; December 11, 2010
Summary: The UN climate change talks were successful, but stopped short of a full treaty. All countries, including the major powers, approved what is known as the Cancun agreements. The agreements commit nations to cutting emissions, includes monitoring of the greenhouse gas emissions of emerging nations, such as China, and creates a Green Climate Fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change, $30 billion to start, and $100 billion annually beginning in 2020. The agreement buoys hope for a treaty at the next climate conference next year in Durban, South Africa.
Opinion: It would be helpful for me if anyone could tell me the difference between an agreement and a treaty. I’m not sure how an agreement could commit a country to a task if it's not solemnized as treaty. I’ll put it on my to-do list, but if you happen to know, please let us all know!
- EPA to set pollution limits on power plants, refineries (Federal Response, Part Two)
Source: McClatchy; December 23, 2010
Summary: The EPA is adopting standards which will reduce allowable carbon emissions from new and heavily renovated refineries and fossil fuel burning power plants. This new regulation is made under the authority of the Clean Air Act. The new regulation does not affect current plants. Existing plants (about 500 coal-fired plants and 150 refineries) are unaffected until states adopt their own regulations under EPA guidelines to be published in 2015 or 2016. The current set of proposed regulations will be issued in 2011 and put into effect in 2012.
Opinion: The Bush administration argued that the EPA did not want to regulate carbon emissions, but in 2007 the US Supreme Court said that it was required to determine whether carbon emissions were a threat before it could decide to do nothing about it. Two years later a proposed finding and a final ruling found that that carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride constitute a threat to public health and welfare, and that they had reached unprecedented levels due to human activity. With that finding, the EPA was obligated to issue regulations to treat them as pollutants. Which just goes to show that elections matter (as to whether science is respected or not).
Four the Future - December 31
Part two of a two-part climate change focus: what's being done because of global climate change. You can find part one here. Go ahead and take a look, I'll wait. Go on.
Four the Future - December 29
The first of a two-part 'Four the Future' to end the year in an attempt to influence your New Year's resolutions. Today, the effects of climate change; next time, what some people are doing about it.
- NOAA: Warming Arctic unlikely to return to how it was
Source: McClatchy; October 21, 2010
Summary: NOAA’s annual arctic report card states that the changes to the arctic are likely to be permanent, and the weather in the United States will be affected as a result. The melting of the arctic caused last year’s extreme cold in eastern North America, northern Europe and east Asia. Greenland had its warmest year on record, and sea level rise will be greater than predicted. Sea ice cover was one of the lowest on record.
Opinion: Last year when climate change deniers like Senator Coburn (R-OK) were laughing about how last winter’s extreme cold in Washington D.C. (“Snowpocalypse”) was making a fool of Al Gore, they were actually observing the effects of climate change.
- If an island state vanishes, is it still a nation?
Source: Yahoo! News; December 6, 2010
Summary: As the sea level rises, nations such as the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu are on the verge of literally disappearing. When it happens, do those countries still exist? No nation has simply disappeared of the face of the earth. Consequently, international law is silent on the issue. And what of the people: are they stateless? And what of their exclusive economic zones owed them due to their nations’ existence? Do they lose the right to fish and prospect in those areas? And what of their seats in the United Nations?
Opinion: We make assumptions all the time about what the world will be like in the future. The nature of sovereignty in international law apparently still requires the occupation of dry land. Is that necessary? Is the nature of sovereignty such that you must have dirt to exercise it? Of course, it may all be moot. Other nations might want to acquire the oceans that these atoll nations currently possess, so they may be sacrificed, along with these native people’s rights, unless there are other alternatives.
- Columbia dam plan ‘ugly,’ fish backers say
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 30, 2010
Summary: NOAA has been sued (again) for failing to deliver a salmon recovery plan for the Columbia River. They are charged with failing to offer a plan based on science. While NOAA’s plan does include information regarding climate change, the latest charge is that there is no plan to mitigate any of the anticipated changes.
Opinion: This has been going on for years, and it appears likely to go on. The judge for this case has rejected earlier plans for lack of scientific basis, so if the charges are true, this will go on.
- International investors issue global warming warning
Source: Los Angeles Times; November 16, 2010
Summary: 259 asset managers and owners representing one quarter of the world’s capitalization urged the world, and especially the United States, to deal with climate change or face massive economic disruptions.
Opinion: Asset managers are only interested in the financial success of the companies in which they invest. They see the world being less worthy of investment if the dire consequences of climate change are not addressed. They are now making the economic case for dealing with climate change. Next time, we’ll see what’s been happening lately.
Four the Future - December 27
Today, a macroeconomic view of the national economy and a discussion of a real problem which begs for long-range planning.
- Many Americans are being more careful with their spending
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; November 12, 2010
Summary: People’s spending habits are beginning to change. Looking for bargains is becoming a badge of honor. Bargain shops, including places like Goodwill, had a stigma, but those days have passed for many shoppers. One previously high-end shopper said, "My spending patterns will probably be a lot more conservative for the rest of my life."
Opinion: Many people who lived through the Great Depression also had different spending habits from those who came after. When planners analyze economic growth projections, the prospect of a return of the ultra-consumerism of the last couple decades should not be accepted without significant evidence.
- Iron fences just aren’t for everyone
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 9, 2010
Summary: The income gap between the richest and poorest increased to the greatest level ever. It’s not all bad: the rich seem to like it a lot. The top 20 percent of the population made almost 50 percent of the income. Those making $180,000 per year saw their incomes go up. Those earning $50,000 or less saw their incomes decrease. The 400 richest people in America made more money than the lowest 50 percent combined, more than 150,000,000 people. This is not new. In 1780s France, there was a huge gap in incomes. Of course, there were some bad moments for the rich including "several uprisings, a few guillotines." In the end, it all worked out (due, in part, to the guillotines).
Opinion: We don’t even have to go that far back. The 1920’s demonstrated what was going to happen. Regulations were put in place to prevent another Great Depression. The plan was to separate commercial banking (which provided loans for things such as buildings) from investment banking (which takes higher risks to increase profits). There are other factors, but when those regulations were repealed in the 1990’s, they created the conditions necessary for the housing bubble. However, Congress doesn’t seem to have the statesmanship necessary to fix the problem this time.
- Make Gov Work Sayrs Call-in
Source: MakeGovWork; December 17, 2010
Summary: The taxpayers with the highest incomes receive all of the same tax cuts as the middle class, yet the tax cut bill gives additional tax cuts beyond that. It seems unreasonable that people making $250,000 should be considered middle-class. The wealth inequality in America is causing inflation even as wages are going down, in part because the richest people in America, with their excess wealth, invest it in various industries. These industries are not worth more, but their cost does up because of excess investment case. Consequently, there is has been a succession of bubbles: the dot.com bubble, followed by the housing bubble, then the petroleum bubble. The people who suffer from this are the lower and middle classes.
Opinion: Now, in this context, see how it affects the local economy, and the Spokesman-Review's uncritical boosterism.... - Modest hopes harbored for commercial real estate
Source: Spokesman-Review; December 12, 2010
Summary: The River View Corporate Center in Spokane Valley lacks tenants. There is relatively high vacancy in the region, especially in the valley, making it a renter's market. Vacancy in downtown Spokane for Class A office space is 8 percent, but 17 percent for Class B space. More people will enter the market when it hits bottom, especially when they realize the stock market won't perform as well. The tax cut deal in Washington, D.C., is buoying hope that there will be more investment in commercial real estate.
Opinion: Please note that it's a problem that it's a renter's market, but, apparently, that the problem will be solved when Congress puts us deeper in debt by encouraging the richest among us to continue with their distortionary investments. Seriously, is this our only alternative?
Four the Future - December 22
Changes, and their regional ripple effects, in and around Riverfront Park.
- YWCA’s riverfront land sold for $3.2 million
Source: Spokesman-Review; December 17, 2010
Summary: The land on the north side of the river where the YWCA used to be has been sold to Lawrence Stone. The property overlooks the north channel of the river.
Opinion: This property is situated north of Anthony’s, west of the pedestrian bridge to Riverfront Park’s Canada Island, east of the future Native American museum, and two blocks from the Arena. Any function there would be well advised to take advantage of the high community and tourist traffic. Perhaps a mix of retail and some professional offices with upper level residential to overlook the falls would be profitable. A quick jaunt over to Spokane’s site selector would help determine appropriate long term uses. By all means, however, make sure you have good public access along the top of the gorge so that people can easily travel through your property to get between the arena, bridge, museum, and restaurant. It will give you the opportunity to sell something to them on the way without having to supply them with a parking space.
- Beware Of Falling Trees-- City Removing 26 Trees From Riverfront Park
Source: KHQ; December 17, 2010
Summary: After Expo ’74, Riverfront Park was deliberately overplanted. Now, nearly 4 decades later, they are in the middle of their lifespan. Some are diseased and many are crowded. Thinning them will give the remaining trees the chance to reach their full potential. The trees will be used for mulch or given to SNAP or other charities to help low-income families heat their homes.
Opinion: It’s important to maintain a mix of trees, both in species and age, so they don’t all die at the same time. Maintaining the mix sometimes means direct action. There are over 1000 trees in the park, so this is less than 3% of the trees. I wonder if anyone would notice if it weren’t mentioned.
- Commission: YMCA ineligible for historic listing
Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
Summary: The Spokane City-County Historic Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to find the YMCA lacking in historic value. The YMCA is expected to be demolished in February.
Opinion: My recent experience has taught me that this is the correct ruling. The Avista building on Mission has a similar architectural style, and the testimony tended to indicate that the YMCA building didn't have a significant role in Expo '74. Preserving this building for historic reasons isn’t the right path. Preserving it, or replacing it with another structure, for its usefulness in providing functionality to the park would be the right decision.
- Editorial: Natural area acquisitions suffer from YMCA deal
Source: Spokesman-Review; December 12, 2010
Summary: The hasty purchase of the YMCA building by the Park Board, followed by Spokane City Council's acceptance of Spokane County's offer to bailout the board, has placed a huge burden on the otherwise popular Conservations Futures program. Worthy lands are being offered to the public in lieu of inappropriate development, but they will not be protected because of the purchase of the YMCA, which has taken up approximately one third of all the costs of the program.
Opinion: Not to mention the failure to keep the property as a useful contributor to the tax rolls. The sale of the YWCA land across the river shows that there is interest in making the property work, and Mark Pinch's offer to keep the land along the river open to the public shows he understood this property's correct role. In the end, this property has been wasted, and the result will be additional sprawl on the lands not preserved by the program.
Four the Future - December 20
The current controversy over the construction of a new Spokane County Jail.
- King County faces glut of jail space
Source: Seattle Times; December 8, 2010
Summary: King County has such a large a glut of space in their jail that they are reducing their per inmate fees to the cities in order to stay competitive. This is despite increasing costs.
In addition, there are several cities in south King County which are considering the construction of another jail. The council is considering a reduction in the corrections workforce, but the last time the King County Council reduced the number of corrections officers, their union sponsored an initiative to reduce the number of county council members to 9 from 13. If the number of inmates continues to decrease, they will consider closing the Kent jail.
- Medical Lake site chosen for jail in 2-1 vote
Source: Spokesman-Review; September 29, 2010
Summary: Spokane County Commissioners voted 2-1 (Mielke and Richard in favor, Mager opposed) to adopt the "Medical Lake" site for the new county jail and voted, by the same margin, to declare an emergency to exempt the necessary land use change from the normal comprehensive plan amendment schedule. The site at the I-90 Medical Lake exit was chosen despite two consecutive studies that recommended a site near the county courthouse. Operational costs at the downtown site are lower due to transportation costs. The comprehensive plan will still need to be amended to allow the jail at that location. Sheriff Knezovich said that the downtown jail is overcrowded and the Geiger Corrections Center is unsafe. Spokane County laid off 67 corrections officers this summer due to a reduction in inmate population. Spokane County Commissioners have scheduled a ballot measure for April to raise taxes to build the jail. A group called "No New Jail Project" has been formed to oppose it.
Opinion: The first time the recommendation favored the downtown site, the same county commissioners (Mielke and Richard) didn't like it. So, they ordered a new study so they could get an answer they liked. But, the second study said the same thing: build it adjacent to the county courthouse. The are significant advantages to having the jail near the courthouse that can't be swept away by simply doing a new study. Not only is it better for transportation issues, but for providing services to the people who are being incarcerated and their families. Also, for those who are not incarcerated but can benefit from the same kinds of family- and community-centered services, having a downtown location is better for them as well.
- Jail site choice a crime
Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
Summary: A letter to the editor by Bart Haggin. The jail shouldn’t be placed out on the West Plains. The transportation costs will be huge. Better, yet, don’t build it at all because "building more jails and prisons to prevent crime is like loosening your belt to prevent obesity."
Opinion: Since transportation costs escalate faster than general inflation, and the indirect costs of sprawl is also well understood (after all, this new jail will need sewer and water services and new roads, etc.), the 40-year ROI that Mielke and Richard cites is actually not anywhere near that long. In the final calculation, Mielke and Richard are seeking the more expensive option.
- County Jail Populations Drop: So What Should We Do?
Source: American Civil Liberties Union of Washington; December 14, 2010
Summary: While several King County cities are considering the construction of a new jail and Spokane County will be asking for funding for a new jail in spring 2011, jail populations are going down and jails are experiencing a glut of space. The lessons here are: 1) population forecasts are unreliable, and are determined by policy changes not societal factors; 2) crime rates have been going down for decades, but populations have increased despite it; 3) alternatives to incarceration are working, so investments should be in rehabilitation programs, not new jails.
Opinion: No one claims to know why there is a drop, but it's acknowledged that a large part is the increased use of rehabilitative programs, rather than merely storage of offenders in little boxes where they can turn bitter and learn the more advanced skills they could not out on the streets. It is easy to conceptualize that separating people from society makes them less connected to society, and less concerned about society's welfare. Keeping them with their families and in society could, for those who can be rehabilitated, reduce recidivism. Ironically, recent cuts reduced the alternatives program in Spokane County. So, who knows, perhaps the Spokane County Commissioners will increase crime enough to need the jail after all.
Four the Future - December 17
Today: Housing, casinos, panhandling, and community organizing. Theme? We don't need no stinkin' theme....
- U.S. Home Prices Face 3-Year Drop as Inventory Surge Looms
Source: Bloomberg; September 15, 2010
Summary: After the exuberant homebuilding over the past decade and the foreclosure crisis, the nation is facing a much larger inventory of housing than is necessary to house the population. Homebuyers sense that there’s too much inventory, and seem to be waiting for prices to keep coming down. The median price of a previously owned home is $182,600, equivalent to 2003 levels. Analysts are predicting a further price drop of 5% to up to 15%. In Nevada, 68% of homes were "underwater," or more money was owed on the mortgage than the house was worth.
Opinion: Investing in sprawl real estate is a losing deal for multiple reasons. In addition to falling property values, the governments don’t have enough resources to provide services, either. Looks like it wasn't sustainable. The communities which bought into it weren't resilient enough to retain their value. - Proposed Airway Heights Casino could have national implications
Source: Indian Country Today; October 6, 2010
Summary: Tribes are permitted to build casinos off of their reservations provided that there is some reason why the reservation itself is unable to host a casino. In the case of the Kalispel Tribe, a casino was built in Airway Heights, Washington, because their reservation "located on a flood plain with no potable water" met the criteria. The Kalispel is now arguing that the Spokane Tribe, whose aboriginal land the City of Airway Heights now sits, should not be permitted to build there, too, because the Spokane reservation is larger and already supports multiple casinos. According to Kalispel Tribal Business Council member Nick Pierre, "If a purely market driven desire becomes an approved exception to federal law regulating where a casino can be built, it will become a dangerous model for our communities and our tribes."
Opinion: Echoes of European treatment of the tribal communities that preceded them. As tribes rightfully begin to assert their inherent sovereignty, there will be more and more issues like these. A great deal of work will need to be done to resolve these issues, and good strategic, communicative, and potentially advocate planning must have a major role in it. - Millwood officials report sharp rise in panhandling
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 16, 2010
Summary: Spokane Valley passed a panhandling law. Now neighboring Millwood is experiencing a sharp increase. They are not sure what they are going to do about it, or even if it is a long term issue.
Opinion: Spokane Valley’s ordinance doesn’t go to the root of the problem (poverty, joblessness, etc.) so it could not be expected to have done anything except move the problem. You can’t solve problems by treating the symptoms. You need to treat the disease. - Neighbor group sues over parking lot
Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
Summary: Families of Manito has appealed the hearings examiner’s decision to allow the construction of a larger parking lot for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.
Opinion: There is something going on in this area of the city where community members are taking on developments and the city. They community around Manito Park has already elected a couple of city council members due to its members networking activity. Whether you think there should be greater parking in this area or not, the existence of ongoing community activity is remarkable.
Summary and Discussion of "Spatializing Culture"
What follows is a report I wrote on an article on two open spaces in downtown San José, Costa Rica, which may very well have bearing on Spokane's culture. --Brian
---
Two open spaces in downtown San José (see Map 1), Costa Rica, are compared by the way they were constructed and by the way they are used in extracts from an article by Dr. Setha M. Low in "Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology Reader," published in 1999 by Rutgers University (CUNY Graduate Center PhD Program in Anthropology).
Map 1: Parque Central and Plaza de la Cultura, San José, Costa Rica (Google, Inc.)
Parque Central is marked, Plaza de la Cultura is one block north and three blocks east,
adjacent to the blue roofed building.
Parque Central
The Central Park ("Parque Central," see Figure 1) was established shortly after the founding of the city in 1751. Like many plazas of its time, the park was surrounded by civic and religious buildings and operated as a center for the exercise of political power. The cultural histories of Europe, expressed through elements of medieval bastides, and Mesoamerica, expressed through elements of plaza-temple complexes, can be seen in such colonial constructs. The very way they are constructed is a social statement made manifest.
Figure 1: Panoramic Photo of Parque Central from the southeast corner. The 1944 kiosk is on the left, Catedral Metropolitana is on the right (Redondo, Panoramica Parque Central San Jose Costa Rica image by delpierocr on Photobucket).
The park maintained its form into the mid- to late 19th century when an English fountain, iron fence, and wooden Victorian kiosk ("kiosko") were added. Apparently, however, some changes went too far: a protest ensued when a single tree was cut down in 1902. At this same time, a transition was underway. While there was still the perception that the park was populated by the elite, photographic evidence shows that workers and members of the middle class are evident.
The conflict between the elite and common folk is ongoing, as evidenced by the controversy over the removal of the original kiosk in 1944 in favor of a giant cement replacement. "The citizens who are attempting to reconstitute Parque Central in its elite turn-of-the-century image are not the daily users or the municipal designers but professional and middle-class residents who yearn for an idealized past" (Low, 2010, p. 286). The conflict is not over the physical structure itself, but over "the meaning and appropriate use of public space" (Low, 2010, p. 286).
Upper class families have left the urban environment, so Parque Central is left to the poor and working classes. The "informal economy is very visible in Parque Central" (Low, 2010, p. 287) with shoeshine men, vendors, salespeople, day laborers, sex workers, and fencers. The sign of what Low refers to as "middle-class businesspeople and nonusers" (2010, p. 287) is seen through increased police presence.
Different groups possess different areas of the Parque Central, but the geography does change slowly over time. The shoeshine men are located in the northeast corner and though they have no legal standing to do so, they intend to pass their locations down to their heirs. Real estate agents take up space on the benches. Pensioners spent their days in the southeast corner, but moved to the inner ring because of the odor from the buses. There are clowns, but they spend less time in Parque Central as the conditions at the Plaza de la Cultura are more conducive to receiving tips.
Plaza de la Cultura
The Plaza of Culture ("Plaza de la Cultura", see Figure 2) is a newer space, having been constructed after the demolition of a number of other privately held and, in some cases, historically significant buildings. The plan was to site a pre-Columbian gold artifact museum ("Museo del Oro") in the block adjacent to the National Theater, the Gran Hotel, and the Arcades (a shopping structure). In order to create a grand space, the gold museum was built underground (the gold and chrome pipes on the left side of Figure 2 are adjacent to its entrance).
Panoramic photo of Plaza de la Cultura from the northeast corner (Redondo, Plaza de la Cultura image by delpierocr on Photobucket). Note the blue-roofed National Theater on the left.
Again, the functional design of the space was a result of the culture of its time, that is, Costa Rica, 1982. "When the plaza was conceived, global capital was already fueling the Costa Rican economy" (Low, 2010, p. 289) and its development reflected the influence of North American money through the status of the Gran Hotel as a North American tourist residence, the National Theater and gold museum as tourist activities, and "McDonald’s, Burger King, and Sears" sited on the plaza.
The Costa Rican government employed three architects to design the space. People who visit get an "ambivalent experience" (Low, 2010, p. 290) due to the conflicting forces: the lack of a single architectural vision, street performers, religious expressions, politicians, teenagers, and gay cruisers. Unlike the Parque Central, vendors here are licensed and "the intensity of social and spatial control" (Low, 2010, p. 290) is more obvious with the presence of uniformed police and guards. Tourists and users of the space seem comfortable in its use, but nonuser media consumers believe it to be unsafe.
The Plaza is a place of culture, but much different from Parque Central. Whereas Parque Central is a place where the relationships between different classes of Costa Rican culture play out, in the Plaza de la Cultura:
Even with these significant differences, both locations have a physical construction that expresses the culture of the time and a social construction that expresses the daily culture of the people who inhabit is. These spaces are both contended between the people who use the spaces, and the nonusers who consider them a threat in their current form and demand concessions to make them safer.
Discussion
Presumably, both locations experience the same overall social and economic pressures because of their location in downtown San José, yet the differences in the geography of these two locations are striking. While they are nearly adjacent, they take on a very different character due to the surrounding uses and the development of the local culture.
A similar contended space exists in downtown Spokane: the STA Plaza. The building was conceived as a 20-story multiuse tower including the transit center, urban park, retail, hotel, and condominiums. However, a lawsuit challenged the public/private partnership. While the court found the partnership to be legal, the resulting structure nevertheless included only the transit center, park, and a minor amount of retail. The urban park has some "usual characters" amongst the thousands of passers-through utilizing the surrounding transit center. Security is uniformed and highly visible, and the non-user businesspeople in the nearby businesses complain about the park’s users. This appears to be another example of the social conflict between users and nonusers over the proper use of public space.
References
CUNY Graduate Center PhD Program in Anthropology. (2010, July 27). Setha M. Low | Ph.D. Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from The Graduate Center, CUNY: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/anthropology/fac_low.html
Google, Inc. (n.d.). San Jose, Costa Rica - Google Maps. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=San+Jose,+Costa+Rica&sll=9.932985,-84.077618&sspn=0.009025,0.021136&ie=UTF8&hq=Parque+Central,&hnear=San+Jose,+Costa+Rica&ll=9.933096,-84.078197&spn=0.002124,0.005284&t=h&z=18
Low, S. M. (2010). Spatializing Culture: The Social Construction of Public Space in Costa Rica. In G. Bridge, & S. Watson (Eds.), The Blackwell City Reader (2nd ed., pp. 284-292). Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell.
Redondo, V. (n.d.). Panoramica Parque Central San Jose Costa Rica image by delpierocr on Photobucket. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from Photobucket: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z223/delpierocr/100_2933pano.jpg?1291096605
Redondo, V. (n.d.). Plaza de la Cultura image by delpierocr on Photobucket. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from Photobucket: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z223/delpierocr/100_2924.jpg?1291100657
---
Two open spaces in downtown San José (see Map 1), Costa Rica, are compared by the way they were constructed and by the way they are used in extracts from an article by Dr. Setha M. Low in "Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology Reader," published in 1999 by Rutgers University (CUNY Graduate Center PhD Program in Anthropology).
Map 1: Parque Central and Plaza de la Cultura, San José, Costa Rica (Google, Inc.)
Parque Central is marked, Plaza de la Cultura is one block north and three blocks east,
adjacent to the blue roofed building.
Parque Central
The Central Park ("Parque Central," see Figure 1) was established shortly after the founding of the city in 1751. Like many plazas of its time, the park was surrounded by civic and religious buildings and operated as a center for the exercise of political power. The cultural histories of Europe, expressed through elements of medieval bastides, and Mesoamerica, expressed through elements of plaza-temple complexes, can be seen in such colonial constructs. The very way they are constructed is a social statement made manifest.
Figure 1: Panoramic Photo of Parque Central from the southeast corner. The 1944 kiosk is on the left, Catedral Metropolitana is on the right (Redondo, Panoramica Parque Central San Jose Costa Rica image by delpierocr on Photobucket).
The park maintained its form into the mid- to late 19th century when an English fountain, iron fence, and wooden Victorian kiosk ("kiosko") were added. Apparently, however, some changes went too far: a protest ensued when a single tree was cut down in 1902. At this same time, a transition was underway. While there was still the perception that the park was populated by the elite, photographic evidence shows that workers and members of the middle class are evident.
The conflict between the elite and common folk is ongoing, as evidenced by the controversy over the removal of the original kiosk in 1944 in favor of a giant cement replacement. "The citizens who are attempting to reconstitute Parque Central in its elite turn-of-the-century image are not the daily users or the municipal designers but professional and middle-class residents who yearn for an idealized past" (Low, 2010, p. 286). The conflict is not over the physical structure itself, but over "the meaning and appropriate use of public space" (Low, 2010, p. 286).
Upper class families have left the urban environment, so Parque Central is left to the poor and working classes. The "informal economy is very visible in Parque Central" (Low, 2010, p. 287) with shoeshine men, vendors, salespeople, day laborers, sex workers, and fencers. The sign of what Low refers to as "middle-class businesspeople and nonusers" (2010, p. 287) is seen through increased police presence.
Different groups possess different areas of the Parque Central, but the geography does change slowly over time. The shoeshine men are located in the northeast corner and though they have no legal standing to do so, they intend to pass their locations down to their heirs. Real estate agents take up space on the benches. Pensioners spent their days in the southeast corner, but moved to the inner ring because of the odor from the buses. There are clowns, but they spend less time in Parque Central as the conditions at the Plaza de la Cultura are more conducive to receiving tips.
Plaza de la Cultura
The Plaza of Culture ("Plaza de la Cultura", see Figure 2) is a newer space, having been constructed after the demolition of a number of other privately held and, in some cases, historically significant buildings. The plan was to site a pre-Columbian gold artifact museum ("Museo del Oro") in the block adjacent to the National Theater, the Gran Hotel, and the Arcades (a shopping structure). In order to create a grand space, the gold museum was built underground (the gold and chrome pipes on the left side of Figure 2 are adjacent to its entrance).
Panoramic photo of Plaza de la Cultura from the northeast corner (Redondo, Plaza de la Cultura image by delpierocr on Photobucket). Note the blue-roofed National Theater on the left.
Again, the functional design of the space was a result of the culture of its time, that is, Costa Rica, 1982. "When the plaza was conceived, global capital was already fueling the Costa Rican economy" (Low, 2010, p. 289) and its development reflected the influence of North American money through the status of the Gran Hotel as a North American tourist residence, the National Theater and gold museum as tourist activities, and "McDonald’s, Burger King, and Sears" sited on the plaza.
The Costa Rican government employed three architects to design the space. People who visit get an "ambivalent experience" (Low, 2010, p. 290) due to the conflicting forces: the lack of a single architectural vision, street performers, religious expressions, politicians, teenagers, and gay cruisers. Unlike the Parque Central, vendors here are licensed and "the intensity of social and spatial control" (Low, 2010, p. 290) is more obvious with the presence of uniformed police and guards. Tourists and users of the space seem comfortable in its use, but nonuser media consumers believe it to be unsafe.
The Plaza is a place of culture, but much different from Parque Central. Whereas Parque Central is a place where the relationships between different classes of Costa Rican culture play out, in the Plaza de la Cultura:
North American culture is "consumed" by Costa Rican teenagers carrying radios blaring rap music, and North American tourists "consume" Costa Rican culture by buying souvenirs, snacks, theater tickets, and artworks as well as the sexual favors and companionship of young Costa Ricans. (Low, 2010, p. 284)
Even with these significant differences, both locations have a physical construction that expresses the culture of the time and a social construction that expresses the daily culture of the people who inhabit is. These spaces are both contended between the people who use the spaces, and the nonusers who consider them a threat in their current form and demand concessions to make them safer.
Discussion
Presumably, both locations experience the same overall social and economic pressures because of their location in downtown San José, yet the differences in the geography of these two locations are striking. While they are nearly adjacent, they take on a very different character due to the surrounding uses and the development of the local culture.
A similar contended space exists in downtown Spokane: the STA Plaza. The building was conceived as a 20-story multiuse tower including the transit center, urban park, retail, hotel, and condominiums. However, a lawsuit challenged the public/private partnership. While the court found the partnership to be legal, the resulting structure nevertheless included only the transit center, park, and a minor amount of retail. The urban park has some "usual characters" amongst the thousands of passers-through utilizing the surrounding transit center. Security is uniformed and highly visible, and the non-user businesspeople in the nearby businesses complain about the park’s users. This appears to be another example of the social conflict between users and nonusers over the proper use of public space.
References
CUNY Graduate Center PhD Program in Anthropology. (2010, July 27). Setha M. Low | Ph.D. Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from The Graduate Center, CUNY: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/anthropology/fac_low.html
Google, Inc. (n.d.). San Jose, Costa Rica - Google Maps. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=San+Jose,+Costa+Rica&sll=9.932985,-84.077618&sspn=0.009025,0.021136&ie=UTF8&hq=Parque+Central,&hnear=San+Jose,+Costa+Rica&ll=9.933096,-84.078197&spn=0.002124,0.005284&t=h&z=18
Low, S. M. (2010). Spatializing Culture: The Social Construction of Public Space in Costa Rica. In G. Bridge, & S. Watson (Eds.), The Blackwell City Reader (2nd ed., pp. 284-292). Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell.
Redondo, V. (n.d.). Panoramica Parque Central San Jose Costa Rica image by delpierocr on Photobucket. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from Photobucket: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z223/delpierocr/100_2933pano.jpg?1291096605
Redondo, V. (n.d.). Plaza de la Cultura image by delpierocr on Photobucket. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from Photobucket: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z223/delpierocr/100_2924.jpg?1291100657
Musical Urban Theory
Like any human endeavor, urbanity is noticed by artists. So, it's not surprising that there are songs about, say, sprawl. It's been noted before on this blog, and it's sure to come up again.
So, if you like urban theory in your music, here's one in which John Gorka laments sprawl's effect on the family farm: Houses in the Fields.
So, if you like urban theory in your music, here's one in which John Gorka laments sprawl's effect on the family farm: Houses in the Fields.
Top Posts - October 2010
What tickled readers' fancies last month? Well, one was Top Posts - September 2010 which, while virtually guaranteeing the return of this feature each month, didn't seem appropriate for inclusion in this list since it's not actually an October story! So, enjoy the list of the top five most viewed actual October stories:
#5 Four the Future - October 8 Four stories about energy: upgrades for the federal buildings downtown courtesy of the stimulus act, solar panels return to the White House roof, wind in Missoula, and utility-scale solar in California.
#3 (tie) Four the Future - October 15 We used to build dams, now we're tearing them down, but now we have beavers to build dams! And, we used to dump pollutants into the rivers, now we're trying to get them out, but now we have sewer plants to pollute again!
#3 (tie) Four the Future - October 28 Four foodies stories: chickens come home to roost in the Spokane Valley council chambers, underutilized properties being converted into food and community activity, lots of new restaurants being launched, and more diabetes on the way.
#2 Four the Future - October 1 Starting the month off with a high note! Millwood considering speed bumps, light rail produces jobs, slime mold designing transportation networks, and a "Goldilocks" planet discovered inspiring thoughts about human rights.
#1 Synopsis: Planning Theory for Practitioners The main points of Michael Brooks' book trying to bridge the gap between planning theory and practice which proposes a strategy for making planning more effective.
#5 Four the Future - October 8 Four stories about energy: upgrades for the federal buildings downtown courtesy of the stimulus act, solar panels return to the White House roof, wind in Missoula, and utility-scale solar in California.
#3 (tie) Four the Future - October 15 We used to build dams, now we're tearing them down, but now we have beavers to build dams! And, we used to dump pollutants into the rivers, now we're trying to get them out, but now we have sewer plants to pollute again!
#3 (tie) Four the Future - October 28 Four foodies stories: chickens come home to roost in the Spokane Valley council chambers, underutilized properties being converted into food and community activity, lots of new restaurants being launched, and more diabetes on the way.
#2 Four the Future - October 1 Starting the month off with a high note! Millwood considering speed bumps, light rail produces jobs, slime mold designing transportation networks, and a "Goldilocks" planet discovered inspiring thoughts about human rights.
#1 Synopsis: Planning Theory for Practitioners The main points of Michael Brooks' book trying to bridge the gap between planning theory and practice which proposes a strategy for making planning more effective.
Four the Future - November 3
Today: helping you breathe easier.
- New U.S. Standards Take Aim at Truck Emissions and Fuel Economy
Source: New York Times; October 25, 2010
Summary: The Obama administration is proposing new fuel efficiency rules for heavy vehicles, mainly "tractor-trailers, buses, delivery vans, heavy pickup trucks, [and] cement mixers" for vehicles manufactured between 2014 and 2018. Changes are intended to reduce fuel consumption by 10 to 20 percent, depending on type. A recent study showed that fuel consumption could be reduced by up to 50 percent.
Opinion: The study cited above states that for the cost of $84,600 per tractor-trailer, fuel efficiency could be doubled, offering a return on investment of 10% as long as fuel was at least $1.10 per gallon. As of October 25, the cost of diesel fuel is $3.067 per gallon, up $0.266 from last year, which means the ROI would be much higher.
- Mercury emissions too high during incinerator test
Source: Spokesman-Review; September 17, 2010
Summary: During its annual air-quality testing, Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy plant failed its mercury emissions test. The plant has an effective "carbon pollution control system" to capture mercury prior to release, but it is turned off during testing to prove that it doesn't need it.
Opinion: Um, apparently, it does need it.
- Lowe’s and Wal-Mart pay multimillions in air pollution fines
Source: Los Angeles Times; October 29, 2010
Summary: Lowe’s will pay $2.75 million, and Wal-Mart will pay $2 million in a settlement for having sold paint that causes smog.
Opinion: One of the important parts of the green building movement is to make the places we occupy healthier for people. One of the requirements to qualify for recognition as a green building is the use of paints and coverings that emit fewer, or no, volatile organic compounds (VOC). Consumer Reports ran an article regarding these paints last year. Standards will change over time, producing improved respiratory health, but either our expectations for paint will have to change or the coverings industry must find ways to provide their product without harming their customers.
- Agency offers seminars on proper wood burning
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 21, 2010
Summary: The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (SRCAA) is offering seminars on how to burn wood cleanly at 11 AM to noon the next two Saturdays at three locations around the region. You may also receive more information directly from the agency with a brochure or DVD.
Opinion: Spokane sits in a big valley that, when there’s an inversion, the air near the ground cannot escape. In that case, all the smoke emitted by fireplaces stays here in the valley. The SRCAA is responsible for enforcing burning restrictions to maintain air quality in Spokane when there’s an inversion. When people burn cleanly, it not only improves our air quality, but clean-burners get to use their wood burning appliance when dirty ones cannot.
Four the Future - November 1
A special Four: these are some of the goings-on we talked about in Dr. Zovanyi's "Fundamentals of Planning" class.
- Biodiversity Conference Starts in Japan
Source: New York Times; October 18, 2010
Summary: Delegates to the United Nations conference on biodiversity will be discussing issues ranging from climate change to economic exploitation of developing nations by drug companies. The world is experiencing extinction at a rate 100 to 1000 times greater than average due to human activities.
Opinion: Again, these are critical issues, but there is likely to be little movement because the developed countries will want to protect the profits of multinational corporations despite overwhelming evidence that our activities are unsustainable. - [VIDEO] Stretched To The Limits: Still driving to qualify after the housing crisis
Source: Blueprint America; October 22, 2010
Summary: Despite continued foreclosures and abandoned neighborhoods, developers in the Phoenix suburbs continue to lure people out to the edge. Meanwhile, this is a story about a family who thought they were pursuing the "American Dream," but instead ended up upside-down in their mortgage. They find themselves waking their kids up at 4 AM to be able to have time to commute 120 miles to their jobs and childcare, dependent on their single remaining car, and so far away from transit that a local developer laughs at the prospect.
Opinion: People did not realize they were getting themselves into these situations. Who should they be able to trust? Can it be planners, perhaps, to help them think through these situations before they are stuck? We should consider whether standard mortgages be limited by the amount of money it costs to commute and the cost of the increased infrastructure costs directly attributable to sprawl. Maybe, then, people would realize that houses out in the sticks are cheap because it is very expensive to live there.
- Public Housing Repairs Can’t Keep Pace With Need
Source: New York Times; October 24, 2010
Summary: The federal government is not keeping up with the maintenance of public housing projects. Nationwide, 150,000 housing units have been lost due to the failure to care for them. In New York City, the maintenance backlog is three years long.
Opinion: They can give a whole lot of money to Wall Street, but cannot fix the holes in the walls of public housing. *shakes head*
- Seattle's proposed tree rules prompt opposition
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer; October 24, 2010
Summary: The city of Seattle’s trees inspired the nickname "Emerald City," but newly proposed rules would allow property owners to cut down trees without a permit. They are considering these rules at the same time that city policy calls for an increase in the tree canopy. Staff decided that a permit system would be too cumbersome. Instead, they will require tree credits for replacement of downed trees.
Opinion: Michael P. Brooks, author of Planning Theory for Practitioners proposes the "feedback strategy" in which planners offer alternatives as fodder for people to which to react as a way to gauge public opinion. If that is what happening here, they are certainly going to get a great deal of feedback! I wonder, by the way, how the city will know that a tree needs to be replaced if a permit isn’t necessary to remove it. Trees provide critical (and free!) services like soil retention and storm water mitigation that replacement will not remedy. How will they deal with that?
Top Posts - September 2010
I do get a bit of statistics about what stories are getting attention, so I've considered posting a story each month about the entries which seem to get the most attention. That way, if you miss out, you can go back to see what all the fuss was about. So, here it is, your top stories of September 2010:
#5. Four the Future - September 14: transportation! A light rail legal challenge, expanding valley highway, fewer youthful drivers, and transit cutbacks.#4. Four the Future - September 12: grass-waste-to-energy plant, energy audits, historical preservation, and an environmental public survey.
#3. Four the Future - September 10: planned demolitions, green building, college traffic, and housing policy.
#2. Four the Future - August 30: moratorium abuse, downsizing housing, Sustainable September's Mariah McKay, and new automobile window stickers. (OK, so I cheated on the date, but I ramped up this blog just before September started!)
#1. Jefferson Elementary Public Forum: A huge public controversy on Spokane's South Hill. After this entry was posted, the Spokane Public Schools board of directors voted unanimously to move Jefferson Elementary.
Nightclub Urban Theory
It happens all the time. You're at your local hot spot and the DJ is playing great songs like Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" (or even Counting Crow's respectable cover) and Arcade Fire's "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" and yet, inevitably, someone yells out, "Play more urban design songs!!!"
Well, here's one for you to help out the DJ.
h/t Kitty Klitzke
Well, here's one for you to help out the DJ.
h/t Kitty Klitzke
NOW from Antti Seppänen on Vimeo.
Four the Future - October 28
Foodies, rejoice! Home grown chickens, new local restaurants, community gardens, and, sadly, more diabetes to come?
- Council broods over looser chicken regulations for Valley
Source: Spokesman-Review; September 25, 2010
Summary: A citizen requested that the Spokane Valley City Council expand the number of places where chickens can be raised. Currently, it is restricted to lots of at least 40,000 square feet (almost an acre). There are currently 1,300 single-family lots of that size, and code enforcement receives one or two complaints a month.
Opinion: First, city dwellers, you do not need a rooster for eggs. You only need hens for that. If you want more chickens, then, that is when you need roosters...and a lot more distance between you and your neighbors. Odor can be a problem, so the city should be prepared to enforce strict hygiene standards. Second, city dwellers, it is crazy that there are 1,300 single-family residences of one acre or larger in a city. But, the history is that they were in existence prior to the Growth Management Act, so there are few things that can be done about it now except prevent the creation of more. But, I'm not sure that Spokane Valley is committed to that concept.
- Tripling of diabetics possible
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 23, 2010
Summary: If current trends continue, there may be a tripling of the number of diabetics in America by 2050, up to one third of all adults. While part of the increase is due to diabetics living longer, much of it is due to obesity rates.
Opinion: Hey, what if there were an alternative to all the fatty, sugary foods we eat? Hmmm.... - Shared farming program harvests food, community
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 24, 2010
Summary: An acre of surplus land that was doing nothing but being mowed was converted to gardens this year to benefit the Dalton Gardens community. A group recruited 30 "shareholders," half paying $200 up front, the income-qualifying other half paying nothing. Then, all participants received a box of produce every other week all summer. The income-qualifying families paid just $10 per box of food. First-graders from Dalton Elementary participated by planting the pumpkins and came back as second-graders to harvest them.
Opinion: Educational, local, organic urban farming which supports the efforts of local food banks. Seriously, how do you beat that? And, the waiting list is long. I know of several acres owned by Vera Power and Water at 16th and Sullivan. All it is doing is being irrigated and mowed. Where is the local underutilized lot in your neighborhood? Is it yours? (Hey, Angie Foltz: I know you have something to say about this!)
- Despite slow economy, new eateries are springing up all over
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 24, 2010
Summary: There are a large number of new restaurants opening in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene region. People are beginning to go out again, especially to neighborhood locations. Banks are supplying funds to people who are attempting to get jobs by creating them, provided they have management experience.
Opinion: A weak economy with people looking for paradigm-changing food choices will mean many restaurant failures. That, in itself, is nothing new. But, humbly, I recommend that these new restaurateurs attempt to leverage the local, organic movement just in case. It will capture those people who want it, but have not found the way to achieve it just yet. Better yet, make sure you have a garden, and show people how you connect to it! Show me themoneyfreshly grown vegetables!
Optional Reading List - Fall 2010
Part of being in a graduate-level planning program is hearing about all the wonderful things that can (and really should) be read as part of your education. Of course, there's never enough time to read everything, so some very good works get set to the side. (We've also been told we will never be good planners until we've read them all, though I'm hoping that is a bit of professorial hyperbole!)
The works, and my understanding of them, are below. If the descriptions are inaccurate, then it's because I misunderstood and I'd appreciate a heads-up!
Walden Two, by B.F. Skinner, was recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. It is a fictional work portraying a rural utopia in which democracy and capitalism are abandoned and where children are reared according to the principles of behaviorism.
Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, by Robert Reich, was recommended by first year graduate student Karl Almgren. A non-fiction work focused on how to reverse the increase of "income inequality" and the decreasing size of the middle class.
How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill and recommended by Dr. Winchell. When the "dark ages" descended over Europe, the knowledge of the past was lost to areas dominated by the church. But, there were some places the church did not go....
Redesigning the American Dream, by Dolores Hayden, recommended by Dr. Winchell. A non-fiction critique of the suburbs and exposing the social isolation which has torn at the fabric of society.
You Owe Yourself a Drunk, by James P. Spradley, recommended by Dr. Winchell. A non-fiction ethnography looking into the lives of urban nomads (city dwellers who have no home), including the realization that you must be in a culture to be allowed to see it. In this case, he uncovered a governmental scandal in the process.
Bowling Alone, by Robert Putnam, recommended by everyone. A non-fiction work which provides results from studies of "social capital," and what it means, for instance, that even though more people go bowling now than in the past, why there are fewer bowling leagues.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, non-fiction recommended by Dr. Winchell. An explanation about how cities work, and don't work, from a resident of New York City who delivers a blistering critique of urban "renewal" activities in inner city neighborhoods.
Garden Cities of To-morrow, by Ebenezer Howard, non-fiction recommended by Dr. Hurand. Though a stenographer, Howard described a way of constructing Utopian city clusters out in the countryside in an attempt to avoid big city problems.
Better Not Bigger, by Eben Fodor, non-fiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. Fodor argues that the earth cannot sustain us as we currently live, so it is time for us to find a lifestyle that emphasizes quality over quantity.
The Image of the City, by Kevin Lynch, recommended by Dr. Winchell. Non-fiction. Lynch presents results from a study which indicates how people interpret what they see when they're in a place. From this, he provides a model by which we can analyze, and create, places.
Idiocracy, directed by Mike Judge. Fictional video recommended by Dr. Winchell. A dystopian comedy about two Americans who sleep for 500 years to find a world on the brink of disaster from, well...too many idiots in the world. Rated R for language and sex-related humor.
Four the Future - October 25
This week, you have several public participation opportunities.
- STA seeking public input on budget cut proposals
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 4, 2010
Summary: Spokane Transit is preparing for service cuts next September. Planning for the cuts is already underway. The cuts affect a number of areas and STA projects they will to reduce ridership by 6 percent. You can read the proposed plan and share your opinion right now.
Opinion: The board was preparing to cut service by 40% back in 2004 when the voters of the region forced them to put a revenue enhancement on the ballot. Transit will become a more and more important part of our transportation mix in the future. It is important for us all to make sure it is there when we need it.
- Help shape Spokane's transportation future!
Source: Spokane Central City Transportation Alternative Analysis
Summary: Focusing on the needs of downtown Spokane, this effort needs input to help guide the future of transit for the region. The Open House is on Tuesday, October 26 from 3:30 to 7 p.m. at Riverpoint's South Campus Facility at 412 E Spokane Falls Blvd.
Opinion: Lots of studies have been done. This is intended to pull them together, and your input should be provided to ensure that the transit options are made available and are integrated into everyone’s planning.
- Is The Suspense Killing You?
Source: SRTC Transportation Blog; October 22, 2010
Summary: The whole region is waiting with twitchy mouse fingers to play Spokane's transportation planning game. It should be available on Wednesday, October 27 at the Spokane Transportation Vision web site.
Opinion: *twitch, twitch*
- Change in greenhouse size limits proposed
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 15, 2010
Summary: Spokane County has been petitioned to allow larger commercial greenhouses on rural lands. The current limit is 20 percent of the least dense rural zones, 25 percent on Rural-5 zones, and 50 percent on rural activity center zones. The public hearing is at 9 a.m., Thursday, October 28, in the basement of the Spokane County Public Works Building at 1026 W Broadway, Spokane.
Opinion: Really? They want rural conservation lands, the ones specifically held aside for important wildlife habitats, to be completely covered by buildings? Irrational. I don’t even understand why 20% is permitted in those areas currently. Unless the farm is actually using the ground as the growing medium, greenhouses shouldn’t be in rural areas, anyway. In that case, put them in the marginal lands currently designated for industrial purposes. After all, we have a serious oversupply of that.
"Mixed-income housing, successes for whom?"
Because you all know I'm a party animal, and I certainly wouldn't want to disappoint any of you, tonight I was reading an article entitled "The Role of Public, Private, Non-profit and Community Sectors in Shaping Mixed-income Housing Outcomes in the US."
Yes, I know! As one of my friends quipped when I mentioned it, "I can't wait until you're in charge." I'm with ya, but I'd rather have noble, workable ideas in charge, not people. Can such ideas be found here?
The article outlines the two types of goals revitalization efforts can pursue. First are place-based goals, such as building of "housing stock, business development, telecommunications, water/sewer/electric and roadways" (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2358). The second type are person-based goals which are the "building of individual and social capital so that they may take advantage of economic opportunities (such as, job skills development, educational improvement, poverty amelioration and moving people into homeownership)" (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2358).
(Sidebar: this was written in 2007, before the general public realized that home ownership isn't always an economic opportunity. On the other hand, researchers engaged in urban studies really should have known better.)
The authors posit that successful achievement of these goals depends on 1) agreement upon the goals of the program between the public, private, non-profit and community sectors; and, 2) sufficient organizational capacity to achieve the goals. In effect, they say that even if everyone agrees, it is not enough until everyone is has the managerial skills and monetary resources to achieve them. They also observe that place-based goals are most easily achieved through cooperation between the private and public sectors and person-based goals are best achieved through cooperation between the non-profit and community sectors.
The article documents two neighborhood revitalization projects, one in Durham, North Carolina, the other in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The projects were similar (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2362) in that they :
The central criticism of the piece is, "mixed-income housing, successes for whom?" (Fraser, J. C. & Kick, E. L., 2007, p. 2373). The answer as to whether revitalization efforts are successful depends on whether the focus is on the place (buildings, roads, and cable TV) or on actual real-live people.
Reference: Fraser, J. C., & Kick, E. L. (2007). The Role of Public, Private, Non-profit and Community Sectors in Shaping Mixed-income Housing Outcomes in the US. Urban Studies, 44 (12), 2357-2377.
Yes, I know! As one of my friends quipped when I mentioned it, "I can't wait until you're in charge." I'm with ya, but I'd rather have noble, workable ideas in charge, not people. Can such ideas be found here?
The article outlines the two types of goals revitalization efforts can pursue. First are place-based goals, such as building of "housing stock, business development, telecommunications, water/sewer/electric and roadways" (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2358). The second type are person-based goals which are the "building of individual and social capital so that they may take advantage of economic opportunities (such as, job skills development, educational improvement, poverty amelioration and moving people into homeownership)" (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2358).
(Sidebar: this was written in 2007, before the general public realized that home ownership isn't always an economic opportunity. On the other hand, researchers engaged in urban studies really should have known better.)
The authors posit that successful achievement of these goals depends on 1) agreement upon the goals of the program between the public, private, non-profit and community sectors; and, 2) sufficient organizational capacity to achieve the goals. In effect, they say that even if everyone agrees, it is not enough until everyone is has the managerial skills and monetary resources to achieve them. They also observe that place-based goals are most easily achieved through cooperation between the private and public sectors and person-based goals are best achieved through cooperation between the non-profit and community sectors.
The article documents two neighborhood revitalization projects, one in Durham, North Carolina, the other in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The projects were similar (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2362) in that they :
- each are "an extension of the downtown revitalization effort";
- "have the goals of creation of favourable people- and place-based outcomes";
- "mobilised by a belief in the proposition that concentrated poverty is unhealthy"; and
- private stakeholders...need to be persuaded to invest in the target areas".
- the DHA "did not have the skill sets or capacity necessary" (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2366); and
- "there was clearly less political will on the part of the public or private sectors to focus on the expressed goal of poverty amelioration" (Fraser & Kick, 2007, p. 2367).
The central criticism of the piece is, "mixed-income housing, successes for whom?" (Fraser, J. C. & Kick, E. L., 2007, p. 2373). The answer as to whether revitalization efforts are successful depends on whether the focus is on the place (buildings, roads, and cable TV) or on actual real-live people.
Reference: Fraser, J. C., & Kick, E. L. (2007). The Role of Public, Private, Non-profit and Community Sectors in Shaping Mixed-income Housing Outcomes in the US. Urban Studies, 44 (12), 2357-2377.
Synopsis: Planning Theory for Practitioners
In "Planning Theory for Practitioners," Michael P. Brooks, FAICP, argues for a change in the attitude that planners take toward their practice. It is apparent that he believes that planning theory can help planners perform their work, but he's critical of past theories due to various deficiencies and proposes his own strategy.
What follows is a synopsis of the book, digested into two or three key ideas for each of its 13 chapters.
Citation: Brooks, M. P. (2002). Planning Theory for Practitioners. Chicago, Illinois, United States of America: Planners Press.
What follows is a synopsis of the book, digested into two or three key ideas for each of its 13 chapters.
Citation: Brooks, M. P. (2002). Planning Theory for Practitioners. Chicago, Illinois, United States of America: Planners Press.
Planning occurs in a chaotic environment. Planning is a broad, complex profession. Additionally, planning is an inherently political profession, but strategies exist that planners can apply to help navigate public controversies.
Theory and practice do not always go together. Planning theories may be categorized: they are either positive or normative, and the normative theories are further divided between ethical and functional types; alternatively, they can be considered based on their intent, whether they are "about planning...of planning...for planning" (Brooks, 2002, pp. 24-25). Inasmuch as it exists, the gap between theory and practice is mainly self-inflicted and, considering the gap in other professions, not particularly unusual. Planning theory is moving away from functional normative prescriptions because, in this post-modern world where the problems planners face are considered "wicked," contemporary planning theory focuses more on helping planners help themselves with observations on what kinds of techniques seem to work.
Planning, as a concept, has critics. Critiques of planning fall within one of several categories, none of which is sufficiently convincing to prevent public planning from being an important, vital activity. Of these critiques, only the assertion that planning is impotent has some validity due to the planner's self-censorship of valid alternatives stemming from the planner's assessment of the political environment. Despite these critiques, planning remains a widely applied practice precisely because it is an indispensable tool for communities for public policy-making.
Planning has a purpose. Outside of support of the so-called "public interest," finding a clear, defensible rationale for planning activities is difficult. There is no mechanical method by which the "public interest" can be identified. Consequently, values are the bedrock upon which planning is built.
Planners must apply their own values to their profession. Due to the complexity of human society, no universal, timeless set of values exist to which planners prescribe. Planners face ethical dilemmas in their work, so they subscribe to an enforced, but ultimately subjective, code of ethics. Planning can be a noble profession provided that each individual engages in ethical, value-driven behavior.
The Rational Planning Model. Though technically discredited and despite individual and organizational inability to be fully rational or to fully quantify our world, rational planning theory is often cited as the mode within which planning is performed. Rational planning theoreticians have developed a number of models for planning activity, each one displacing the last as it comes into vogue. Rational planning fails to adequately deal with real-world problems because it fails to address the inherent non-rationality of the political realm within which planning occurs.
Disjointed Incrementalism. In contrast to rational planning theory, non-rational theories emphasize the actual practice of planning as iterative processes within which participants have the freedom to adjust both methods and goals and adjust the scope of their deliberations at will. Non-rational theories fail to provide normative guidance on the practice of planning. Disjointed incrementalism, in particular, fails to recognize that not all human processes are incremental, therefore may be incapable of dealing with rapid, broadly-based change, particularly when politically disadvantaged groups are most greatly affected.
Advocacy Planning. Advocacy planning is a value-driven, conceptually democratic approach to planning activities that embraces the issues of a politically disadvantaged racial, economic, neighborhood or other group rather than to the broad "public interest." Advocacy planning did not live up to the expectations of the planners who adopted it. Though it in itself did not survive in its original form, the "spirit" (Brooks, 2002, p. 117) of advocacy planning lives on through adoption by some liberal city planning departments, issue-oriented programs such as economic development and housing programs, people and issue advocacy, non-profits, and neighborhood planning.
Communicative Action Theory. The communicative action planning theory enrolls the planner as a negotiation mediator to provide comprehensible, sincere, legitimate, and true information to disparate groups in the effort of building a consensus. Communicative action planning theory overestimates the utility of merely discussing things. Communicative action planning theory is useful, however, in that it bears insights into some proportion of the daily activities of planners.
Where do we really get ideas? Ideas and goals can come from many sources, though each source has its strengths and weaknesses. Generating feedback through the mechanism of trial balloons allows each interest the opportunity to air its views (positively, negatively, or not at all) by giving everyone something to which to react.
A Proposal: The Feedback Planning Strategy. The feedback strategy of public planning (which integrates elements of rational, disjointed incremental, advocacy, and communicative action theories) does not only present a normative "attitude" toward the planning process, but also describes in many ways the actual practice of planning, which Brooks presents as a realm of social experimentation. While the feedback strategy specifies six steps through which effective planning should occur, the steps are not as important as the concept of early and continuous feedback from all sources and experimentation to produce additional data from which comes a disposing decision focused solely on the needs of the client it is meant to benefit.
Being Politically Savvy. There is no alternative but that planners be politically savvy. Being politically savvy can be taught because it consists of a set of skills of which the most important can be learned and practiced.
Pursuing a Vision. Seeking power is pointless, indeed potentially dangerous, unless the planner seeks authority to pursue a system of interrelated goals, a vision, for the community. Some may fret that having a strongly articulated vision may be a threat to employability, however, having a vision is merely a set of interconnected goals, not a "starry eyed" fantasy.
Four the Future - October 15
River issues, including building dams, removing dams, discharging into the river, and cleaning up earlier discharges.
- Beavers just too dam busy
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 15, 2010
See Also:Four the Future - December 20
Summary: The Lands Council is actively seeking beaver families to relocate around the region. They received a permit from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to trap beavers so that family groups could start building dams in areas where beavers had been eradicated. The new colonies will build dams which retain water and release it more slowly during the summer months.
Opinion: I posted this video 10 months ago, and it was very popular. Just have to post it again:
- Wash. state approves permit to remove Condit Dam
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek; October 13, 2010
Summary: A critical water quality permit was issued for the removal of Condit Dam from the White Salmon River. The purpose is to restore chinook and steelhead habitat. More permitting is necessary. Removal is slated for 2020.
Opinion: There was a time in the past when the rivers ran lousy with salmon. Prior to European contact, there was a vigorous trade in dried salmon meat. When they didn’t have enough money to purchase food during the Great Depression, people would go to the river to catch their fill. Salmon were so common that people in the northwest began to think of salmon as poor people’s food. Of course, that seems ridiculous today.
This has been a long running issue, starting back in 1999, as documented by this 2002 High Country News article ( Condit Dam removal hits snags). You can get the governmental project information from Ecology.
- Wetland project a boon for birds along Coeur d'Alene River
Source: Spokesman-Review; September 30, 2010
Summary: $3 million has made 400 acres of wetlands along the lower Coeur d’Alene River safe for migratory birds by removing sources of lead. Lead levels at hot spots in the basin are 10 times the safe level for waterfowl. The land is now protected by an $875,000 conservation easement. There are 18,000 acres remaining to be remedied along this one river.
Opinion: This is the legacy of the mining that occurred in this region. Lots of money was made. Now the costs are coming to us all. This is why it’s important for businesses to pay their full share of the costs of environmental mitigation rather than burden the taxpayers now or in the future.
- Public to review water quality permits for Spokane River dischargers in Washington
Source: Washington Department of Ecology; October 4, 2010
Summary: The State of Washington is proposing new limits for pollutants dumped into the Spokane River by the City of Spokane’s Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility, Inland Empire Paper, Kaiser Aluminum, and Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District. New limits will be established for phosphorus, ammonia, and carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand. The permits are available for review at the Department of Ecology's Spokane Office, 4601 N. Monroe St., Spokane, Wash., 99205. Call 509-329-4004 for an appointment. The deadline for submitting comments is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010. Submit comments to the Permit Coordinator at stra461@ecy.wa.gov or by mail at 4601 N. Monroe St., Spokane, WA 99205.
Opinion: Just like the mining interests, the costs belong to the ones to discharge. There has been debate over the technical ability to achieve certain limits, but working on this issue for the last decade, I've been convinced that it's doable.
Four the Future - October 14
Four stories on reducing the cost of housing for those most in need.
- New Hillyard apartment offers hope
Source: KREM-TV; October 13, 2010
Summary: Market Street Station is a new housing development in Hillyard for people making no more than 50% of the county’s median wage. They are single bedroom and studios. While funding has fallen through on several occasions, the current funding sources all have at least 40 year commitments.
Opinion: The piece points out some of the issues associated with providing access to housing for those who don’t have a lot of cash. I've heard city council members actually attempt to convince people that if the market sensed a need for workforce housing, then the market would supply it. So, there is a significant amount of ignorance, willful or not, about housing financing.
- Habitat building 114 low-cost homes in Deer Park
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 10, 2010
Summary: Habitat for Humanity is building 114 houses in Deer Park for people making less than 30% of the county’s median income. The houses are less expensive to pay for because they depend on volunteer labor, including 500 hours of labor from the families who occupy the homes. The project costs about $12 million. The homes have energy efficient appliances, heating, cooling, and windows. Deer Park was chosen because nearly 40% of the households within 1 mile of the site qualified based on income.
Opinion: That housing is averaging $105,000 apiece, which is quite a bargain. I have two comments. First, is Habitat actually arguing that they placed the housing way out in Deer Park because there are already lots of low income people there? If they argue that the locals will just move, what will happen to the old homes? Will they sit empty, or will even more low-income folks move out to Deer Park to occupy them? Either result is bad. Don’t get me wrong: I think Habitat provides a vital service to the community when many people around here would just prefer to assume that people with low incomes are just lazy and deserve what they get anyway. But, what am I missing here in choosing Deer Park? Wouldn't Spokane or Spokane Valley be better? (Actually, I think the problem is more insidious, and related to general developer's denial that they have any responsibility in this problem, see below.)
And, second, is America such a small-minded place that our dream is nothing more than owning a house? It’s not my dream. My dreams are not so materialistic, and I bet that it's not everyone else's number one goal in life either. Not even close. It's time to retire that tired marketing slogan.
- Green revolution comes to urban neighborhoods
Source: Los Angeles Times; September 3, 2010
Summary: Up to now, the "green movement" has been marketed almost exclusively to people with money. Low income neighborhoods don’t have financial access to solar panels, hybrid cars, and energy-efficient appliances. Programs are now in place to help disadvantaged youth to learn the skills necessary to go back and help their communities to save money through better energy management.
Opinion: This is great, especially when you’re creating jobs in a neighborhood which provides a positive feedback by reducing the costs of living in a neighborhood which may help people get in a better economic position. There are other things to be aware of, however. A planner I spoke to once told me that they had run into issues with improving the conditions of rental homes. When they'd get a grant to improve the facility, the intent was to reduce the cost of living in those units. However, with the building in better condition and with lower utility costs, the landlord would inevitably kick out the low income renters in order to get higher rents for the better accommodations. It's important to know who you're trying to help, and build the intentions into the plan. If money is used to improve the living conditions of people with low incomes, then there must be a requirement to keep the rents low even after the improvement.
- Face Time: Advocate discusses efforts to reduce homelessness
Source: Spokesman-Review; September 27, 2010
Summary: Cindy Algeo answers questions about the current state of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium. While the inventory of housing accessible to people with low incomes has increased, but there are times when we go backwards, as in 2007. There are still 1,200 homeless people in Spokane County. A recent survey of Spokane County voters showed that people are aware that there is a problem that government should solve, but do not support raising taxes to solve it. More than 50% of Spokane County voters know someone who’s having difficulty paying their rent.
Opinion: Clearly there is a deficiency of available housing. There is a potential long-term fix that I’ve devised, but it involves Spokane County and other local jurisdictions recognizing the developers have a responsibility to have a hand in solving it, so it won’t happen any time soon. The base concept is simple: require each development to have its fair share of low-, moderate- and average-cost housing. Allow limited exchange of this “responsibility” between developers, which would create a market for buying and selling the credits. The sale price for the credits would help subsidize the cost of low income housing. That doesn’t solve the immediate problem, but it would prevent the problem from returning if anyone had the courage to fix it in the first place.
Spokane County Urban Growth Area Update
Tonight, Wednesday, October 13, 2010, Spokane County is holding an open house regarding an update to the Spokane County Urban Growth Area (UGA) at the Spokane County Public Works Building, 1026 West Broadway Avenue, Spokane, WA, from 4-7 PM. The Land Quantity Analysis (LQA) is updated every 10 years to ensure that there is sufficient land available for accommodate growth.
(For those of you who believe we've already grown past the region's ability to sustain us, RCW 36.70A.130(3)(b) states that the UGA "shall be revised to accommodate the urban growth projected to occur in the county for the succeeding twenty-year period." Denying availability of land for growth is not an option. Not adding land for that purpose is an option, however.)
The results of the LQA are as follows: We're already set. The LQA projects a 2031 Spokane County population of 612,226, and the current ability to accommodate 4,864 more than that. It also analyzes the availability of commercial lands, and concludes that there's 60% too much available. But, that's nothing. It also finds that there's more than 4-1/2 times as much industrial land available than is necessary.
Conclusion: were not just sprawling now, if we change nothing except grow, we'll still be sprawling in 20 years.
Does this end the debate? Not at all. Some of the first salvos of the battle have already been fired, with some developers arguing that because Spokane County isn't building densely enough, we need to spread out more. So, unless the planning department gets your input, the UGA may expand despite this analysis.
(Did I mention that planning is an inherently political activity?)
The county released two documents, one technical, the other summary. If you'd like to take a gander, here they are:
(For those of you who believe we've already grown past the region's ability to sustain us, RCW 36.70A.130(3)(b) states that the UGA "shall be revised to accommodate the urban growth projected to occur in the county for the succeeding twenty-year period." Denying availability of land for growth is not an option. Not adding land for that purpose is an option, however.)
The results of the LQA are as follows: We're already set. The LQA projects a 2031 Spokane County population of 612,226, and the current ability to accommodate 4,864 more than that. It also analyzes the availability of commercial lands, and concludes that there's 60% too much available. But, that's nothing. It also finds that there's more than 4-1/2 times as much industrial land available than is necessary.
Conclusion: were not just sprawling now, if we change nothing except grow, we'll still be sprawling in 20 years.
Does this end the debate? Not at all. Some of the first salvos of the battle have already been fired, with some developers arguing that because Spokane County isn't building densely enough, we need to spread out more. So, unless the planning department gets your input, the UGA may expand despite this analysis.
(Did I mention that planning is an inherently political activity?)
The county released two documents, one technical, the other summary. If you'd like to take a gander, here they are:
Four the Future - October 11
Bikes!
- Getting There: Road-sharing just got easier
Source: Spokesman-Review; September 27, 2010
Summary: Using a combination of dedicated bike lanes and sharrows, the City of Spokane has created new bike corridors on Howard Street from Fourth to Buckeye and a loop around downtown. A sharrow is a marking on a traffic lane that looks like a biker with arrows. It warns automobile drivers that if they see a bike, the bicycler owns the lane. (An excellent Inlander Q&A gives great detail into what sharrows can and can't do.) The new routes are the result of a $600,000 federal grant. This was a non-controversial way to add bike lanes.
Opinion: At last count, there were 33 comments on the story on the Spokesman web site. There doesn't seem to be anything non-controversial when it comes to drivers in downtown Spokane. What's truly sad is that the bike has always owned the lane when they're in it. And yet, if there's a reminder to help make people safer, the contrarians come out in droves. I wonder if they hate painted crosswalks, too. Stories like the next one drives them into a frenzy.
- City analysis notes bike route's potential for snarled traffic
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 4, 2010
Summary: Removing a lane of auto traffic for a bike lane on second avenue would cause backups during rush hour in downtown Spokane, according to a city analysis. Councilmember Bob Apple said that a bike lane wouldn't be safe, and is annoyed by the assertive behavior of bicycle transportation advocates. He suggests bicyclists be moved to fourth and fifth streets. Bob Lutz, former chair of the city’s bicycle advisory board, says the analysis is flawed: it assumes increasing automobile traffic over time despite recent trends. Councilmember Jon Snyder points out that the route is on the master bike plan and connects other important bike routes in the city.
Opinion: What's the point of a plan unless it's implemented? There's more on Second Avenue in the next story.... - Second Avenue: Crossroads or Opportunity?
Source: Spokane Council Member Richard Rush; October 5, 2010
Summary: Spokane City Council Member rebuts the city's assertion that revising 2nd Avenue to include a bike lane would require that a lane of auto traffic be eliminated. He notes that Second Avenue has an unusually high accident rate, so sorely needs to be subject to "traffic calming" methods, like making the wide 13-foot lanes narrower. He cites a study which shows that 10-foot lanes do not cause more accidents than 13-foot lanes. So, with the current 51-foot road width, Second Avenue could continue to have three 10-foot lanes, two parking lanes of 7 and 8 feet respectively, plus a 6-foot bike lane.
Opinion: City council members who read traffic safety studies. They’re a rare breed! The images he includes showing the increase in cycling safety and a sample of what bike lanes should look like are convincing. But, is it too late? The next story answers that....
- Final touches on Second Avenue will likely come next year
Source: Spokesman-Review; October 4, 2010
Summary: There have been delays in the reconstruction of Second Avenue so it will continue until after the winter. Business has been suffering serious sales declines. While the major construction will be complete this year, a final run of asphalt will be laid down next spring.
Opinion: All this means that it doesn't get its final striping until after the snow has finished for the year. Time to adjust the lines on the road, guys.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)