Transportation and Public Health Survey

Yesterday, a group of volunteers and I worked for a couple hours for the Spokane Regional Health District surveying residents in the northwest corner of the East Central neighborhood and observing the physical conditions of their neighborhood. Survey AreaThis area (south of the Spokane River, east of Division, north of 2nd Avenue, and west of Sprague Way and the Hamilton overpass) is part of Spokane's University District. The effort was conducted to survey the residents' attitudes about the proposed pedestrian overpass between the Riverpoint Campus and the warehouse district. But, additionally, the survey's observations can serve as a baseline for any changes that occur due to investments made in the area. That is, we're taking the "before" picture. The results will be used to help inform the health district in their recommendation to the City of Spokane.

Wondering why this is being conducted by the Health District? The Health District has a Physical Activity and Nutrition program which, in part, encourages pedestrian and biking activity. The Health District is performing this research in order to estimate what kind of change in physical activity is likely to occur as a result in a change in the pedestrian infrastructure.

There was only about a dozen of us, but we did survey the entire area in just a couple hours. I was working with Mohammed Aly, another graduate student in the urban and regional planning department at EWU. The area we were assigned was the southeastern portion, mostly auto-oriented businesses, self-storage, some office spaces, and, from what we noted, one residence. We walked up and down the streets wearing orange vests assessing the prevalence of vandalism in the area, including graffiti and broken windows.

I think there's something very useful in having people actually take a look at their environment. It's difficult to change something unless you take the time to truly take a look at it. What I would have enjoyed in addition to this is to go with one of the residents and business owners (or more) to allow them to point out what they think is important. We did meet a gentleman there who certainly seemed engaged and willing to share his community with us, and I suspect it's not any different in many other places, too. In an ideal planning activity, you'd want to include that kind of data to ensure that you're not trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist in the minds of the people who are involved.

It was an excellent experience, one I'm looking forward to repeating, especially if the weather is as nice as it was yesterday!

For more information on the pedestrian bridge, and many other transportation- and transit-related projects in the downtown area, you are invited to an open house from 4:30 PM to 7 PM on Tuesday, March 29, at the Spokane City Council Chambers on the lower level of Spokane City Hall, 808 W Spokane Falls Blvd.

Optional Reading List - Winter 2011

As part of a continuing series of recommended readings from the professors and students of Eastern Washington University's Urban and Regional Planning program, here is your latest optional reading list!

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!


A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, nonfiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. In a beautifully written series of essays about his observations of nature, Leopold expresses the importance of preserving the environment and his concept of the Land Ethic.

Our Ecological Footprint, by Williams E. Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, nonfiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. This is the book that defines the concept of our "footprint" and argues that our combined footprint is exceeding the planet's capacity to renew itself.

The Last Landscape, nonfiction by William H. Whyte recommended by Dr. Hurand. This book, published more than four decades ago, urges Americans to make better use of space. While others noted its importance at the time (Jane Jacobs called it "an excellent book"), it is relevant to today's sprawl-oriented nation searching for an alternative.

Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, fiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. I reviewed this after I read it a few weeks back. It's a story about Mother Culture, and a challenge presented to her by a telepathic gorilla. No, it's not science fiction: it's a survey of human history and human present, and asks us to consider what the human future is going to be.

Integral Urbanism, by Nan Ellin, nonfiction recommended by Dr. Winchell. It documents the transition from mechanical, rigid modernistic architecture to humanist post-modern architecture and its application to New Urbanism.

Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, nonfiction by Herman Daly, recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. This is an economic treatise recognizing the upcoming change to the very nature of economics when the irrational assumption of unending growth is finally overthrown.

House Form and Culture, nonfiction by Amos Rapoport and recommended by Dr. Hurand. Amos Rapoport is an environmental psychology researcher, studying the complex interplay between how people change their environment and how the environment affects human behavior. In this work, he discusses the connection between the culture of a people and the kind of housing they construct.

The Levittowners, nonfiction by Herbert Gans and recommended by Dr. Hurand. The first infamous suburban development is studied to determine what kind of culture was being created in an extended area of mass-produced, identical houses.

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America, nonfiction by Timothy Egan, recommended by, well, everyone. Just over 100 years ago, there was a spectacular fire here in the northwest in which an area the size of Connecticut burned in a weekend. The flames moved faster than a horse at full gallop. The frontier was officially closed by this point in American history, and Roosevelt was trying to ignite a tradition to conserve this nation's wild spaces. This work tells the story of the fire, and how it changed the way America treats its public lands.

Thank you, IES-APA Part Deux

Last quarter I wrote about a couple of the books that I purchased for classes using the money I was awarded for a short essay I wrote entitled "The Purpose of Urban and Regional Planning." The $500 award was more than necessary to purchase my books for last quarter, so the remaining funds were used to purchase books this quarter.

The first book I purchased is the fifth edition of Urban Land Use Planning by Berke, Godschalk, Kaiser, and Rodriguez. (Now that I'm typing this out, I recognize Kaiser and Godschalk from an essay I read during my first quarter, "Twentieth Century Land Use Planning," which on my list of articles to review on this blog.) I purchased the book for PLAN 440 (Land Use Planning). Flipping through the pages I see that its pages are highly colorful with the pictures and graphics you'd expect from an undergraduate textbook.

The second book is the second edition of Understanding Your Economy by McLean and Voytek. This is the required textbook for PLAN 504 (Planning Methods II). It is published by the American Planning Association and conforms to the format that I've learned to expect from the APA, even in fonts and horizontal rules. This one, however, is beginning to show its age, as the exhibits are sometimes blurry or indistinct. And, certainly, the data is elderly and I noticed it is using SIC codes (valid from the 1930's) rather than NAICS (established in 1997). This is understandable as this second edition was first published in 1992.

I have one other class this quarter, PLAN 460 (Urban Design), but the bookstore is unaware of any textbooks which may be necessary. But, even if there were a book for it, the $500 ran out with the purchase of the two books above. Still, that's a total of five books which didn't come out of this poor student's wallet, and that is greatly appreciated!