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.

Four the Future - Housing

• Hailey council repeals affordable housing rules
  Source: Idaho Statesman; October 13, 2010
  Summary: In a report mentioned in my Foundations of Planning class last quarter, the resort town of Hailey, Idaho, repealed its affordable housing requirement due to fear of litigation. Prior to the repeal, 20% of new subdivisions were required to be deed-restricted community housing. This is a tool used nationwide. Annexations and planned developments will still have the requirement.
  Opinion: The comments on the article are telling. One person wants a reduction in all regulations (Somalia-style, apparently). Another (sarcastically, I hope) calls for "your kind" to live elsewhere, and just drive into town to "do our yard work, teach our children and protect us from fires and criminals." I could not have said it better. There's no better way to make a disgruntled working class by banishing them to the sticks each night.
  
• CNU and NTBA's Reform of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and related housing programs
  Source: Congress for the New Urbanism; December 17, 2010
  Summary: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two federally chartered secondary mortgage agencies are implicated in the housing bubble. Part of the meltdown was precipitated by the distortionary effects of HUD, Fannie, and Freddie’s policies of limiting the amount of non-residential space included in mixed use developments. Mixed use developments have held their value, yet remain substantially excluded from the secondary mortgage market. Fannie Mae allows projects to be up to 20% non-residential; Freddie Mac allows 25%. HUD’s capital program restricts imputed non-residential rent to 20%. The Congress for the New Urbanism and the National Town Builders Association propose to raise these limits to 50%. This would allow the market to determine the mix, rather than federal policy.
  Opinion: When these loans are ineligible for the secondary mortgage market, banks must carry the note and they become unable to resell them in an efficient manner. And while I do believe that banks should be required to retain a portion of the project risk (after all, if they have no skin in the game, they can do whatever they want and have proven they will), I can see how these limitations could limit the availability of funding for mixed use projects. Alternatively, it could cause the residential uses to be exclusively high-rent in order to make the retail space a small percentage of the overall cost. Either way, it is bad for cities and causes sprawl through federal housing policy.
  
• Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust
  Source: Yahoo! News; November 29, 2010
  Summary: Despite of the housing crisis, or perhaps because of it, one sector of the housing market is booming: that of the "tiny house." Tiny houses can be as small as the 89 square foot house mentioned in the article, but entire families can live in a 500 square foot house. They invite a comparison to trailers, but these are built with higher quality materials. They range in cost from $20,000 to $50,000.
  Opinion: You can visit the tiny house blog at tinyhouseblog.com. This concept could be useful for accessory dwelling units (also known as granny flats). Basically, you’d put this in your backyard, and you’d have a room for another (tiny) family. This allows the community to grow without sprawling further. The back of the envelope calculation ($25,000, 20-year, 6% loan) is only $179.11/month, which is affordable for all but the most destitute. And R. Buckminster Fuller would be proud (I’ll explain that statement in a later post!) This is unlikely to become a large segment of the housing market, but jurisdictions should be prepared to deal with them.
  
• Homeownership stays at the lowest level in a decade
  Source: USA Today; November 2, 2010
  Summary: Prior to the Clinton and Bush administrations, home ownership rate was level at about 64%. Upon the deregulation of the investment banks, home ownership rose to 69% in 2004. With foreclosures and weak demand, home ownership has now dropped to 66.9%, the lowest since 1999. Housing vacancy is now at 18.8 million units, or 14% of all housing.
  
  
  A man rides a horse by an abandoned home in Las Vegas. Spencer Platt, Getty Images
  
  Opinion: This statistic would tend to indicate that we still have a bit lower to go to return to the levels before the unwise deregulation of investment banks. But, note, that the small percentage increase caused a massive increase in the cost of home ownership and shenanigans on the part of casino owners…I mean bankers. The increase in the ownership percentage was clearly not worth the worldwide pain being suffered now. Please let it be a lesson.
  

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.

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?
  

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

NOW from Antti Seppänen on Vimeo.

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.

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:

• LQA Brochure
• LQA Technical Brief

Four the Future - October 6

Cell towers in the 'burbs, Wi-Fi in the sticks, losing health care out yonder, and sprawling taxes.

• Bend considers cell phone tower restriction
  Source: Oregonian; September 10, 2010
  Summary: The City of Bend, Oregon is considering restrictions on cell phone tower size and location which may ban them from residential areas.
  Opinion: Cell phone towers are a common planning issue because they are considered visual blight. Yet, cell phone use is on the rise. Indeed, smart phones require even greater access for their heavy Internet usage. The issue is that of community density, ultimately. It's difficult to provide cell service to a widely spread out area. Some alternatives include a requirement for collocation (that is, requiring that several carriers utilize a single tower, when possible) and camouflaging them to appear as something else, like trees.
  
• Federal grant bringing Wi-Fi to rural Inland Northwest areas
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 15, 2010
  Summary: A federal grant is paying for the installation of WiMAX (4G) technology in rural areas of Spokane, Stevens and Ferry counties which generally do not have access to wired broadband service. The grant was made available through the American Recover and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or "the stimulus"). It will be available to approximately 3,600 businesses and 30 community groups. Nonprofits will receive service at half the price. Speeds can be as high as 10Mbps.
  Opinion: Servicing rural areas with any modern technology is expensive, hence the state’s emphasis on restraining sprawl. Rural electrification was done the same way, with significant government intervention.
  
• Providence to close Deer Park rehab clinic
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 29, 2010
  Summary: Providence Health Care is closing Deer Park's clinic because Providence is unwilling to make upgrades.
  Opinion: A couple years ago, they closed down the hospital, too. Impossible to say, but this could be caused in part because way too much of the money we spend on health care goes to insurance companies rather than supplying actual help.
  
• Boundary changes considered for eastside elementary schools
  Source: Liberty Lake Splash; September 29, 2010
  Summary: Due to growth within the Central Valley School District, a planned elementary school will already be over capacity the day it opens.
  Opinion: This is another problem with sprawl. Spokane (District 81) School District recently closed an elementary school because of low enrollment. Yet, right next door in Central Valley, they're behind by one elementary school, and even that one will be full the day it opens. So, there's no net benefit, but a huge capital cost.
  

Four the Future - September 8

Today, an unusual bonanza of Spokesman-Review contributions: roads, roads, roads, and more roads! But, also, federal funding, affordable housing, respecting neighborhood values, and a new transportation fee.

• Federal funds advance North Side corridor
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 8, 2010
  See Also: Obama to Call for $50 Billion Spending on Public Works
  Summary: United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Senator Patty Murray headlined a gathering of dignitaries at the site of the North Spokane Corridor to celebrate the beginning of the construction of the southbound lanes between Farwell and Francis. The funds for this construction came from the 2009 federal stimulus package. LaHood will be asking congress members about their attitude with President Obama’s $50 billion transportation investment plan. Murray isn’t ready to endorse the idea.
  Opinion: I've mentioned Secretary LaHood before (with a link to video). While this is clearly a high-profile construction project and will get all the attention, he appears to be a "livable communities" advocate, and won't concentrate just on huge freeways that don't go anywhere.
  
• More buildings in freeway's path set for removal
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 8, 2010
  Summary: Even though no one knows where the money is coming from to complete the North Spokane Corridor's freeway, homes are being demolished in East Central adjacent to I-90. One hundred thirty buildings have already been removed. Forty-nine more will be razed under the new contracts. More than 500 will be pulled down by the time WSDOT is done. One property, however, was recently purchased by the City of Spokane for use as subsidized housing and transferred to ECCO, the East Central Community Organization. The building is being renovated, and will be moved to a city-owned lot.
  Opinion: There are an immense number of displacements occurring with the destruction of this neighborhood. It's good that some affordable housing will be preserved. However, my usual snarky comment is that it's a good thing that they’re building a freeway so that all these displaced people can travel out to the edge of town where all the new houses will be built. Did I mention that they don’t know where the $1.6 billion dollars for the construction is going to come from?
  
• Vestal: Smooth streets well worth turmoil of construction
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 8, 2010
  Summary: Lincoln Street on Spokane's south hill has been reconstructed. It’s smoother now, and also includes new “storm gardens” which deal with rainfall more effectively. There are construction projects all over the city, and it will be worth the hassle. They are brought to you courtesy of a $117 million road bond in 2004. Local leaders are talking about a car license fee of $20 that would generate about $8 million per year, but that's only about one fifth of the annual backlog.
  
  
  
  Opinion: Now, that wasn't hard, was it? The City of Spokane experienced a change in its leadership due, in part, to its mishandling of Bernard Street. You hardly hear a peep this time, only a few blocks away, because the city worked with the neighborhood and respected its values. The silence may be reward enough for the city, but we should praise their effort. Now, if only we could have the dedicated funding. Change in federal policy from sprawl creation to neighborhood infrastructure preservation, anyone?
  
• City, Valley might back vehicle tax, Mielke says
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 8, 2010
  Summary: County Commissioner Todd Mielke says that the Cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley may support the creation of a transportation benefit district which would charge a $20 vehicle license fee throughout the county. He also said that "all the city officials he has talk to have agreed that no tax should be levied without voter approval." Commissioner Richard was concerned that having the voters weigh in might harm the construction of a new jail.
  Opinion: The problem with a car license fee is that it charges people for owning a car, when it's using a car which causes the need for road maintenance. But, people without a plan resort to desperate, uncoordinated measures, so this should be expected. The lesson here is that every time you hear local elected officials complain that there's not enough money for road maintenance, they're arguing against the federal government's policy of funding new road construction instead of maintenance. If we were arguing about whether to charge $20 for the construction of more sprawl, this issue would be DOA.

The City

As part of my Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning, I was shown a movie produced in 1939 entitled, "The City." The punchline? Planners caused sprawl because their work was connected to theory, and not to data. Insist that your planners use data, not ideology, to drive their work.

Part one:



And, Part two:

US-195 I-90 mailer

I received a full color glossy to "resident" today from the Washington State Department of Transportation regarding the planned upgrades to the US 195 corridor. Washington State Senator Chris Marr very ably sets out the situation. Go ahead and look at that video, and I'll wait here.

In effect, sprawl outstripped government's ability or willingness to pay for the transportation improvements along that corridor. Of course, in Spokane County, no developer has any responsibilities with regards to their impacts on transportation, and even if they did, the State exempted itself from transportation concurrency requirements to which all other governments in the state must adhere. But, the time for worrying about whether we're paying for our infrastructure correctly has passed. Now it's a safety issue.

Now we have a highway with access roads coming right up to it. Drivers must accelerate and decelerate on the highway itself, and left turns require passing across highway-speed traffic. According to Marr's August video, a couple of people have died so far this year.

Getting people involved in transportation planning (and, I suspect, transportation funding advocacy) is a difficult task. I commend WSDOT at its attempt. For those of you who did not receive it, there is a project web site.