Sprawl Repair

Even if the age of sprawl is behind us, the effects of development into exurban and rural areas is with us for a long time.  But what do we do to make what's already done better?

We've talked previously about the perils of sprawl here, here, and here.  Galina Tahchieva, a planner with Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., gave a presentation on the subject at the Congress for the New Urbanism convention in Denver.  Ruth Walker has the highlights:

1. Improve connectivity of the streets by imposing a grid on them and looking for ways to connect the dots, and the cul-de-sacs.

This is perhaps the most obvious.  Cul-de-sacs have come to define sprawl in the same way gridded streets define urban areas.  I actually grew up on a cul-de-sac which might make a person think I'm sympathetic; but in fact it made their absurdity more obvious.  In order to get to the library and shopping area 50 meters from my house, I had to walk a mile eventually ending up on a busy arterial with no sidewalk.  Small wonder people drove everywhere.

The power to establish easements for future openings isn't all that hard.  Actually opening them will be difficult given that there are usually people living in the space that should be a road.

2. Identify preservation areas, including those that might need legal protection. Their development rights may be transferrable to allow greater density elsewhere in the community.

Transfer of development rights is a thorny issue.  One way to do it is a market based approach where property owner A is able to sell development rights to property owner B who can increase density and intensity of development on their site.  The trouble is that they also give up profit potential so it's rarely something that governments are willing to do.  The second method is for the government to purchase development rights directly with the theory that the property owner can then develop elsewhere.  Obviously this is extremely expensive for local governments already straining to meet service needs.

The best method is to adopt growth management policies which prevent development outside urban areas already impacted by development, and enacting policies which provide buffers for critical areas within urban areas.  Blocking off large chunks of property within urban areas for protection would be extremely difficult and potentially counterproductive to urbanization. 

It would make more sense to develop sensible ways to create urban habit.  In Washington that means protecting streams and wetlands and making sure there is connectivity in habitat.

3. Identify the commercial nodes. Which can be developed as town centers?

This is a particularly important.  Most sprawling areas lack any sense of place and many communities have been successful creating one.  The trouble is identifying the right place to put them.  It may not fit existing traffic patterns, may require additional infrastructure, and could be perceived as favoritism by competing developers since it will mean greater development potential.

Unfortunately the market has a mind of its own so even thoughtful policy can be met with inaction for years.  A city near me called University Place (tragically named given that it did not in fact become the location for the college that had considered locating there) has been working hard to develop a "downtown" with a sense of place, even going so far as to buy up and consolidate land itself.  Unfortunately they've gone through several contracts for various developers and still have nothing to show for their efforts. 

It's a cautionary tale, don't try to be something you aren't.

4. Identify the potential transit network.

To me this is really the same as #3.  If your town center is not also the center for transit policy, you're doing something wrong.

It ends with an interesting quote.  ""We have to be selective in repairing sprawl, but the interventions have to be very serious."  The implication seems to be that sprawl repair could in fact be counterproductive.  This is something often lost on local government. 

In our own city it's often a struggle to achieve what may be the most obvious improvement, mixed-use development.  Despite the fact that people often live in mixed use neighborhoods, the resistance to allowing commercial development in residential areas and vice versa is profound.