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Dear Neighbor,
I'm writing to urge you to take some time next Tuesday to attend the
Sustainable Neighborhoods meeting on family-friendly design. Planning
Commissioner Kathie Tovo has expertise to share on a topic – making
redevelopment attractive for families and seniors -- that is incredibly
important to the future of our North Central Austin community.
Here are ten reasons that family-friendly design is worth your attention:
1. Safety. Between 2006 and 2009, cars hit 212 pedestrians and
bicyclists within a two-mile radius of Lamar Middle School, according to
police data obtained by the school’s Safe Routes to School committee.
Most of these incidents were on major and minor arterials like Burnet,
Lamar, St John’s, 45th , Grover, Shoal Creek, or Guadalupe. The number
would doubtless be higher but many area residents fear to walk or bike
near larger streets. SN’s new video “Sam We Can” makes clear why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWlz95BQGg. A key goal of
family-friendly design is to improve pedestrian and bike safety.
2. Health. According to the CDC, US childhood obesity has increased
three times between 1960 and 2005 to over 17%. Many factors contribute,
but research on the CDC website singles out an increasingly sedentary
lifestyle as a key culprit. The amount of time that children spend in
free play, including out of doors, has dropped sharply. Part of that is
cultural – parents fear letting their kids roam outdoors unattended.
Part of it are the streets themselves, which since the 1950s have been
designed with little regard to the safety and comfort of pedestrians,
including children.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/overweight/overweight_adult.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/
http://www.cdc.gov/PCD/issues/2005/jan/04_0038.htm
3. Education. Recent research has honed in on unstructured play as an
invaluable learning opportunity for children. Outdoor environments are
particularly important. Many cities are introducing “adventure
playgrounds” that offer more challenging and creative opportunities.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/pdfs/FCS507.pdf
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/downloads/factf_report.pdf
4. Community. New development can be, but generally isn’t, designed to
encourage strong, diverse community. To succeed, there has to be space
both indoors and outdoors for all different demographics, from babies
and toddlers to seniors and handicapped people. There has to be space
where these people naturally gather and mingle. I really think one
reason there is such a divergence of opinion about Austin’s emerging
downtown district is because it focuses primarily on the needs of young
professionals. That may or may not be appropriate given downtown’s
context. But in our part of town, mixed use needs to work for
multi-generational communities. We’re still waiting for many City
leaders to say they really understand that, and show convincing
mechanisms for enabling it along streets zoned for mixed use like Burnet
and Lamar.
5. Taxes. Strong community is the first line of defense against urban
decay. People who care about their neighborhood, volunteer in crime
prevention programs, PTA’s, neighborhood associations, beautification
and festival committees, and other local initiatives help to assure that
an attractive place is passed on from one generation to the next. While
many other factors play into sustainability of the tax base, strong
community is definitely part of it. Redevelopment that fosters
community is more likely to retain its value and contribute to a city’s
fiscal health.
6. Crime-prevention. Strong community helps to prevent crime, but there
are other design-related features that contribute as well, for instance
good visibility and maintenance of public areas, placement of public
areas where people want and need to converge so that those places are
always active.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_prevention_through_environmental_design
7. Environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency,
cars and other forms of transport account for about a third of total US
greenhouse gas emissions, which various estimates put at between 19 and
23 metric tons of carbon per person per year. There are several
strategies for curtailing transportation-related carbon emissions. Many
focus on reducing the number of miles that motorized vehicles travel
each day, for instance by locating people closer to the places they need
to go, and making less-polluting transport options convenient. The
government’s National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) breaks trips down
by destination, and shows that less than 20% of vehicle trips are to
work. Shopping accounts for 20% of trips, school/church trips for 10%,
and social/recreational for 27%. While no one step is a magic bullet, a
focus on family-friendly design, and on educational programs like Safe
Routes to School, do make a difference in influencing the day-to-day
travel decisions that we all make.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/fq/emissions.html#q2
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_road.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita
http://nhts.ornl.gov/
http://nhts.ornl.gov/briefs/Carbon%20Footprint%20of%20Travel.pdf
8. Traffic. The same reasoning applies to traffic congestion. Little
things count. And it's not impossible to reverse traffic patterns.
According to the Brookings Institution, vehicle-miles-traveled in this
country flattened out around 2004 and has actually been declining since
2006. Telecommuting, a resurgence of downtown areas, and higher gas
prices are likely influencers, but so is smart pedestrian-friendly and
transit-oriented design.
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2008/1216_transportation_tomer_puentes/vehicle_miles_traveled_report.pdf
http://nhts.ornl.gov/briefs/Working%20at%20Home.pdf
http://nhts.ornl.gov/briefs/Non-Work%20Travel.pdf
9. Pride. Here’s the emotional pitch – pride in our community and pride
in our country. I imagine my grand-children still wanting to raise
their families in my neighborhood 50 years from now, and having the
option to do that in a way that doesn’t hurt the planet. As a patriot,
I want to eliminate America’s chronic balance of payments deficit by
weaning our country off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. I think
family-friendly design can contribute to both visions.
10. Timing. We need to get funding and policies in place now, years
ahead of when the redevelopment cycle kicks back up. If we wait for the
next Wal-Mart or the next 5350 Burnet, it will be too late. 2010 is the
year of comprehensive planning in Austin. City leaders have a process
in place to take our feedback into account for shaping new policies and
tools. But we still have to work incredibly hard to be heard.
Please add your voice by sending our “Sam We Can” video link to City
Council. And come out next Tuesday to the SN meeting to hear
Commissioner Tovo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWlz95BQGg
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--
Steven Zettner
Sustainable Neighborhoods of North Central Austin
www.snaustin.org
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