The newly-created NC Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council is a diverse coalition that is charged with analyzing the “potential impacts that the production of sustainable local food would have on economic development in North Carolina
Similarly, Aaron Renn, author of the Urbanophile, presents this practicable, measurable, and replicable approach to revitalizing our cities – a ‘Ten Percent Solution to Urban Growth’. This is exactly what we need today, and a lot more of it: a socially and politically acceptable metric that can build trust, foster partnerships, and lead to innovation and investment. By achieving a few shared successes early on, progress can be demonstrated and commitment will strengthen. Our ‘tomorrow’ depends on it.
Mr. Renn gets to the heart of the problem: How do we increase densities in urban and suburban metro areas by efficiently reusing and redeveloping the millions of acres of vacant or underutilized land?
Rethinking our strategies for public infrastructure investments would be a good start. But here’s the key point, artfully understated by Renn: “Even where land is available, zoning restricts what can be built there, and increasing densities is politically difficult.” Ah, the Planners’ Conundrum! So, if the zoning process is stifling, then just what will allow innovation and good design to flourish? When does ‘density’ become politically acceptable?
When people begin to clamor for less congestion, shorter commute times, cleaner air, better food, more open space, and greater housing and transportation choices, that’s when. And each time gas prices rise, or a tainted food scare occurs, or bureaucratic ineptitude and political weakness kill smart land development, the clamor builds.
As our country recovers from the current recession, communities must reexamine their land use plans, their development codes, and their capital improvement strategies. Do they make sense? As for your tax dollars, what about public investments in infrastructure and facilities? Are they optimally sited to best serve their ‘owners’ – we, the citizenry? How do they improve the environment, the economy, the community? (And don’t forget to factor in those life-cycle costs!)
I believe we are in the midst of a major reconfiguration in the practice of land development, as local governments, planners, and the development industry itself are slowly realizing that ‘business as usual’ won’t help us reach a ‘post-petroleum’ future.
As for ‘the People’, they are already there. Ask elderly rural residents about public transportation. Or the young suburban couple struggling to get ahead while paying for that extra automobile. Or the working-class urban dwellers worried about the safety of their neighborhoods and the quality of their schools.
New approaches are needed. They will be found through entrepreneurial innovation, public-private partnerships, and citizen involvement – not governmental fiat.
Let’s start small – a ‘Ten Percent Approach’ – but start we must.
