Debunking the Objections to Smart Growth and Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TND’s)

October 11, 2009 2 Comments

I found a recent online editorial in the Lancaster New Era/Intelligencer Journal by Jeff Hawkes on “Smart Growth” very interesting.  Hawkes was writing about a workshop that he had attended recently that expounded on the virtues of “Smart Growth” and that Lancaster County needs to embrace this concept as it moves into the 21st century.  Overall I thought the piece was well-written and made a number of good points.  What caused me to sit down in front of my laptop and fire off a blog post was actually what was written after his editorial in the “Comments” section.

. . . and I quote:

“Smart Growth is dense development in townships that are not compensated by other townships for the havoc caused by traffic snarls, added services, and infrastructure needs, not to mention higher school taxes.”

. . . and then there was this little gem:

“ . . . don’t call it “Smart Growth”.  There is nothing “smart” about it, except for the folks to stand to profit off of the development. Its delusional to think that this type of development is in anyway “smart” in the long run, or saving farmland.  Continued development of this nature will bring the infrastructure of the county to its knees, and the taxpayers will be left to pick up the tab.”

Huh????????????

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What’s Your Neighborhood’s “Walk Score”?

March 10, 2009 Leave a comment

 

Courtesy of Flickr

Image courtesy of Flickr

What’s a “Walk Score”?  A Walk Score is a new, web-based rating based upon characteristics of a neighborhood that are conducive to walking to nearby (or farby) amenities.  Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking.  With the increase in gas prices, more people are cognizant of how much gas they’re pumping into their automobiles.  Many people want to be able to walk out their front door and get a cup of coffee, pick up a newspaper, buy a quart of milk or grab a sandwich without hopping in their car. 

Want to know how your address rates?  Go to www.walkscore.com and type in your address.  My home rates 37 out of a 100.  I rate really high on schools, restaurants and drug stores but low on grocery stores.  The site tells me that the closest grocery store is 2,434 miles away in San Francisco (well – - – maybe there’s a small bug in the program).

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NIMBY’s Gone Wild

February 5, 2009 Leave a comment

 

Image courtesy of Flickr

Since I have been selling real estate, there have always been NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard) show up at planning commissions and protest against high-density developments based upon emotions gone wild instead of looking at the merits of the specific submission by the developer.  I am not naive enough to think that every proposed high-density development plan is manna from heaven.  There are definitely bad plans served up for our consumption.  But when a good plan is submitted and dismissed out of hand as the second coming of the devil, I feel I need to point out the fallacies of the NIMBY mantra.

Assumption #1:  Higher-density developments overburden public schools and other public services and require more infrastructure support systems.

The United States Census Bureau has determined that for every one hundred, single-family detached homes built, there are 64 school-aged children that live there.  Compare that number with 21 kids living in the same number of apartment units.  For some reason, people incorrectly assume that with an increase in housing units there is also an increase in the number of people who live in each unit.  In addition, by building more housing in a smaller area there is less need for lengthy water and sewer lines, expensive sidewalks and curbs, and linear feet of roadway.

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