My Built Environment: Good, Bad, and Really Ugly

My daughter and I took a trip through Windsor last weekend to see how the progress was coming from the Tornado that wiped out the east side of town last May. I was pleased to see how much progress has been made in the last couple of months. It also occured to me, that even though this tragedy is awful for the homeowners and businesses that were damaged or destroyed, it is also providing much needed jobs for the construction industry right now. From carpenters, to drywallers, to painters to roofers, all are able to make some money and put food on there own tables in a time period that has not been kind to construction personal.

My hats off to Windsor for rising to the occasion and recovering from this storm!

Don’t know if this is global warming or not, but we have had a very dry spring and summer, with only about half of our normal moisture for the year. Until Thursday. It started with a bang Thursday afternoon with a major hail storm that flattened our garden and a good 1/2 inch of rain. Since then it has rained almost non-stop. So far, our own rain gauge has a total of 3 inches in it. That follows pretty closely to the nearest official rain gauge. Feast or Famine, at least I won’t be having to water the yard for some time!

I recently spent some time in Las Vegas for a conference. I have been there several times over the years, and have even done some work there, though it was about 15 years ago. It is fun though to go see those projects and see how well they hold up over the years. As everyone knows, Las Vegas is a study of contrasts. There is the mega resort strip, and then Las Vegas for everyone else. Of course, wherever I go, I like to stray away from the touristy areas and see how the real people live.
Thoughts On The Strip
The strip just simply boggles my mind. Each resort is basically a city unto itself complete with its own shopping mall! Each one must be able to support around 15,000 people. I can only imagine the infrastructure that it takes to support this! Can you imagine the size of the water lines and sewer mains? Not to mention the power that is required. To top that off, they are constantly rebuilding there. If a structure is about 10 years old, it is prime to be redeveloped. Currently they are building the City Centre project. This is one where a massive project has gone from conception to construction in only a few short years. Mind Boggling.

Thoughts on Las Vegas Suburbs
Most of the residential areas in Las Vegas are boring. There is no real design. Even the master planned communities are not all that exciting. They are all car centered, with no real pedestrian connections, or any real thought given to creating a sense of place. There are exceptions of course, and one in particular I will be writing about in a separate post. And then there is a lack of landscaping along most arterials. Las Vegans love walls, every yard has a masonry wall around it. Therefore, all the main streets are lined with walls right behind the walks. Pretty sterile.

Water Conservation
On the plus side, Las Vegas is getting serious about water conservation. In all of the new developments I visited, there was very little turf grass, and what little there was, was located where it would actually be used. They are even giving existing homes and residents substantial cash incentives to take out their lawns. This is something that we should all be learning from. The landscaping they are putting in is very drought tolerant, and for the most part pretty attractive. One nice thing I noticed was the lack of weeds like we get here, such as bind weed and thistle! Nice Job!

Mesquite Trees
One thing I am jealous of in Las Vegas is they get to use Mesquite Trees. I absoloutely love these trees. They are light and airy, have interesting texture and forms, and also provide some good shade to boot. I wish we could grow them here!

During these rough economic times, I am continually amazed at how the press can spin news. I have a link on my main home page (Igoogle) I use that shows the major headlines. One headline will say that a companies profits fell by 40%…and doomsday is near. Yet another one will say that profits did not fall as much as expected, and so the sky is not falling. Reading the articles, one is very glass half empty, while the other is a glass half full. It is this seesaw attitude that is helping to drive the housing crunch further down. The press (and media in general) has a very big influeynce on how people percieve things. They read about prices falling 20% in California, panic, and decide not to buy locally, where prices may have actually risen.

I fall into this trap myself. I read all the national stories and fear that we will all go out of business. Of course, I then talk to local people, and they see housing getting better locally. Of course, when things do turn around, the press will be all over the rebound, which will encourage people to get out and buy, thereby spurring it on even more. You have to love it and hate it at the same time.

Over the years, I have formed my own theories on how planning should occur. Imagine if you will, we were just now pioneers in this area with a totally clean slate. The water was pure, wildlife was abundant, the air was clean….yet settlers were ready to move in. What should we do differently? This is just my opinion of course, and is based solely on environmental and social concerns, my top 10 list if you will, not in any particular order.

1) River corridors should be given a mile wide corridor. The only development allowed would be recreational such as trails and parks, the occasional street crossings, and some public infrastructure, such as water and sewer plans. I propose this to protect our wetlands, floodplain mitigation, and to allow the rivers to naturally meander.

2) Stream and creek corridors are given a half mile wide corridor. Again, for the same reasons as above.

3) Land Ownership and political boundaries would follow physio graphic features. I understand that our grid system of land ownership made sense…in some areas. That is why we have arterial streets on section lines that are more like roller coasters going up and down hills. Roads should follow the lay of the land. Or, I know of one parcel and the neighboring parcel that both have a creek running across them. They both end up with unusable parcels on the opposite sides of the creek…the property line should follow the creek. Of course following the creek violates my rule above, but you get the point. This also is important in watershed management, wildlife management, resource management, and a myriad of other things.

4) Comprehensive planning, and mixed use would be the norm.

5) Communities would be smaller, around 2 mile radius, everything would be walkable, with all the shopping and most of the jobs easily accessible, reducing the need for private vehicles. There would be more communities at 5-10 mile spacings, with the areas in between for agriculture, recreation, etc. These communities would be connected by mass transit.

6) High emphasis would be placed on architecture, sustainability, and usability.

7) Placemaking would be the starting point…not an afterthought.

8) Designing for the pedestrian environment and socialization would be a priority over designing for vehicular circulation.

9) There would very limited development with a half mile of highway corridors, such as interstates. This is to keep them as a pleasant driving experience. The only development allowed would be occasional service centers. Also, no residential development within a mile of interstates.

10) There would be no urban sprawl. Period. End of Story.