I'm a former suburban kid and a closet environmentalist so I'm always readingup on the ways that other cities and regions are working to curb sprawl, reduce air pollution and strengthen the connections between the core city and the surrounding region.
In this fascinating article from Governing magazine, you can read about the evolution of transit-oriented development in the historically auto-centric city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Apparently, a lot of it was spurred by the fact that many former Philadelphians (and folks from other older cities) moved down there during the wave of bank consolidations and headquarter relocations that happened in the nineties. Who knew that nostalgia for the El could result in $5 billion in infrastructure development?
This article is replete with people saying the right things when it comes to long term planning:
“Planners use acronyms and words like ’density’ and ’R6 zoning,’ ” [Charlotte Mayor Pat] McCrory says. “People can’t relate.” The mayor liked to present two competing images of Charlotte’s future. One included tidy tree-lined streets with bikeways and sidewalks. The other showed “traffic lights every 15 feet, strip malls and unlimited pavement.” More than anything, McCrory stressed the idea that a transit system isn’t intended to be a quick fix but rather a long-term investment.
As if to underscore that smart growth and environmental awareness isn't a partisan issue, it should be noted that McCrory is a Republican and was among those advocating for a half-cent sales tax increase that covered the 25 percent local share of the overall cost. Another 25 percent came from the state with the remaining 50 percent coming from the federal government. Kind of makes we wonder what we could do here to extend transit out to King of Prussia or Bucks County if our regional delegation in Harrisburg could get on the same page.
It seems that everyone needs to be on the same page to accomplish such and effort. Here's another quote from a very "on message" advisor to the mayor:
Voters have supported transit several times in the past, and city officials, from the planners to Mayor McCrory, have worked hard to build support within the community. Tina Votaw, a planner with the city agency in charge of light rail, says it’s important to convey a big-picture message to the public. “You have to be honest and say, ’You’re right. This transit line might not help you. But it might help your neighbors. It might help your children.’ ” Votaw adds that traffic congestion isn’t going away, and that adding lanes to busy freeways is a short-term solution to traffic problems. “We’re not traditionally good at taking the long view,” she says. “But you’ve got to impress that upon people one by one.”
Charlotte is among many sunbelt cities following this trend along with Austin, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix and Sacramento.
So, let's say they all succeed and are able to replicate, in some measure, the walkability, convenience and car-independent thing that we have going on here in Philadelphia. And we can take it one step further and say that such success spurs the development of thriving arts and culture scenes, eclectic mixes of people and vibrant hospitality industry. If you add this to the fantastic weather, cleaner visual environment and efficient delivery of city services and lower tax rates, what's stopping ANYONE from moving from here to one of those places? Our mega-successful sports teams?
Here's hoping that the competition pushes us to achieve even greater things.
Comments (4)
I went to college north of Charlotte in Davidson, NC, which I believe will serve as the terminus of the North Corridor. (An aside: the residents of Davidson are pissed off that there's going to be a train station--and a huge parking lot--in their town, even though initially they strongly advocated for the rail development, though apparently on purely abstract grounds.)
The plans for a high-speed rail were being bandied about before I arrived at college in 1998. It's nice to see that it's finally reaching fruition. While I haven't been following the political wrangling over making light rail a reality in Charlotte, it would be interesting to compare Charlotte's success to a conspicuous failure, just a few hours away in Raleigh. I recently moved from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, where the Triangle Transit Authority tried--and failed--to develop a rail line for the area, even though I think the Triangle is the fastest growing region in the South. (The TTA operates a bus system, which I used to go to school; it runs about as swiftly as the SEPTA buses run down the Schuylkill Expressway during rush hour.)
One of the more encouraging byproducts I notice from the Charlotte article is that developers came in and created high-density developments in anticipation of the light rail. I never thought about it that way. I'm sure the real estate was much cheaper back then than it was now.
Perhaps another reason why Charlotte seems to be at the vanguard of post-industrial regional rail is because most of the people moving there are in their 20s and early 30s and want to live downtown. If you walk around Charlotte these days, there are lots of post-graduate yuppies hopping from bar to bar.
Nice link!
Posted by jordon | June 8, 2007 6:16 PM
One thing we have going over the sun-belt cities is history (I.e. architecture). Whatever they manage to do in those cities, I highly doubt that they'll manage to get the beautiful buildings we have here in Philly.
Of course, if the nice folks in city hall continue taring it all down/allowing it all to be torn down, we won't even have that.
Posted by Anonymous | June 9, 2007 7:58 PM
A couple more things:
1) The summers are horrid in the South. Summers in Philly as quite pleasant in comparison.
2) Philly needs to bring more employment into the city. People tend to go (or are forced to go) where the jobs are. Places like Charlotte are currently kicking our butts on job creation and we need to change that.
Posted by Anonymous | June 9, 2007 8:14 PM
Oh, Philly also needs to stop building strip mall shit along Broad and Market Streets.
Posted by Anonymous | June 9, 2007 10:01 PM