MarkDaMan
Apr 29, 2008, 1:26 AM
finally, some story about our policies not working and instead of being draconian and getting rid of what we have, we need to rethink, and add more...What do you peeps think?
Sprawl belies Oregon's rep for planning
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Oregonian
His uncle was a big-time civil engineer, traveling the world, leaving his fingerprints on projects across several continents.
But Leonard Rydell's engineering career kept him closer to his Oregon roots. And after 36 years laying out the road and service grids for projects throughout suburban Portland -- including much of Wilsonville's Charbonneau development -- he says he's come to realize the region's glowing reputation in urban planning is increasingly an illusion.
He smiled when 1000 Friends of Oregon and two other conservation groups recently called on state planners to change suburban sprawl patterns that, despite light rail and urban growth boundaries, have left 71 percent of Oregonians driving to work alone.
The "up, not out" idea of high-density mixed-use development is a great theory, Rydell said. But the development reality on the ground is that we're heading toward a destination that, in the end, will look and function almost exactly like most places across the country.
To make his point, Rydell jumps up from the chair in his office on the second floor of his Newberg home and rattles down the steps, out the front door, directly into the middle of the street in front of his home.
"What do you see?"
The shoulder-to-shoulder jumble of ranch homes, the cars jammed into the little driveways and lining much of the absurdly wide street is a scene from any city in America.
"Tell me," he continues, as a Chevy Suburban whizzes by us at a good 10 mph above the speed limit, "does it make you feel good?"
"Exactly," he says, guessing my answer, "and yet, this is still what pretty much every city's code is encouraging us to design and build."
Cookie-cutter subdivisions. Shopping clusters. Industrial and business clusters.
And between them all, near gridlock, a slow-moving sea of commuters, truckers and soccer moms crawling to their next destination.
"We've got all the right catchphrases, but for the most part, the pieces don't fit together quite as well as we pretend, do they?"
He points to much of the infill construction that's been going on for over a decade. "Basically, we're trying to shoehorn infill into existing standard-design subdivisions. And it only angers people."
Local lawyer Christopher Crean wouldn't agree with all of Rydell's opinions. But he shares the realization that there is a growing gap between the theory and reality of growth in Oregon. It's a disparity he's come to know well during 13 years of land-use work with local cities and four sessions when he advised the Oregon Legislature.
That gap, Crean said, is exemplified by the fact that some of the same organizations recently calling for less sprawl have, in the past, supported policies that resulted in the expansion of the urban growth boundary to Damascus, a largely rural area with virtually no urban roads and services, let alone jobs.
"You're saying we've got to reduce vehicle trips, then you expand the UGB in Damascus, where they've got no roads or services or jobs. It just doesn't work. It confuses people."
Crean believes Oregon's land-use system can be retooled to meet the challenges. Despite its drawbacks, he still likes it more than anything else he's seen across the country.
But he knows that unless the current confusing clash of realities on the ground is sorted out by regional and local leaders, we can expect a lot more of the voter backlash that led to the passage of Measure 37.
Rydell isn't sure we're up to the task. "Just look around. What do you see?
"We haven't demonstrated we have the political will to fix any of it.
"So instead, we argue about things easier to control. Like whether the streetlights should be blue or black."
Andy Parker: 503-294-5945; daparker@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/andy_parker/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/1209191137270860.xml&coll=7
Sprawl belies Oregon's rep for planning
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Oregonian
His uncle was a big-time civil engineer, traveling the world, leaving his fingerprints on projects across several continents.
But Leonard Rydell's engineering career kept him closer to his Oregon roots. And after 36 years laying out the road and service grids for projects throughout suburban Portland -- including much of Wilsonville's Charbonneau development -- he says he's come to realize the region's glowing reputation in urban planning is increasingly an illusion.
He smiled when 1000 Friends of Oregon and two other conservation groups recently called on state planners to change suburban sprawl patterns that, despite light rail and urban growth boundaries, have left 71 percent of Oregonians driving to work alone.
The "up, not out" idea of high-density mixed-use development is a great theory, Rydell said. But the development reality on the ground is that we're heading toward a destination that, in the end, will look and function almost exactly like most places across the country.
To make his point, Rydell jumps up from the chair in his office on the second floor of his Newberg home and rattles down the steps, out the front door, directly into the middle of the street in front of his home.
"What do you see?"
The shoulder-to-shoulder jumble of ranch homes, the cars jammed into the little driveways and lining much of the absurdly wide street is a scene from any city in America.
"Tell me," he continues, as a Chevy Suburban whizzes by us at a good 10 mph above the speed limit, "does it make you feel good?"
"Exactly," he says, guessing my answer, "and yet, this is still what pretty much every city's code is encouraging us to design and build."
Cookie-cutter subdivisions. Shopping clusters. Industrial and business clusters.
And between them all, near gridlock, a slow-moving sea of commuters, truckers and soccer moms crawling to their next destination.
"We've got all the right catchphrases, but for the most part, the pieces don't fit together quite as well as we pretend, do they?"
He points to much of the infill construction that's been going on for over a decade. "Basically, we're trying to shoehorn infill into existing standard-design subdivisions. And it only angers people."
Local lawyer Christopher Crean wouldn't agree with all of Rydell's opinions. But he shares the realization that there is a growing gap between the theory and reality of growth in Oregon. It's a disparity he's come to know well during 13 years of land-use work with local cities and four sessions when he advised the Oregon Legislature.
That gap, Crean said, is exemplified by the fact that some of the same organizations recently calling for less sprawl have, in the past, supported policies that resulted in the expansion of the urban growth boundary to Damascus, a largely rural area with virtually no urban roads and services, let alone jobs.
"You're saying we've got to reduce vehicle trips, then you expand the UGB in Damascus, where they've got no roads or services or jobs. It just doesn't work. It confuses people."
Crean believes Oregon's land-use system can be retooled to meet the challenges. Despite its drawbacks, he still likes it more than anything else he's seen across the country.
But he knows that unless the current confusing clash of realities on the ground is sorted out by regional and local leaders, we can expect a lot more of the voter backlash that led to the passage of Measure 37.
Rydell isn't sure we're up to the task. "Just look around. What do you see?
"We haven't demonstrated we have the political will to fix any of it.
"So instead, we argue about things easier to control. Like whether the streetlights should be blue or black."
Andy Parker: 503-294-5945; daparker@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/andy_parker/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/1209191137270860.xml&coll=7