Planning Commissioners Journal

Train-ing

Commemorating the anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869, Amtrak has set Saturday, May 10th as National Rail Day.

Many American planners -- and citizens who have traveled to Europe or Japan and enjoyed high-speed rail service -- realize that our national system is far behind where it should be. With gas prices projected to keep on climbing, and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, it's time we turned our attention to catching up with countries like France, Germany, Spain, and Japan.

While there has been progress in many U.S. cities on light rail and trolley systems -- something highlighted in the Planetizen update in our Winter issue -- the same can't be said of our inter-city rail system. Even in our dense Northeast Corridor, our high-speed rail is nearly a generation behind that in use in Europe.

For just a quick look at high-speed rail in Europe, see "Touring Europe at 200 Miles an Hour: Travel by High-Speed Rail Catches On as an Alternative to the Hassles of Flying," in the Mar. 12, 2008 Wall Street Journal:

"Consumers are flocking to the comfortable, speedy trains -- while growth is slowing in parts of the airline industry. Eurostar reported a 15% rise in ticket sales for 2007, with much of the increase occurring after the London enhancements. Meanwhile, airport passenger-traffic growth has fallen to 2% in Britain for the past two years ..."

photo above is of the new TGV-Est line, connecting Paris and Strasbourg at operating speeds in excess of 200 mph. Interestingly, France views its high-speed rail system as key to strengthening regional economic development by facilitating access to medium size cities throughout the country. See, e.g., Strasbourg: a "Magistrale" city. The video below shows tests of the new TGV breaking the world speed record of 574 kph (344 mph).

It didn't used to be this way. America for nearly a century was the world-wide leader in passenger rail, with trains like the 20th Century Limited connecting cities between New York and Chicago.

But countries like Spain now far surpass us -- witness their expanding high-speed AVE network, which connects Barcelona and Madrid -- 314 "air miles" apart -- in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

By comparison Chicago and St. Louis are just 260 miles apart. Amtrak connects the two cities, but it takes 5 hours and 20 minutes.

At high speeds now common in much of Western Europe, rail often replaces air as the fastest city-to-city travel option. Only in a very few places in the U.S. can the same be said.

Meet Lisa & Jim ... our new columnists

From PCJ General Manager Betsey Krumholz:

We are pleased to welcome new columnists Lisa Hollingsworth and Jim Segedy to the Planning Commissioners Journal (PCJ). They each bring a wealth of experience and tremendous practical knowledge, and together will provide our readers with information and insight into the "nuts and bolts" of planning commission business.

They are resuming "The Planning Commission at Work" column, which was written for many years by Mike Chandler. Lisa and Jim begin a four-part series on the comprehensive planning process in our Spring 2008 issue.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa and Jim by phone recently -- to find out more about their extensive planning backgrounds, and why they want to be involved with the PCJ. They're both dedicated and highly motivated individuals -- who also truly enjoy the work they do. We believe that with their combined talents and experience, our readers will be in for a treat.

Just a bit of background.

Lisa is currently Managing Partner with "The Community Partnership" based in Liberty, Missouri. Over the years she has worked on planning issues in communities in a number of states, including many rural areas.

Jim is Senior Planner and Urban Designer with Olsson Associates, also in the Kansas City area. He is also Professor and Director Emeritus of Community Based Projects at Indiana's Ball State University. Jim has co-authored the Small Town Planning Handbook, published by APA Planners Press. Last, but not least, he's a past member of the Delaware County-Muncie [Indiana] Metropolitan Plan Commission.

Here are excerpts from our conversation:

Ready for Car Sharing?

For some good online resources on car sharing, take a look at: Dave Brook's CarSharing.us blog. Brook was founder of Carsharing Portland, the first commercial car sharing company in the U.S. in 1998. He later worked with Flexcar, which recently merged into Zipcar. Dave also recently posted a google map showing North American cities with car sharing programs. For links to a variety of newspaper articles on car sharing, go to CarSharing.net. Finally, here are some of the car sharing programs discussed in Hannah's article in the Planning Comm'rs Journal: -- PhillyCarShare -- Chicago I-GO -- Zipcar -- Enterprise Rent-A-Car -- Arlington, Virginia, Car Sharing -- San Francisco City CarShare

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

Curious about one of the hottest trends in transportation. We've got an excellent article, "Ready for Car Sharing?" in our Spring issue. Written by our transportation columnist Hannah Twaddell, it will help you understand how car sharing works, and factors in successful programs. You can take a look at excerpts from Hannah's article and, if you're interested, order & download the full four-page article. Take a look also at the video clips at the end of this posting.

Right now, car sharing is more common in larger cities. But it's expanding to smaller places, especially where partnerships can work together to promote it -- and where neighborhoods have high enough densities to support it.

Private businesses such as Zipcar, U-Haul, and Enterprise Rent-a-Car are also expanding their neighborhood-based operations to more communities. For a recent article on this newly competitive environment, see "Warning to Zipcar: Traffic Ahead" (Boston Globe, Mar. 30, 2008).

But in smaller cities, it still usually takes a nonprofit to get a car sharing program underway.

PCJ General Manager Betsey Krumholz recently spoke with Annie Bourdon, Executive Director of a nonprofit car sharing program under development in Burlington, Vermont. Take note, in particular, of the supportive role being played by the county metropolitan planning organization (MPO), which sees the value car sharing can play in reducing overall vehicle use and benefitting the region's transportation infrastructure.

Car Sharing Comes to Vermont
by PCJ General Manager Betsey Krumholz

"Car sharing programs can be successful in a lot of communities," asserts Annie Bourdon of Green Mountain CarShare in Burlington, Vermont. "The key is in understanding the needs and habits of the community in which it operates."

Bourdon is heading up this new organization, on a mission "to provide an affordable, convenient, and reliable alternative to private car ownership that enhances the environmental, social and economic well-being of our region and planet." It is gearing up for operation in Burlington, a city of 39,000 residents,

Exchanging Local News: from Colonial Taverns to Email Networks

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

Neighborhoods have long been a cornerstone to community life in America. But there have been some striking changes in how we keep abreast of local news and participate in neighborhood life.

Historians have documented the central role that taverns and coffee houses have long played as places for people to exchange news and information.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg has also highlighted the valuable service that these and other "third places," as he calls them, have performed in knitting together communities and integrating newcomers and immigrants into their new place of residence. Here's some of what Oldenburg had to say in an article we published in 1997:

"Americans long enjoyed third places in the form of the inns and ordinaries of colonial society, then as the saloons and general stores springing up with westward expansion. Later came the candy stores, soda fountains, coffee shops, diners, etc. which, along with the local post office, were conveniently located and provided the social anchors of community life.

... Third places also serve as "ports of entry" for visitors and newcomers to the neighborhood where directions and other information can easily be obtained. For new residents, they provide a means of getting acquainted quickly and learning where things are and how the neighborhood works."

In many neighborhoods, you'll still find these kind of gathering stops, sometimes taverns, sometimes grocery or convenience stores, sometimes a donut shop, and sometimes even the laundromat.

The Willard St. Market in Burlington, Vermont.

For years, a common sight outside many of these places was the message board, where neighbors left word about a missing dog, a yard sale, an apartment to rent, a community meeting ... and where candidates for city council, alderman, school board, or mayor placed their campaign posters.

But fast forward to 2008. Email is how we often "talk." Many bemoan this, feeling it has weakened civic life and resulted in a loss of connection within our neighborhoods. And, yes, count me among those who've made such claims.

Yet something quite remarkable has emerged over the past two years here in Burlington and Chittenden County, Vermont. A locally-developed email-based message service, called Front Porch Forum, has established itself as

Message on a Pole

I did a double-take when I passed this utility pole a block from my home last week (hit your browser's refresh button to re-run the photo sequence).

Photo taken on North Prospect Street, in Burlington, Vermont. I have no idea who put this worn and faded poster on the pole, or why. Is this graffiti, public art, or something else?

But seeing this poster did get me thinking about how we "communicate" with each other in our neighborhoods -- and how that's changing. More on this in my next post.

Bowling Together

  Just read that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a long-time bowler, has challenged bowling-impaired Barack Obama to a match. So why I am writing about this on a planning blog? We'll here's what The New York Times reported on its Politics Blog today about Clinton's thoughts about bowling:

"She was most amused about the whole bowling thing, parodying the idea of 'bowling alone,' as proposed in a 1995 essay by Robert Putnam about how people were doing more isolated activities and fewer communal ones. 'This is a big sociological phenomenon,' she said. 'Bowling alone is a sign of our times. We could bring it back. We could like, transform the entire society. We could have bowling alleys on every corner. We could have a sense of community together. People setting pins again. End the automation! Get the pin boys back. No telling what could happen.' "

OK, she's (probably) joking about this. But is it really such a bad idea? In fact, take a look at this photo from an article by Lila Shapero (published in our Summer 2005 issue) titled Bowling Together: The Role of Neighborhood Associations.

By the way, Shapero put together a quite interesting article, highlighting ways in which neighborhood associations can help build community, while supporting local planning efforts.