Planning Quote of the Day

want to be home making dinner

"Feeling guilty that there’s a Department of City Planning meeting in my neighborhood about their zoning/re-zoning plans and I’m not going. I should get involved with the world around me ... But I also want to be home making dinner and singing silly songs at Nano, sorry Community."

-- from "Stuff and Things," on le petit hiboux (the little owl) blog of aspiring New York City writer Krissa Corbett Cavouras.

Note: perfectly understandable -- but we do need you 20 and 30 somethings to eat a bit earlier and get to those planning & zoning meetings! We'll have more in the upcoming Spring issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal about how to involve younger generations in local planning. In the meantime, take a look at our blog post, Call the Shots in Your Neighborhood, to find out how you can feel more comfortable attending neighborhood association meetings.

independence and dignity

"... it has taken us nearly four years to foreclose on thousands of abandoned properties, demolish over two thousand dangerous buildings, and upgrade the infrastructure in our most neglected neighborhoods. ... Now I am asking all homebuilders of Houston to help us build new housing on over seven hundred lots that will be made available at submarket prices, with generous down payment assistance programs, so that many working people can obtain the independence and dignity of owning their own house. The City will work in parallel to continue to build community-based organizations where new homes are built. The whole city will be safer as working families move into neighborhoods which too often had become magnets for crime."

-- From Houston, Texas, Mayor Bill White's State of the City Address (Jan. 25, 2008)

guardian of the public physical environment

"The modern American planning commission is the guardian of the public physical environment."

-- Laurence C. Gerckens, from "Community Aesthetics and Planning," in Taking a Closer Look: Design & Aesthetics, by the Planning Commissioners Journal.

definition: eco-municipality

"An eco-municipality, (also known as an eco-town) is a local government government that has adopted ecological and social justice values in its charter. ... The distinction between an eco-municipality and other sustainable development projects (such as green building & alternative energy) is the focus on community involvement and social transformation in a public agency as well as the use of a holistic systems approach."

-- from Wikipedia, Eco-municipality

Note: for more on the origins of eco-municipalities, and the interest in them by U.S. cities, see the post Eco-Municipalities Step Forward Naturally on our PlannersWeb blog.

do whatever the "politicians" say

"If a planning commission is perceived as simply being a group of 'political cronies' that will do whatever the 'politicians' say, then it will be an ineffective community institution. On the other hand, a planning commission perceived as being interested in the long-term health, viability, and livability of the community, can establish itself as a respected voice."

-- Greg Dale, from "Who Shall Serve: Public Interest vs. Special Interest," PCJ #48.

a city's genius class

"For the creative economy to become the creative society, we need to see people as consumers and citizens and develop an approach that acknowledges both. The greatest barrier to such a shift is the creative economy ideology. If economic prosperity and competitive advantage depend upon a city's genius class, it's hard to make a case for the welfare of ordinary citizens."

-- from an article by Mark J. Stern and Susan C. Seifert, "From Creative Economy to Creative Society," in Progressive Planning (Winter 2007)

not strict enough?

"Do you think that local planning and zoning regulations in your community are too strict, about right, or not strict enough?" The responses: 13% too strict; 49% about right; 31% not strict enough; and 7% don't know.

-- From the 2007 Saint Index (a survey of 1,000 Americans on their attitudes about land development).

For more on some of the intriguing findings from this survey, see today's posting, "Attitudes on Development," on our PlannersWeb blog.

the frequent granting of variances

" ... variances should clearly be the exception, not the rule. ... The frequent granting of variances may indicate a failure on the part of the zoning board to adhere to the ordinance’s criteria for approval of variance requests. However, numerous requests for variances concerning the same standard or restriction of a zoning regulation may highlight a need for review of that standard and its suitability within the affected zone district."

-- from Robert Widner, "Basics of Variances," in Planning Commissioners Journal #50

people must defend the Yard Sale

"ARE YARD SALES ALLOWED ??? HOW MANY CAN I HAVE ??? THESE TWO QUESTIONS are on the minds of all our people more than any other Questions. ... The YARD SALE has become one of the nation's most cherished symbols of liberty. ... What the Yard Sale does is to summarize the philosophy of self-determination set forth in a list of RIGHTS given to all the world. This includes the breaking of ties to the Malls and Department Stores. ... No one should ever need to wonder "IF" they can have a Yard Sale. The only question should be "When and Where". All over our country the Yard Sale Day is important for keeping JUNK out of our Land Fills and encouraging people to reuse STUFF that may still have a few more days of life. More households should be inspired to participate in Yard Sales to help Recycle Money right in their own neighborhoods. Our people must defend the Yard Sale ... No government, Local, State or Federal, HOA, Condo, Co-op, Farmers Association or Property Manager shall make any Law, Rule or Regulation that prohibits the Yard Sales Days. No one should be allowed to trample on the peoples right to Yard Sale, Garage Sale, Rummage Sale, Estate Sale, flea market sale, Online Sale, Moving Sale or Community Sale. ..."

-- the above is excerpted from an email I received from YardSale Man of YardSales.com (Jan. 30, 2008)

definition: edible landscaping

"Edible landscaping, simply put, replaces plants that are strictly ornamental with plants that produce food. Edible landscaping will allow you to create a multi-functional landscape that provides returns (fruits, vegetables, etc.) on your investment of water, fertilizer, and time. An edible landscape can be just as attractive as a traditional one; in fact, the colorful fruits and foliage of many edibles are quite beautiful."

-- from Edible Landscaping, by Eva C. Worden and Sydney Park Brown, University of Florida Extension Service web page.

Note: take a look also at Charlie Nardozzi's Edible Landscaping on the National Gardening Association web site.

governing bodies have a critical role

"Governing bodies have a critical role in setting the community’s agenda. Given the importance of the comprehensive plan in identifying community goals and objectives -- and how these will be accomplished -- it makes sense for the governing body to be more than a mere spectator to the comprehensive planning process. This involvement, ideally, will translate into a sense of ownership and commitment to the plans and ordinances that result from this process."

-- Michael Chandler, from "Linking Elected Officials with Planning," in Planning Commissioners Journal #48

and denounce it

"Long Island is a land of bedrooms, not an incubator of urban-planning concepts, and for every smart-growth PowerPoint or op-ed article favoring townhouses, you will have at least 50 enraged citizens who will show up at a public hearing and denounce it. ... Asked which type of neighborhood they preferred -- one where you could walk to stores or one that required driving -- 56 percent said they would rather drive."

-- Lawrence Downes, op-ed "The City Is the Future of the Suburbs, and Other Heresies," in The New York Times (Jan. 29, 2008)

Note: Downes draws on the results of a survey of Long Islanders -- interestingly, the survey's authors put a very different spin on the findings. Consider also the blog posting I entered today on our PlannersWeb blog about one key trend in smart growth -- linking it to action on climate change.

Planning Quotes to Switch Schedule

We've heard back from several folks who think that we're posting and emailing out our Planning Quotes too frequently. In response to this (and to give ourselves a bit more time to scan for good, quotable material) we're going to switch to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting schedule.

And please remember, we welcome hearing from you about any planning-related quotes you've come across that you feel might be worth our posting.

-- Wayne Senville, Planning Commissioners Journal

new media have empowered neighborhood groups

"Free, new media have empowered neighborhood groups tremendously. A decade ago, anyone wanting to oppose a rezoning or a development had to go door to door or make scores of phone calls to get people to meetings. Time and distance greatly constrained what people could accomplish.

But now an increasing number of neighborhood groups are using tools like Yahoo or Google groups, which allow e-mail messages to go out instantly to group members -- and only to group members -- so quickly that neighborhoods are now as agile as their industry opponents. Neighborhoods are also using free blogs to give them a public face and to archive public documents.

I think this new "Army of Davids" power is very apparent in Greensboro, where developers have lost recent rezoning battles (or given up before they started) in response to neighborhood pressure. It looks like they're going to lose a few more."

-- David Wharton, "And They're Getting More Organized All the Time" (Dec. 4, 2007, on his A Little Urbanity blog about living in the middle of Greensboro, North Carolina)

the most challenging aspect of smart growth

"Directing growth and investment back into existing communities without displacing lower-income residents is the most challenging aspect of smart growth. But the alternative – sprawl – has not been great for communities of color and lower income families, either. Unmanaged growth has contributed to: racial and economic segregation; a spatial mismatch between workers in older urban neighborhoods and rural communities and suburban job centers; a draining of investment from older communities; and exclusionary housing practices that bar the poor and people of color from suburbs. Smart growth policies have the potential to reverse these trends. If done inclusively, with the involvement and guidance of neighborhood  residents and community-based organizations from the start."

-- Leah Kalinosky, from "Does Smart Growth = Equitable Growth," in Planning Commissioners Journal #45 (Winter 2002).

Note: Kalinosky's article is also included in our just released publication, Taking a Closer Look: Smart Growth (available as our March special offer).