Suburban Nation - Andres Duany [91]
In the absence of a truly representative public process, decisionmakers must rely on something above and beyond process, something that may be called principles. Affordable housing must be fairly distributed. Homeless shelters must be provided in accessible locations. Transit must be allowed through. The environment must be protected. Many of these principles have been outlined in this book, and we hope that they will provide a foundation upon which to make difficult decisions on behalf of the public good.dn
Practice what you preach. At every level of government, public servants can begin their battle against sprawl by reconsidering the location and design of their own office buildings. To set a good example, but also to avoid harming existing communities, governments must eschew the practices of past decades. Don’t leave the city center for a workplace at the perimeter. Don’t locate offices away from easy transit access. Don’t abandon historic structures. Don’t consolidate services in a single location when they could enliven a dozen main streets. Don’t pull the building back behind a parking lot, or face blank walls to the sidewalk. From the post office to the Pentagon, every government building has the opportunity and the responsibility to make its neighborhood better.
REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
The greatest challenge to regional planning is the scarcity of regional government; few of our cities have governing authorities of a scope appropriate to the metropolis. To create such an agency can be difficult, as it should be built with resources distributed from existing governments to avoid increased taxation. Once a regional-scale agency is established, however, its mandate is clear. Those issues which can be handled effectively only at a regional level—transportation, environmental quality, water and waste management, social services, affordable housing, economic development, higher education, etc.—must be addressed comprehensively, so that individual cities and towns no longer have to struggle with them alone or, worse yet, in competition. Individual issues must be addressed in the context of a comprehensive Regional Plan, a plan based upon a clearly stated and well-publicized set of goals.
Regional planning efforts should not stop short of creating detailed physical plans for the development and redevelopment of neighborhoods, especially for areas near transit stations. Merely zoning for higher density in these locations is not enough to give confidence to early investors and cannot ensure the sort of pedestrian-friendly environment that supports transit. The most effective plans are drawn with such precision that only the architectural detail is left to future designers. These plans must be created through a public process in the presence of the residents and leaders of the surrounding communities.do
Contrary to current opinion, it is not un-American to engage in regional planning. American history is replete with examples of such work, the fruits of which we still enjoy today, such as the Appalachian Trail. Even the L’Enfant plan for Washington, D.C.— spanning fifty square miles and encompassing several existing towns and a good portion of the Potomac ecosystem—must be considered, by the scale of its time, a regional plan. Today, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, and other cities are engaged in regional planning efforts that enjoy public support and contribute to their growing popularity.
Those concerned about the future of their urban region will work to establish