If you weren't able to make the conference this year, make it a definite on
your calendar for next year. It was a great conference, with a diversity
of presenters and lots of enthusiastic participants. Many thanks to Wendy
McClure and everyone else who helped put the two-day conference together.
The most important part of the conference is yet to come: how to take
action in our own communities....
I'd like to share some of my notes from the conference. There were
concurrent sessions, so these notes reflect only those that I attended (and
took notes).
The first thing that caused me to take pen in hand were some ideas from a
not-very-rural town, Portland. Even though I was wary of planners from the
"city" being at a conference on rural towns, I wrote down lots of ideas for
us to consider, including:
*Ramp program- This has to do with inaccessible sidewalks. All a person
has to do is call the city staff and let them know that a ramp ("pedestrian
drop") is needed in a particular location, and within several months, a
ramp is put in place.
*Curb extensions- These were used in areas where more space was needed for
bus shelters,newspaper boxes and sidewalk furniture. It gives more space
on the sidewalks for people, strollers, wheelchairs etc.
*Traffic calming devices- including traffic circles, bumps, curb
extensions, bump-outs, median slow points (small divider in middle of
street with striped bike lanes on side and a ped crosswalk), and closed off
streets as a last resort. Streets are tested with temporary diverters to
see if they work before putting in permanent diverters. (Speeds are slowed
by 10 to 12 mph by these calming devices)
"Targeted enforcement"- For real problem neighborhoods, neighbors can
borrow radar guns to check passing vehicles that are speeding through
neighborhoods. The speed, along with a license number (presumably
discovered in some way other than running along behind the speeding car)
are sent to the police dept., who then writes a letter to the heavy-footed
driver.
There is a program where neighbors can buy speed bumps and have them put in.
*Transit preferential program- This obviously doesn't apply to Moscow at
this point in time. Green light for buses goes on before the green light
for cars goes on.
*Installation of bike racks all over town. They also had a huge bike
celebration, giving away bike helmets and closing a bridge for a day (I
missed the explanation on this, but I'm assuming it was for bicycle traffic
only for that day.) They also have "bike central" storefronts, run by
non-profit groups for bike repairs.
*Adopted a "skinny streets" ordinance (20 to 26' of paving between curbs)
*Some streets are one-way traffic only, with a bike lane that is two-way.
*"A wider street isn't always a better street".
[Jeanne Harrison, Transportation planner for city of Portland)
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Bruce Haglund (UI) and Tom Bartuska (WSU) presented "Resource Conservation
& Sustainability: Architecture and Community Development". Among other
things, there was information on energy efficiency for communities and a
presentation about a sustainable community development program for Pullman
(which includes planting a circle of trees around and throughout the city).
I was so busy looking at the slides, I didn't write down any notes, with
the exception of this: "importance of neighborhood schools". (A reminder
for me when discussions about Moscow High School come up in conversations.)
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There was a session on "Strategies for Citizen Participation in Planning"
by Fred Hurand (EWU), Abby Byrne (Spokane consultant) and Wendy MCClure
(UI). The participants were divided into three groups. I was in the
"Extopia" group, where we played community members who were asked by a
consultant to develop land use alternatives for their town, "Extopia". We
used different colors and sizes of construction paper to glue onto a map of
the city. In the "Extopia" group there were four smaller groups. It was
interesting to see how differently (and similarly) each group approached
the exercise.
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Notes from Randall Arendt of the Natural Lands Trust include the following:
*More than 12' setback for front yard space (from R.O.W. line) is hard to
justify.
*Great slides from Madison (?) Cottages on Bainbridge Island where houses
are on 3000 sq. ft. lots. No back yard, private side yard with deck (long,
thin side yard which is private because it faces a blank wall of the
neighboring house). It is referred to as an "outdoor room". Houses have
windows on three sides of the building only.
*Talked about communities where developers must set aside 12% of their
housing for affordable units (which are mixed in with other housing and are
*not* separated.)
*Showed slides of neighborhoods where two family homes are mixed in with
single family homes. The two family units are made to look like single
family homes. (Isn't there an example of this in the Fort Russell
neighborhood?)
*Shrink house lots to preserve more open space.
*"Land Yachts"- a term to describe single family houses big enough for
four families. He showed these slides to show that you can get big
expensive houses on small lots as long as you give them big views.
*Land permanently preserved through land trusts. (Perhaps someone could
give an update about the Palouse Land Trust that is in the stages of being
formed...)
*Developers can sell their lots faster and for a higher premium if they
preserve open space.
*Slide of a 1/2 million dollar house at the end of a sewage lagoon (a pond
that doesn't stink). After the water is ready, it is sprayed on
surrounding land to recharge the aquifer, and nitrogen is used for the
plants.
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More from Portland planners, Jeanne Harrison and Michael Harrison:
*"Friends of Cast Iron Architecture" saved some parts of historic building
that was torn down and used the parts for decorating the area.
*They talked about several design/build competitions in Portland. One was
a walk-to-work residential neighborhood along the waterfront. A team
selected the three best according to economic and design objectives, and
then let the public rate those three.
*Slide of a trolley paid for by the private sector.
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Another session by Randall Arendt:
*Don't design streets and lot lines first
*Design open space and houses first; then decide where lot lines and
streets go. (kind of like developing a golf course; the golf course is
never an afterthought.) There are greenways instead of fairways, and
community greens instead of putting greens.
*Four step process:
1. conservation areas
2. house positions
3. roads and trails
4. lot lines
*Arendt told about an exercise where there were four separate groups of
people whose assignment was to design a subdivision using steps 2 thru 4 of
the process. (He had already designated the conservation areas ahead of
time) The four groups came up with very similar plans: the message....
"This is not rocket science-- any idiot can do it". (his quote, not mine)
*Homeowner association land- leases land to a local farmer for a low rate.
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"Visual Patterns of Community Identity" was presented by Jonathan Reich
(UI), Jan Becker (UI) and Fred Hurand (EWU).
Ny notes are absent for Jonathan's presentation, mainly because it was an
absorbing slide slow and I forgot to take notes.
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Jan Becker, UI grad student gave a presentation about visual preference
surveys based on the work of Anton Nelessen's "Visions for a New American
Dream...".
*community identifies positive & negative aspects.
*Nelessen's work included a model making workshop and creation of a vision plan
*Purpose of visual preference surveys is to use information for changing
ordinances to reflect the desired character of a community.
*Important to show enough of a variety of images
*The term "garagescapes" to describe some of the newer subdivisions.
*Images were rated from a +10 to a -10, with zero indicating no feeling.
Results were mathematically arranged.
*People tended to intuitively create images in 3 dimensions which matched
with their positive choices in the visual preference survey.
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Fred Hurand from E.W.U. in Cheney critiqued Nelessen's work.
*The visual preference survey as done by Nelessen is "cumbersome". Hurand
talked about how to modify Nelessen's process.
*Planning team goes *out* to citizens
*People asked to put a sticker on map of community that represents their
"favorite spot"
*Focused on these aspects:
1. entrances to the community
2. commercial development (downtown and strip)
3. residential
*Murals (photo murals I believe) were done for housing, transportation,
downtown, greenbelt development and commercial.
*These were put on boards and set up at shopping centers for the public to
view and make comments.
*This is done for the *people who participate*. (Evidently, the planners
know what the outcomes will usually be.)
Fred Hurand's "Some Lessons About Sense of Place"
1. Trees, trees, and vegetation everywhere.
2. Recognize and capitalize on a community's assets, especially those that
are clearly connected to a community's social space.
3. Create order, but allow diversity within this order.
4. Make sure everything fits to reflect the heritage of the community,
allowing the nostalgic past to assert itself in the present and future.
5. Active participation is fundamental to achieving a connection between
the community's sense of place and any plan.
And finally, "Just because you build it doesn't necessarily mean they are
going to come. Creating the physical fabric for change is only one-half of
the problem of creating a sense of place."
(Fred was reflecting on why beautiful houses with large front porches are
built and the porches are not used by the people....)
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I also attended the second half of a session called "Housing Choices: Where
People Live" by Sandy Stannard and Jonathan Reich of UI. The slide show
was great, but since it was my first session of the conference, I wasn't
primed for taking notes yet. Both Sandy and Jonathan are interested in the
planning for the Community series in the fall. I'd like to see them
involved particularly for the fourth week.
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The last session I attended was a round table discussion called "The
University-Community Interface". The presenters included Jack Dawson (UI
Coeur d'Alene Center), Stephen Cooke, Stephen Drown, William McLaughlin,
and Nels Reese (all of UI). The presenters mostly listened to the
attendees of the session, which was fun for a change. People gave
suggestions to the UI (lots of them). I suggest one of the presenters
write a summary of this session. (Stephen?)
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That's it for my notes.
Pam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pam Palmer
Moscow City Councilmember
P.O. Box 9203
Moscow, Idaho 83843
208-883-3741
ppalmer@moscow.com
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