CSCR Government #3: Preparing for Extreme Weather Events. Paul Beyer, DOS.
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This document discusses the principles of smart growth as they relate to land use, transportation planning, and energy use. It defines smart growth and sprawl, explaining that smart growth focuses development around walkable, mixed-use centers connected by public transportation to reduce vehicle miles traveled. This compact development pattern located near existing infrastructure is more energy efficient than sprawl. The document also outlines New York state policies that support smart growth to encourage sustainable development.
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CSCR Government #3: Preparing for Extreme Weather Events. Paul Beyer, DOS.
- 1. SMART GROWTH: LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE ENERGY/CLIMATE EQUATION Paul Beyer – Director of Smart Growth, NYS Department of State
- 2. Planning Principles of Smart Growth • Compact Development • Mix of Land Uses • Concentrated Development (infill/re- development) in “Municipal Centers” • Walkable/Bikable/Transit-Accessible Design – “Complete Streets” • Variety of Housing Options – different ages, incomes, household composition • Safe, Accessible Public Spaces • Street Connectivity Integrated of Land Use/Transportation Planning • Strategically-Preserved Open Space/Agricultural Land/Natural Habitats
- 3. Definition of Sprawl: “… low-density development that disperses the population over the widest possible area, with rigidly separate functions – homes, shops, and workplaces – connected by limited access roadways. The car is the primary mode of transportation; there are few functional sidewalks or lanes for bicycles, and little or no access to transit.” Two Main Factors •“Location Efficiency” •Land Use/Transportation Infrastructure Connection
- 4. LOCATION EFFICIENCY Greater proximity, accessibility, and connectivity among land uses; mobility alternatives to automobile travel, such as walking, biking and transit. The way we arrange our land uses -- in relation to one another, and in relation to infrastructure -- determines the amount of miles and trips we drive in our cars, which determines petroleum energy use in the US. Smart Growth is Location-Efficient Sprawl is Location-Inefficient
- 5. The Land Use/Transportation Infrastructure Connection A ‘CHICKEN-AND-EGG’ DEBATE On the relationship between land use and transportation, the late Senator Moynihan said: •“Highways determine land use, which is another way of saying they settle the future of the areas in which they are built.” The American Planning Association went a step further: •“No single force has had a greater impact on the pattern of land development in American cities in this century [Twentieth] than highways.”
- 6. SO WHAT? •Sprawl and Transportation Energy Use •Smart Growth/TOD and Transportation Energy Use Transportation accounts for about 1/3 of all energy use in the country, and 65% of all petroleum use. It is estimated that 50-60% of VMT (Vehicle Miles Travelled) increases are attributable to land use and transportation patterns.
- 7. SMART GROWTH IS ENERGY (PETROLEUM) EFFICIENT •Compact, urban-form development can reduce VMT up to 40% •Residents of Atlantic State, GA – the largest TOD – drive 35% less that residents in sprawling subdivisions •People living in twice the density of conventional sprawl, with a mix of land uses, street connectivity and accessible destinations, drive a third less •People living in higher-density, bike-/pedestrian-friendly communities with convenient access to transit can reduce their driving 15-50% •A mix of Smart Growth characteristics can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from current trends 7-10% by 2050; both Smart Growth and stringent fuel-efficiency standards can bring GHG emissions down to 1990 levels by 2030
- 8. Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act (2010) Complete Streets Act (2011) Governor’s Regional Economic Development Councils/Regional Sustainability Plans (Cleaner, Greener NY Communities) SUPPORTIVE PUBLIC POLICY
- 9. SMART GROWTH CRITERIA TEN CRITERIA -- TWO BROAD CATEGORIES •“WHERE” – LOCATION •“HOW” – DESIGN; PROCESS; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS; SUSTAINABILITY NJ Future Smart Growth Scorecard: “How do you know Smart Growth when you see it? Smart Growth has two primary features: the “where” and the “how.” It happens “where” development can be accommodated with minimal adverse impact to the environment, and in places where development takes maximum advantage of public investments already made. Smart Growth also addresses “how” the finished development will work with neighboring development to restore choices that are missing in places marked by sprawl: such as the choice to walk or use public transit, the choice to meet neighbors in attractive common spaces, or the choice to live in an apartment, a house, or a condominium.”
- 11. Centers – Rail Stations Long Island Source: Long Island Index Study
- 12. (Source: en.wikipedia/Daniel Case) Poughkeepsie Train Station
- 13. Centers – Rural Hamlets Source: Hamlets 3 Study
- 14. (Source: Hamlets 3 Study)
- 15. TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT “TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT or TOD is typically defined as more compact development within easy walking distance of transit stations (typically a half mile) that contains a mix of uses such as housing, jobs, shops, restaurants and entertainment.” (Source: Re-Connecting America/Center for Transit-Oriented Development) In a recent survey, 71% of Baby Boomers said that walking distance to transit was a top amenity on their list of housing demands. (Source: Lesser & Co.)
- 16. COMPLETE STREETS/MOBILITY CHOICES •Reduced Auto Dependency (Walkable, Bikable) •Public Transportation One Mobility Option -- CARS
- 17. Several Mobility Options -- Car, Bike, Pedestrian, Transit A “Complete” Street (Source: Project for Public Spaces -- Vision for a road remake in Orange Beach, Alabama)
- 19. (Source: NYS DOT) 5-Legged Roundabout in Glens Falls, NY
- 20. REGIONAL GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES •Governor’s Regional Economic Development Councils •Regional Sustainability Plans Integration, Collaboration, Synthesis
Editor's Notes
- Transportation infrastructure and land use development are inextricably tied – they influence one another in a cyclical, mutually-reinforcing way. Transportation infrastructure has significantly influenced and enabled modern, post-World War II land use and development patterns – commonly known as sprawl. To put this in a historical perspective, a massive public investment in a national interstate highway system -- beginning with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and continuing until its completion in 1992 -- improved automobile mobility considerably and fostered the nation’s economic boom. And it opened up vast areas of (initially) inexpensive land to a burgeoning post-war population that was eager to flee the cities. This newfound access to the suburban frontier literally and figuratively paved the way for a whole new settlement pattern – not available to previous generations: large houses on large lots, separate from one another and other land uses (commercial, office, civic, retail) through low-density, single-use zoning and wide streets and highways, and automobile dependence -- all in an exclusive, pastoral, ranch-like setting.
- The Regional Plan Association identified infill/re-development opportunities on Long Island Rail Road station, opening up opportunities for what are explicitly delineated as “municipal centers” in the Infrastructure Act – Transit-Oriented Development, or TOD.
- Location in centers is important for two reasons. First, by focusing development inward toward existing communities and infrastructure, you inherently avoid the outward expansion of sprawl. But it also helps to promote smart growth because “centers” usually allow for, or already include, compact, mixed-use, walkable zoning and design – the location by itself enables the smart growth design principles we’ll move to next. And usually development in centers will avoid some of the adverse effects on natural resources and ecosystems that often come with sprawling development on greenfields and farms.
- This is what’s known as a “Complete Street” – a street that accommodates all users. In 2011, Governor Cuomo advanced and signed the Complete Streets Act in New York State; transportation projects must now consider the principles of Complete Streets – and the different users of the streets and streetscapes – in their design and function.
- Here’s a 5-point or 5-legged roundabout in Glens Falls, NY. Again, not only has this public infrastructure improved traffic safety and flow, it has had tremendous benefits to surrounding businesses – the roundabout has spawned several building re-development initiatives on and near the roundabout. Pedestrians can basically “island-hop” to get around and access the different destinations – the crossing distances are actually reduced by providing pedestrian islands, so the people do not have to cross the entire street at once.