Planning for optimization requires an updated wardrobe

Planning for optimization requires an updated wardrobe

By: Tony Pauker and Mary Lydon

[space]

Have you ever tried to squeeze into an outfit that you wore to your high school prom – you know the light blue tuxedo with the ruffles or that yellow taffeta gown? It didn’t really fit.

[space]As the years went by, you’ve become more sophisticated, and hopefully have better taste in clothing. Cities also grow and evolve. As the San Diego region has evolved over the past two decades, we have experienced a great diversification of our economy, extensive development and redevelopment across the county, the emergence of a world-class downtown and countless positive signs of change in our region.

[space]With age comes wisdom, and now is the time to make some wise decisions to insure a healthy and prosperous future for generations to come as the San Diego region looks to the next 20 years, we must plan for an evolved urban environment by using vision, wisdom and innovation.

[space]Despite all of the positive attributes of our region, let’s realistically assess the challenges we face.

[space]Despite our temperate climate, we live in a desert. Were it not for the Colorado River our lawns, golf courses and household taps would be bone dry.

[space]In the late 1940s and 1950s GIs returning from the Second World War could purchase a single family home on a 5,000 square foot lot with one income. A veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan today will be hard pressed to buy a small condo on two incomes.

[space]The growth accommodated by abundant freeways left the region without an alternate street grid network adding more stress for commuters.

[space]Once known as a “Navy Town” with a manufacturing economy, San Diego has evolved into a region with increasing jobs in the in the lower-paying service sector working for the highly paid creative class. The middle class is shrinking.

[space]UCSD and many of our public education institutions are world renown, but we have some of the lowest performing public schools in the state.

[space]Our gas-guzzling cars and energy consuming lifestyles are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and poor public health.

[space]Even with a border fence around the county, we will add the better part of one million new residents over the next 20 years. Right now, there is no place to put them.

[space]So is the glass half full or half empty? We would argue it is pretty close to full. With appropriate planning and leadership it can prosperously spill over. In January 2008, San Diego will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nolan Plan.

[space]John Nolan produced our region’s first comprehensive urban planning document that addressed a rapidly expanding metropolis. Many of his sustainability themes are still relevant today. The balance of open space, urban living and work space, quality of life issues and the integration of a global economy requires looking forward in a way that challenges out-dated models for expansion while demanding creativity, discipline and collaboration like never before.

[space]The City of San Diego’s General Plan update, as well as SANDAG’s regional planning tools will help to guide our future.

[space]ULI San Diego/Tijuana has focused our programs on sustainability – what will help propel our region forward to embrace growth in a way that benefits residents and the economy.

[space]Our Public Policy Committee will be working to develop a Sustainable San Diego 2030 Report that will identify and rate the top growth issues.

[space]

We challenge the real estate industry to begin to look at San Diego from a sustainability perspective and to join with us to help identify these top 10 growth issues. The blue ruffles and yellow taffeta were great way back when, but a new era warrants a new wardrobe.

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

Building for Optimization

Building for Optimization

By: Tony Pauker and Mary Lydon

[space]

As our region seeks the best solutions for managing growth in the coming decades, we could learn a great deal from a small Southern town about 2,100 miles to the east.

[space]

North Charleston, the third-largest city in South Carolina, set out six years ago to become the biggest urban redevelopment project in the nation, encompassing 3,000 acres of the historic city center and the old Charleston Naval Base, shuttered in 1996. But this was not just any redevelopment effort, but a sustainable one — and one that the developer refers to as his most challenging to date:

[space]

“I view the community development business as the healing business. And true sustainability is about healing the social, economic, and environmental health of a region.”

[space]

— John Knott, Urban Land Magazine, June 2007.

[space]

What inspired John Knott and his company to take this challenge on? One word — his vision of optimization.

[space]

Optimization is a new word that we would like to be added to the real estate lexicon. It describes a way of rethinking how to get the most out of our cities, our schools, our economy and our agriculture as we carve out a better future. We have passed the tipping point where issues of sustainability and green development have been woven into land use decisions.

[space]

It is time to follow the example of such unlikely bedfellows as mayors, rock stars, prime ministers and even Wal- Mart that are all taking leadership roles in the ongoing effort to go beyond sustainable development and make decisions that are not only good for the environment and the economy but that are also socially equitable — otherwise know as the triple bottom line. This is change from the ground up which is organically how nature restores itself.

[space]

This new column will be exploring some early indicators of optimization in the San Diego region. It’s a continuation of a Daily Transcript column “Building for Sustainability” begun in 2005 by Mary Lydon of the Urban Land Institute and NewSchool of Architecture and Design Professor Mike Stepner. They spent a year exploring people and places that were making a difference in bringing the movement of sustainability to the forefront in our region. Back then, they defined the word “sustain” as being “that which provides support or relief.” The world in which we live in certainly needs support and relief and millions have heard the call and are implementing their visions driven by an impulse deep from within. So for the next few months, from the perspective of the built environment, we will present ideas, people, movements, and projects that are making contributions beyond the wave of sustainability toward optimization. This may range from the developer building a million square feet of office space to local farming and its impact on land, the environment and health.

[space]

Here are some early indicators of optimization efforts in San Urban Land Institute Smart Growth Awards — This past June the San Diego/Tijuana District Council of ULI held its third annual Smart Growth Awards to honor projects that were successful examples of sustainability/optimization. These projects included adaptive reuse, a master-planned affordable solar-powered communities, LEED-certified high-rise office space, an affordable mixed-use project at a major transit stop, flex space on a challenging site, cultural preservation, progressive agricultural sustainability and corporate sponsored affordable housing.

[space]

General Plan Update — The city of San Diego is now undertaking a much delayed overhaul of its General Plan to guide the city for future decades with a focus on preserving the quality of life in the region, while affording economic viability for land uses.

[space]

Del Sur — The Del Sur master plan community in the northern part of San Diego is one of the first new residential developments in the nation to focus on green, sustainable, and LEED-certified planning and design strategies to accomplish a market-driven solution to meet housing demand.

[space]

Several prominent authors have cited a certain sense of urgency that is needed to positively transform our cities. And while we have seen many cities, including our own, make important strides to plan for the future, there is a rising need to address how all stakeholders can work together more effectively to achieve the very best plans for managing future growth. We salute those who are innovating on their own here in San Diego, and we will continue to bring you innovative news from the “optimization” front over the course of the coming months. We also hope you will visit ULI San Diego/Tijuana at sandiego.uli.org to learn more about land use, sustainability and optimization.

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

Moving beyond sustainability to optimization

Moving beyond sustainability to optimization

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

[space]

“Sustainability is just a minimum. If I asked you, ‘How’s your relationship with your wife?’ And you said, ‘Sustainable,’ I’d say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry for you!'” –Michael Braungort, Dwell Magazine, September 2006.

[space]During the last year, our columns have discussed the importance of sustainable design and community involvement in the quality of life in our home, San Diego. The definition we have used for sustainability has been broad and diverse. It has been reflective of one used by Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior: “Sustainability is a bundle that covers everything — from our relationship to the external environment to our relationship with each other and how cities function as organisms — that enhances both our urban quality of life and the surrounding natural landscape.”

[space]And senior adviser of Mitsubishi, Yashuhiko Watanabe, said, “When you talk about sustainability, it’s not just limited to energy consumption. You are talking about a city’s culture, the history, and how to preserve them so that the flavor of the history can be felt there.”

[space]However one defines sustainability, there must be community consensus and political will if we are to enjoy success. Perhaps, then, one place to begin is around a common vision of what we want to be when we grow up.

[space]Our city, our country and our world are captured by the common vision of sustainability these days. Has there ever been a time in our history when millions of minds were focused on such a singular point? It’s like a cry from the world whose prayers are now being answered. Becoming sustainable provides an opportunity that can move us from our visions of sustainability to visions of optimization (most desired). You can’t create something if you haven’t imagined it first, so let’s dream big.

[space]In the San Diego region, we have many visions of what the future of our community should be. Community organizations, interest groups and government agencies all have short-term, midrange and long-term goals and objectives that they are moving forward. But, the challenge is to tie them together in order to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. This is the dynamic of creation by which sustainability moves toward optimizing or, in other words, creating beyond maintaining.

[space]Recent events are providing the opportunity to form a unified optimal vision and a strategy to implement it. The defeat of Proposition A, the Miramar airport measure, will make us rethink how to make Lindbergh our airport for the future. It also reinforces the need to focus on bay front development, not only with regard to the airport but also to the area surrounding the bay. Moreover, state Sen. Christine Kehoe’s airport initiative fuels creative thought on the airport authority’s role on a broader scale. Should it be merged with the San Diego Association of Governments, the port district and other countywide agencies to form a coordinated regional planning authority? Perhaps such a regional organization will determine that our future air travel needs can be served best by high- speed rail — at least in part. The impact of the changing economy and our need to provide not only housing but also neighborhoods for our children and grandchildren will bring us together to plan for a forward-looking future beyond sustainability, which requires a big vision. It’s time to confidently put that vision out there.

[space]Thanks to the San Diego Architectural Foundation, the Orchids and Onions Award Program has been successfully reinvented. This renewed people’s choice event for best and worst of the built environment in San Diego is a great start. Continued support throughout the year could involve highlighting enlightened clients, announcing positive development regulations and encouraging an active and informed community. Performing these actions would serve our city well.

[space]We clearly believe a consensus-building approach to our region’s future that is bold, visionary and equitable — in other words, optimal — will result in a commitment to raise revenues to pay for the region’s needs and dreams. We are at the nexus of moving beyond sustainability into optimization, and the only thing we need do is to let go of our fear of the success of actualizing our greatest visions.

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

What San Diego can learn from Vancouver

What San Diego can learn from Vancouver

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

[space]San Diego and Vancouver: They’ve got far more in common that you think. And what’s more, here in San Diego we need to learn from what they’ve done right; currently, we’re 25 years behind the curve.

[space]This was brought home to us recently at three events hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia: the World Urban Forum III; a United Nation’s Habitat event on urban sustainability, which was immediately preceded by conferences of Canadian professional organizations representing landscape architects, architects and city planners; and the World Planners Conference.

[space]The overriding theme of all the forums was, first, a recognition that more people will live in urban areas than rural areas and that most of the urbanization in the developing countries will be in slums. Vancouver was selected as host of the World Urban Forum as it’s considered one of the world’s most livable cities — one BBC reporter described it as “Los Angeles without the mistakes.”

[space]So why is Vancouver a good model and teaching tool for San Diego? Both downtowns are of similar size and bordered on the north by a major park. Both cities have similarly sized regions with a similar number of municipalities that comprise the region.

[space]Geographically, both are well defined by natural features such as the desert, mountains and oceans. We both have southern boundaries as borders, with what each considers a developing country. For us, it is Mexico and for Vancouver, it is the United States.

[space]The San Diego region is expected to grow by 1 million people over the next 20 years; the greater Vancouver region is planning for 2 million over the same time frame.

[space]But each city has chosen a slightly different approach to managing growth. In the 1960s, plans for an extensive freeway system were proposed for the Vancouver region. Planners projected that without the freeways, the city and the region would be in perpetual gridlock and downtown would wither away. Vancouver-ites joined the anti- highway revolt then underway in many cities in North America and said, “No!” They focused on transit instead and that choice has resulted in one of the most active and pleasant urban environments on the continent.

[space]In the 1980s, Vancouver adopted its “Living First” strategy, not unlike the city of San Diego’s proposed City of Villages. To implement the strategy, the city has adopted and followed up on several “organizing principles,” including restricting car access to downtown by giving priority to public transport users and pedestrians and developing mixed-use neighborhoods designed for pedestrians.

[space]While these principles have resulted in much higher densities than we are used to in San Diego, they were able to do it because of an extensive process to create a vision for the future and the determination to achieve the vision. Acceptance of the vision is so well accepted that elected officials no longer have a role to play in the development approval process. And recently, when Vancouver’s mayor announced a proposal to increase density citywide, it met with praise from a cross-section of city interests.

[space]As you may of gathered by now, discussions in Vancouver about the projected addition of 2 million people to the region over the next 20 years are not about whether to accommodate the growth but rather the best way to do it in order to create dynamic, livable neighborhoods.

[space]Reinforcing such sentiments were the words of Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, Columbia, and now visiting scholar at New York University, who was one of the forum’s keynote speakers. Penalosa defined urban sustainability as: “An environment that is most conducive to the development of full potential — happiness. Happiness is the measure of success of urban development and management strategies.” He stressed the need to walk, to build community and to be with people. We need in our urban environment beauty, contact with nature and equality. “That the policies that address sustainability are also those that address social justice,” Penalosa said.

[space]His words should be at the forefront of our minds as we proceed with our various municipal and regional plans in the San Diego region.

[space]Bluntly, San Diego is 25 years behind the vision and thoughtfulness that Vancouver put into building its forward- thinking community, economy and ecology. But on the positive side, we now have an outstanding model that we can use if we choose to grow into the city of our dreams here in San Diego.

[space]The magic ingredient Vancouver used to become the world poster for sustainability and livability is that of deep citizen involvement and inclusiveness. San Diego City Hall is lining up with the best and brightest and is committed to finding new solutions to realign itself for a sustainable future. But there is a major component missing — you.

[space]We invite you and them to demand citizen participation and to find respectful, meaningful and empowering ways to do this. The process is going to be uncomfortable because we will all be walking along a new path that is unfamiliar, and we have no idea where it will take us. The choice is ours — step into the unknown or go down with the ship. These are times to be bold, to have courage, to organize and implement our visions.

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

Community values: The secret ingredient to sustaining a vision

Community values: The secret ingredient to sustaining a vision

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

[space]

“It is not that you don’t need leadership and vision, but success comes from consensus within the community.”

-Amanda Burden, New York City Commissioner of City Planning.

[space]

The age-old questions of our region are: “What do we want to be when we grow up?” and “What do we want the future of our region to be and how are we going to get there?”

[space]

The San Diego region has many visions. It always has. The visions are usually embedded in the general plans for the cities, county, SANDAG and other agencies. The plans focus on land use, but they all recognize that land use relates to economic, social, demographic and cultural issues. Over the last century, we have painted a picture of that vision many times, beginning with the first plans for the city of San Diego and the region in 1908 and 1927 by John Nolen, to the many plans that have been prepared in the 50 years since the end of World War II, to the many efforts that are under way currently.

[space]

However, the devil is in the details, and there are plenty of critics of the planning process who argue plans often end up on the shelf or never go beyond the vision to implementation. While these are partly valid criticisms, we would argue that San Diego has been successful implementing at least a portion of our collective visions. Note the development of Balboa Park, the redevelopment of downtown, the reinvention of the single-room-occupancy hotel, the rebuilding of the trolley, the saving of the San Diego River and the Multiple Species Conservation plan, to name a few.

[space]

Notwithstanding those achievements, it is true that too often we do not go as far as we can and definitely should. Moreover, as a community, we have not been able to muster enough support for the vision that would enable us, in turn, to raise the funds to implement it. The community will be willing to pay if they are a part of creating that vision and if it touches them at their core. Usually these are quality of life issues, which in the long run can transfer to economic prosperity.

[space]

Today, we have visions in our general plans that begin with land use and also reflect the connections with transportation, with public services and facilities and with all those things that contribute to our quality of life. Furthermore, there are many other visions out there — for health, for safety, for education, et cetera — and while we recognize the connections between these visions, we don’t often build the connections and collaborations that might lead to the consensus for follow through and a more comprehensive implementation for our visions.

[space]

One example is the regeneration of Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley who in 1989 set forth a goal to replant trees lost to Dutch Elm disease. A May 17 New York Times article entitled “To revitalize a city, try spreading some mulch” describes how the tree-planting became the entry to a comprehensive program of “conserving resources, saving energy, expanding parks, constructing environmentally sensitive buildings, reducing the amount of storm water, restoring wetlands, generating renewable energy and doing everything feasible to heal instead of harm the city’s natural resources.”

[space]

The planting of trees became a strategy to make Chicago “America’s Greenest City.” The endeavor is cited as “improving every conventional category of civic well-being.” Kermit the frog must now be saying, “It is easy being green,” and in the case of Chicago, green not only represents the color of trees but also the color of money, because this endeavor is creating a new economy.

[space]

These organizing principles go beyond bureaucratic city management tools. They tap into values that have deep roots at the community level. This is the absolute key to sustaining a vision. Whether it’s a mayor of a city or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, engagement of its people based on integrated quality of life components rather than pure economics creates a healthy, thriving system.

[space]

President Bush, in his State of the Union address earlier this year, struck a chord when he said we are “addicted to oil.” Have you noticed that since then the media is focusing more on alternative fuel technology and stories of companies that are re-engineering their businesses to align with that value? President Bush struck a chord that ran deep in the hearts and minds of American citizens and businesses and we ran with it. Those words may be President Bush’s legacy and we may look back and discover that those words brought about a revolution that shifted our economy and lifestyle from wasteful and polluting to sustainable and healthy.

[space]

In San Diego, we do have the vision, but we need a broad community consensus. No one is better suited to help us build that consensus than Mayor Jerry Sanders. San Diegans are starving to be engaged beyond the pension deficit. There are dozens of community and civic groups standing by waiting for our leader’s clear vision and set of organizing principles. The vision must incorporate connections, consensus and collaboration. This will ultimately lead to a holistic vision supported by the deep roots and values of the citizens of San Diego. We are ready to implement the city of our dreams — are you?

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

The tipping point into the Green Revolution

The tipping point into the Green Revolution

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

[space]

“The mayor (public servant) who tends only to current necessities forfeits the City of Tomorrow while the mere visionary stumbles over the pot holes of the present. City chiefs must know how to balance two vital items, necessity and possibility.”
— Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil.

[space]Jaime Lerner is an architect and was appointed by the Brazilian junta as mayor of Curitiba because it believed that an architect would not “make waves.” Instead, he made Curitiba one of the world’s most sustainable cities and when the junta was overthrown, he was democratically elected mayor for a third term and went on to become governor of the state.

[space]Lerner was the keynote speaker last month at a conference sponsored by the Urban Land Institute and the U.S. Green Building Conference titled “Developing Green: Sustainability Entering the Mainstream.” The host city, Seattle, provided a perfect backdrop to showcase sustainable leadership at its finest and provided pertinent information regarding needs to happen in San Diego.

[space]Lerner said, “Every problem has a co-responsibility” and that sustainability should be a true partnership between those elected to run the city and the people who choose to inhabit it. He insisted, “Every city has to find its own design for structure of growth and priority” and argued that “separating where you live from where you work leads to a disaster.” Lerner’s leadership is known around the world as practical and visionary, and he has been an innovator in planning for the past 35 years. He doesn’t believe in experts because they only tell him why something can’t possibly work. He surrounds himself with pragmatic designers and developers who have helped to build a city that was struggling in poverty to one that has one of the most efficient public transits systems in the world and is now seen as a leader in sustainability.

[space]Another leader is Seattle Mayor Greg Nichols, who was greatly concerned when in 2005 the Kyoto Protocol took effect without the participation of the United States. Seattle is one of those experiencing first-hand the dramatic effects of global warming; for example, the snow packs of the Cascade Mountains have been reduced by 50 percent since 1950 and are projected to decline another 7 percent by 2012. Nichols challenged mayors across the country to join him in a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 and sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection agreement. To date, more than 220 mayors across the United States have signed this agreement — San Diego has yet to sign.

[space]Highlighting practical steps was conference chair Chris Glenn Sawyer, partner of Alston & Bird and a national leader in smart growth, green development and conservation finance issues, who kicked off the conference by stating, “Sustainability is not an esoteric issue.” In the last five years, 300 million square feet of buildings have been LEED certified. Scot Horst, chair of USGBC LEED Certification Committee presented the big picture of how LEED fits into the next generation of community building. He stressed that LEED connects the land to the city and is about a relationship between the land and buildings, and people and nature. These relationships lead to strong connections, which lead to hope, love and a shared vision. This shared vision for our communities and our planet are bubbling up in all of us lately as we are evolving to a new way of “sustainably” existing in balance with the land and each other. The LEED system is a technical tool that pushes architects, engineers and building owners to rethink and create measurable standards for a system that resides symbiotically within its environment.

[space]Bert Gregory, CEO of Mithun Architects, a leading firm in green building design, emphasized that quality of life issues are pushing developments to decrease energy and water consumption, and increase open space. The frontier for these sustainability strategies for the most part has come from private development, and our challenge now is to connect the private to the public. Gregory invites us to think of streets as open space and how to make them green; he also encourages us to make better use of them for walkability. Also, we need to think of neighborhoods as a system and be creative in how we connect them. In San Diego this would be an easy strategy to implement using our beloved canyons as the connectors.

[space]With all these ideas and practitioners coming to the fore, the greatest barrier to implementing sustainability now is overcoming our reticence to change. We have the technology and the know-how. Investors are looking for green projects to invest in, and leaders are stepping up to the plate around the world. Our greatest challenge, both in the United States and in San Diego, is allowing the transformation to occur. This will require sacrifice while the process morphs our economy, our cities and us from the chaos of change into the order of a new sustainable planet that provides a quality of life for the next seven generations. Write us and tell us what you, as a San Diegan, are doing to promote this change. We’ll write about it in our next column. We feel a great excitement in the air, a tipping point, into a world where a forward economy incorporates ecology and social equity.

[space]This is the Green Revolution and we know that San Diego won’t want to miss this call.

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

Greening the city with parks, plazas, open spaces

Greening the city with parks, plazas, open spaces

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

[space]

“In building the city, let us remember that the material things which will endure the longest are those that express the spirit of man in art. In the art of landscape and architecture, the spirit of a city can be preserved for ages.” –George White Marston at the dedication of Presidio Park, July 16, 1926.[space]

The San Diego Chapter of Partners for Livable Places sponsored the “Greening the City — Love it or Leaf it Conference” earlier this month at the new McMillin Event Center at NTC Promenade. The conference brought together several hundred people to hear local and national speakers talk about the critical need to plan our region for sustainable development. The conference was designed to cultivate a “better understanding of the economic, environmental, psychological and special benefits of parks, gardens, greenbelts, trails and inspired green urban spaces.”

[space]

The conference once again reminded us that a “green” city with adequate parks, plazas and green spaces is also a healthful city. This has been an overriding theme of city planning and community building since the beginning of the “modern” city-planning movement in the 1890s. The importance of parks and open spaces was seen as the lungs of the industrialized city and the key to a more healthful urban environment. In San Diego, this became official city policy with the adoption of our first general plan prepared by John Nolen at the behest of George Marston 100 years ago.

[space]

The speakers at the conference all spoke to the intrinsic benefits of a “green” city. Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Lands, spoke of the broad benefits of parks and open space to the community. His presentation highlighted the environmental value of clean air, the value to the resident through direct access and improved health, and the economic value of parks and open space from tourism and increased property values.

[space]

The economic value of parks and open space is not new but is something that has been recently rediscovered. On a national level, the economic value of parks goes back to discussions in the late 1880s when the Minneapolis Board of Trade stated: “Parkland, when secured and located as it is now, be at comparatively small expense, will in the near future add millions to the real estate value of the city.”

[space]

In San Diego, we had Minneapolis beat by 20 years when in the late 1860s the city board of trustees had the foresight to set aside 1,400 acres for a city park, now Balboa Park, which at that time equated to almost one acre per capita.

[space]

Dr. Kathleen Wolf of the University of Washington urged everyone to “get their greens” when she spoke to the importance of nature and trees to our overall quality of life including our moods, our emotions, and our physiological and physical health.

[space]

Fred Kent, president of Project for Public Spaces founded by William H. Whyte in the 1960s, spoke to public spaces. Kent worked with Holly Whyte on the groundbreaking study, “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces,” which was the first scientific study of how people use parks and public space and how to design them so that they can and will be used.

[space]

Kent’s comments spoke to the need to pay attention to the small planning details to take best advantage of our great assets here in San Diego. He suggested carefully observing how our public plazas are designed for use and making sure parks are accessible and safe and streets serve pedestrians as well as cars. Another key to successful open-space use is waterfront development and the careful balance needed between public use and privatization.

[space]

Kent’s presentation questioned directly how we in San Diego are implementing the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan. We need to take a fresh look at that plan to assure that we are taking best advantage of our unique waterfront opportunities. The U.S. Navy Broadway Complex development process provides a great opportunity to revisit the plan and to assure that what gets developed at that site is indeed a reflection of sustainability, which not only generates economic growth but also pays attention to wider social and environment issues. To create a viable city of the future we must demand that sustainability be the key component of our waterfront plan equation.

[space]

Another major asset is our canyons. A start has been made with the Multiple Species Conservation Plan but we need to build upon that. Kent said: “Parks should reach out like an octopus and bring the parks into the neighborhoods.” This is the pointed theme of the Canyonlands Initiative developed by San Diego Civic Solutions. We should preserve these natural features that form our communities not only for environmental reasons but also for the health of San Diegans. How do we make the canyons accessible for people where appropriate? Equally as important, how do we bring the canyons up and into our neighborhoods and create view corridors into the canyons? Connecting canyons through pathways, boulevards and tree plantings with major community anchors provides a great solution to storm water runoff. It also provides a network of arteries carrying the blood life of this community to the heart — the citizens of San Diego.

[space]

In the 1908 Comprehensive Plan for San Diego’s Improvement, John Nolen wrote: “A system of parks is unquestionably demanded. Such a system can be secured more easily than in any other city that I know of, … connect this system of parks by the boulevards and parkways already planned, develop it naturally, simply, harmoniously, and then confidently invite comparison with it to any park system in the world. It would give the citizens health, joy and more abundant life, and to the city, itself, wealth and enduring fame.”

[space]

Greening the city is critical to the region’s sustainability and quality of life — socially, physically and economically. In an article by Gruen, Gruen + Associates, they state: “The success of a place is determined by how well it responds to the economic, technical, institutional/cultural and social fabric of the times.” Will San Diego rise to the occasion to build the city of our dreams or will we fall into mediocrity? It’s all up to us!

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

Integrated communities key to economic evolution

Integrated communities key to economic evolution

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

[space]

“No neighborhood can be truly livable without retail services, and no metropolitan area can be truly sustainable with rot at its core.”
— Michael Beyard, ULI Fellow for Retail and Entertainment, Urban Land, The Forgotten Frontier

[space]Michael Beyard’s quote is music to our ears. What we can infer is that we cannot build a foundation of sustainability in our city when there are components that are failing. This means that we must authentically step into the next phase of city building using holistic models where the social composite of the entire region is a serious consideration when planning for our economic well being. In other words, the Barrio is as important as Science Park in La Jolla and they each have strengths to offer one another.

[space]With each evolutionary step of city growth, new generations of planning issues emerge. Early on in the revitalization of blighted areas, permission may be given to build anything, including mistakes, to keep an economic engine fueled. As an area begins its ascension and a new form begins to take place, quality of life issues begin to present themselves. Strategies to mitigate homeless populations and liquor stores arise alongside sidewalk cafÈ permit requests and demands for community-serving retail. The new economy, and the people driving that economy, move in and a battle ensues for the community that was and the new one that is emerging. But what we see emerging now is that rather than a battle of opposite interests, there is an integration of interests, and no sector of the population is viewed as right or wrong.

[space]The next rung on the ascension ladder, which San Diego is moving into, is a step into connectivity and integration in large part due to increased population, diversity, expensive limited land, reviled long commutes and the desire for community amenities. This alchemy of evolutionary forces — with an aggressive move by the city’s redevelopment agency in acquiring and assembling land with tax increment funds being used to improve infrastructure and to finance affordable units — has created an interesting amalgamation that turns out to be an outstanding economic development tool.

[space]Great creativity arises by integrating cultures, races, income levels and age groups. This helps to fuel the economy, and as Richard Florida, MIT Economics Professor promotes, “creativity is the most important commodity in our economy, and thus the economic health of a place — be it a city, region, or nation — depends on its ability to attract creative people.” In the new “creative economy,” companies choose to relocate to the place with the best pool of talent. Talented people, in turn, are drawn to places that are dynamic and creative. Hence the future sustainability of our economies will be driven by creativity, connectivity and integration.

[space]A report by Partners for Livable Communities linking quality of life and the economic success of cities concluded “cities that are not livable places are not likely to perform economic functions in the future. Enhancing livability therefore should be a central objective in every city’s economic transition strategy and the elements of livability should be employed as economic development tools.”

[space]The renaissance of our downtown is the seed of our region’s future. Components of the Downtown Community Plan Update focus much more on “soft” programming — connectivity, open space, walk ability, art, affordable housing. Centre City Development Corp. and the Updated Downtown Community Plan are providing community and economic development models for a creative city of the future, but in order for effective implementation, these models must be applied to all parts of our region, including the City of Villages, San Diego General Plan and County General Plan.

[space]In actuality, these models are really nothing all that new. They can be found in many plans in the past but the shortfall has come in the follow-through. We are now experiencing, more than ever, the lack of follow-through in these plans with the increase in potholes and the lack of sufficient fire stations and libraries. The pain has gotten so great that we have no choice but to force ourselves to follow through or, in other words, evolve. Evolving is excruciating, hence the reason we seek comfort and ease for as long as possible. Evolution forces us to understand our values and to make decisions that align with those values rather than let it slide to the next generation. Evolution equates to sacrifice and hard work.

[space]

In a city with cultural, social and economic integration, it is clear to see that if one part of the city is “rotting,” the city cannot be sustainable. There is evidence that here in San Diego we are evolving into a creative city of the future. It is emerging and we invite you to look for it, because this is where the greatest sustainable economic opportunities for our region lie.

[space]

Download the article pdf

[space]

/by

San Diego must grow up

San Diego must grow up

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

 

“Smart growth is a compact, efficient and environmentally sensitive pattern of development that provides people with additional travel, housing and employment choices by focusing future growth away from rural areas and closer to existing and planned job centers and public facilities.”

— SANDAG

“Smart Growth” is just the latest planning buzzword for what used to be called growth management and, more recently, “New Urbanism,” “Sustainable Design” or, in bygone days, just plain old city planning. But whatever it’s called, the need to build community is, today, as important as ever. While we may differ on how to do what needs to be done, it is reassuring to note that, for the most part, we all agree on what it is that needs to be done.

Building a city is not unlike maintaining a personal relationship: both must be nurtured continuously by all the parties involved. The key is to have a framework that allows us to understand the relationships of all the issues so that we may respond accordingly.

So what are the issues we, as a community, need to address? To compile a list of the issues facing San Diego’s future, we need to take a look at San Diego’s past. Such an exercise reinforces the old adage that “planning is a continuous process.” The process is not so much about completing a particular task that once and for all resolves the issues and solves the problem, but rather recognizing that we must work at these issues continuously.

Many organizations in San Diego, from small grassroots groups to internationally respected land use institutions, continue to conduct planning sessions, focus groups, design charters and strategic plans around all the planning issues that we have been grappling with for decades. But along the way, planning has changed. Major land use decisions can no longer be put off to the next funding cycle, the next political term or the next generation. We are beyond planning for the future because the future has caught up to us and we have jumped from planning for the future to being forced to implement thoughtful solutions now. If we relate the building of our city to a personal relationship, it is time to make a commitment, because the baby is ready to be born whether we’re ready or not.

Periodically, the government, the media and the community compile lists of the important issues facing our region. If we look back to the days of John Nolen and the region’s first plan in 1907, the lists have been remarkably similar to today: neighborhood improvement, housing, infrastructure and services, sewer and water, the natural environment and, of course, the airport.

In undertaking some research recently, we uncovered a 1957 New Year’s edition of the San Diego Union in which the question was asked, “Can a city grow and stay beautiful?”

And, the Union’s conclusion: The community must plan. “There must be plans to provide for efficient patterns of air, land and water transportation, for recreational facilities and for public service facilities, including water and sewage systems. Plans also must be laid to provide for public buildings, modern and efficient community design, renewal and redevelopment of some areas to eliminate substandard buildings and control blight.” The Union commended the community for having approved $56 million in bonds for public improvements.

The issues have not changed. The needs have not changed. What has changed is our willingness to pay for those things we, as a community, require to maintain our quality of life. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are the price of a civilized society.”

There comes a time when we look at our lives, our relationships to each other and to life itself and we realize we are being called to grow up, to mature. This is the exact place where we find our city. It is time to grow up. We need to make commitments, keep them, pay for them, live within our means and plan to leave our city better than we found it.

As a community, San Diego is not short on vision. We know what needs to be done. We have prepared community plans that identify what needs to be done to accomplish our goals. The question is, do we have the commitment to follow through?

Commitment equates to trust, and commitment is usually built over time. It takes integrity and faith to nurture. But if self-serving interests get out of proportion, a quality relationship or a well-planned city cannot be cultivated, and the chasm of trust may appear to be too great to bridge. But we’re out of time and space and all we’re faced with is each other. It’s time to put childishness aside and deal with the reality of the mess we have created and commit to one another to rebuild our community, our city, our relationship to one another on a foundation of integrity and trust.

 

Download the article pdf

 

/by

Wake up to the sustainability revolution

Wake up to the sustainability revolution

By: Mary McLellan and Michael Stepner

Sustain\ se-‘stan\ 1: to give support or relief to 2: to supply with sustenance: nourish 3: to keep up: prolong

Degrade\ di’grad\ 1: reduced far below ordinary standards of civilized life and conduct 2: characterized by degeneration of structure or function

Optimum\ ap-te-mem\ 1: the most favorable condition for the growth and reproduction of an organism

So what is this sustainability movement that seems to be sweeping the country all about anyway? LEED certified buildings; renewable energy; alternative fuels; eco-municipalities; recycled materials; sustainable land use and planning; open space.

It seems we have been headed in the direction of degradation as of late, and it is time to bring our cities back to sustainability and then look to the future to optimize building better communities.

Across the United States the interest in, and desire for, a sustainable environment continues to grow. This interest has many names: Smart Growth, Livable Neighborhoods, Sustainable Design, New Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism. All have the identifier “green.” Green Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism focus on urban ecology, open space and natural systems as the definer of urban form.

Author Richard Louv, in his book, Last Child in the Woods, wrote: “According to current ecological theory, preserving islands of wild land-parks and preserves in urban areas is not enough. Instead, a healthy urban environment requires natural corridors for movement and genetic diversity. What if such theory were applied to an entire urban region? What if natural corridors for wildlife extended deep into urban territory and urban psyche and thereby created an entirely different environment in which children would grow up and adults could grow old?”

At the autumn meeting of the Urban Land Institute in November of last year, from the keynote speakers to the breakout sessions, the topic of sustainability consistently arose. It was remarkable that when Paul Hawken, entrepreneur, author and international environmentalist, spoke to a room of 5,000 developers, architects, economists and other real estate disciplines about the importance of building our communities in a more sustainable way, the room was keenly attentive.

Last June, the ULI San Diego/Tijuana District Council invited Ed McMahon, a senior Fellow from ULI in Washington, D.C., to speak about Smart Growth. McMahon talked about the accelerating consumption and fragmentation of open land. “Twenty percent of new lots are ‘large lots,’ consuming about 80 percent of the land. In 1960 in the United States, there was six square feet of retail per person; by 2000, the number had increased to 30 square feet of retail per person.” Not surprisingly, one reason for the change is the spread-out nature of development.

McMahon challenged the audience to ask three questions when discussing growth decisions: Where do you put it? How do you arrange it? What does it look like?

When we respond to those questions, our goals should be a healthy environment, vigorous economy and a vibrant community. Community image is critical to economic vitality and quality of life. Why would someone invest in a city that won’t invest in itself?

There is an amalgamation between developers and environmentalists occurring at the edges. Together they are seeing the importance of listening to one another and the benefit that each brings to the table. The future, which is here now, holds a new definition for developers and environmentalists: perhaps eco-developers, where a development team has environmental expertise as part of its team, not to do the minimal amount required to get their project off the ground but to look for optimal ways to use the land. It will require a whole new way of problem-solving skills and vision, and our communities will evolve to places of well-being.

The most powerful catalyst for action occurs when the mission is driven by what matters most. Two years ago San Diego Civic Solutions, an all-volunteer civic organization focused on quality of life issues, posed the question to its 75 members, asking them to list the top 10 things they loved about San Diego — not what the problems are or what we need to be more competitive or how to improve our economy, but what were the core values that they personally held for being in San Diego. Overwhelming, the top five items that emerged were related to our environment. They included: the beaches; the mountains; the canyons; the walkable neighborhoods; the climate and the light. From there emerged the mission of Civic Solutions: working on infrastructure issues, housing affordability and canyons — our revered and unique open space.

This small sampling of engaged civic leaders may represent a larger sentiment in the hearts of San Diegans. This would be an excellent way for Mayor Sanders and his administration to engage the citizenry toward rebuilding public trust. Yes, we have tremendous fiscal challenges, but the people’s hearts are not engaged. San Diego is about to have a new start and what we love may be just the focus that would reignite the passions of the people of San Diego.

There’s a green revolution going on, and either the United States will wake up and lead the way or, as Thomas Friedman suggests in his latest book The World is Flat, China or India will. So join us in the dialogue over the course of the next few months as we present concepts, implementation strategies and call for action on emerging trends in sustainability.

 

Download the article pdf

 

/by