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Join us at New Partners for Smart Growth
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/images/sgalogosmall.jpg Smart Growth Around America
It’s right around the corner, but it’s still not too late to register and attend the biggest smart growth conference of the year. The 8th annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference will be held January 22-24 in Albuquerque, NM, and the last date to register without incurring a late fee is January 9th. The conference encompasses over 100 engaging sessions spanning three full days in the great southwestern city of Albuquerque.
The sessions are always exciting and informative, but you can also experience the Great Southwest through the conference’s optional tours of model projects — from a “Taste of Taos” walking tour of the historic district and its food, art and architecture to a bike tour of infill projects to sustainable housing and transit-oriented development in downtown Albuquerque. There’s a tour of the New Mexico Rail Runner commuter rail, a recently-started, highly successful commuter rail system, and other tours to get you out of the hotel and into the city.
New Partners is always the place to learn what’s happening on the cutting edge of smart growth and people-centric planning. It offers participants the chance to meet other advocates, professionals, and practicioners from across the country who are working hard for a brighter future.
Sign up today at www.newpartners.org
If you are planning on attending New Partners, it will be impossible to attend sessions for three days without bumping into SGA staff or one of our many coalition members speaking or presenting over the three days. And don’t miss SGA president Geoff Anderson closing out the conference Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
You can read full descriptions of the sessions at the New Partners site, but here is a rundown of our staff and coalition members speaking. There may be a few missing, so feel free to let us know in the comments if we miss you. Continue reading to see the full list:
Thursday
Patrick Stoner, Local Government Commission
11:00 a.m. - Cities and Counties Reduce Carbon Footprints Through Renewable Energy And Energy Efficiency
Josh Meyer, Program Manager, Local Government Commission
11:00 a.m. - Preservation and Evolution in Transitioning Small Towns
Clark Anderson, The Sonoran Institute
11:00 am - Water and Land Use 101
Allison Brooks, Managing Director, Reconnecting America
Gretchen Nicholls, Program Officer, Twin Cities LISC
11:00 a.m. Can Affordable Housing Near Transit Be Maintained?
Paul Zykofsky, Local Government Commission
11:00 a.m. Smart Growth 101
Barbara McCann, National Complete Streets Coalition
1:30 p.m. - Can you Complete the Streets?
3:00 p.m. - Complete Streets Ask the Experts
Andre Leroux, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance
Bridget Jones Ed.D., Cumberland Region Tomorrow
Lavea Brachman, Greater Ohio
1:30 p.m. - Common Ground: Building Smart Growth Coalitions that Work
Allison Brooks, Reconnecting America
1:30 p.m. - Promoting Affordable Housing Near Transit: Improving Program Coordination at the Federal Level
Scott Clark, Program Manager, Local Government Commission
1:30 p.m. - School and Local Government Collaboration: Achieve More Together
Reid Ewing, National Center for Smart Growth, University of Maryland
Geoffrey Anderson, Smart Growth America
3:15 p.m. - Growing Cooler: One Year Later
Kate Rube, Smart Growth America
Ilana Preuss, Transportation for America
Mariia Zimmerman, Reconnecting America
3:15 p.m. Joining the Fight: How Smart Growth Advocates Can Play a Key Role in Federal Transportation and Climate Change Legislation
Julia Ryan, Program Director, LISC Community Safety Initiative
Mona Mangat, Program Officer, LISC Community Safety Initiative
3:15 p.m. - SafeGrowth: Improving Community Health & Safety through the Built Environment
Madeline Fraser Cook, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
3:15 p.m. - Green Jobs: Defining Opportunities in Economic Development for a Sustainable Future
Friday:
David Crossley, Houston Tomorrow
10:15 a.m. - Regional Land Conservation: Saving the Best of the Best
3:00 p.m. - Transit and Urban Form: Responding vs. Shaping in Houston and South Florida
Jennifer Leonard, National Vacant Properties Campaign
10:15 - Vacant Property Strategies for Equitable and Healthy Communities
Tools for TODS: Transportation and Land Use Decision-making for Sustainability
10:15 a.m. - Allison Brooks, Managing Director, Reconnecting America
Kimberly Hodgson, American Planning Association
10:15 a.m. Food Policy Councils—Catalysts for Integrating Food and Land Use Policy
Ford Weber, Virginia LISC
Dan Kildee, Gennesee County, MI
10:15 a.m. - Best Practices: Downsizing Cities to Right Size Sustainable Growth
Paul Zykofsky, Local Government Commission
Jacky Grimshaw, Center for Neighborhood Technology
10:15 a.m. - Working on Smart Growth in Low Income, Ethnically Diverse Communities
Julia Seward, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Teresa Brice, LISC Phoenix
Joseph Schilling, Virginia Tech and the National Vacant Properties Campaign
10:15 a.m. - The Mortgage Crisis: Struggling Communities, Mounting Foreclosures, and Livable Places
Patrice Frey, National Trust for Historic Preservation
10:15 a.m. - City-Sponsored Energy Districts: Financing Efficiency, Reducing Greenhouse Gases
Sarah Treuhaft, PolicyLink
1:45 p.m. - Building a Sustainable Food System…from the Ground Up
Ilana Preuss, Transportation for America
Camille Manning-Broome, Center for Planning Excellence
1:45 p.m. - Model Ordinances for Local Governments: Zoning Ordinances, Subdivision Regulations, and More
Ed Thompson Jr., American Farmland Trust
Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust
1:45 p.m. - No Farms, No Food? Models for Sustainable Food and Farming Systems
Julia Seward, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Geoffrey Anderson, President and CEO, Smart Growth America
1:45 p.m. - Funding 2008: Newest Perspectives on Smart Growth Funding in a Changing Environment
Thomas Gotschi, PhD, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
1:45 p.m. - The Smart Growth, Bicycle/Pedestrian Connection
Teresa Brice, LISC Phoenix
1:45 p.m. - Making Sustainable Communities Happen: Crafting a Coalition-Drive Community Education/Engagement Campaign
Renee Kuhlman, National Trust for Historic Preservation
3:00 p.m. - Planning Ahead: School Closings, New Schools & Demographic Change
Annetta Jenkins, LISC
Gene Krebs, Greater Ohio
Joseph Schilling, Virginia Tech and NVPC
3:00 p.m. - State Policy Best Practice: Land Use Reform That Transforms Communities
Greg LeRoy, Good Jobs First
3:00 p.m. - Tax Policy for Smart Growth: LVT, TIF, and Other Incentives
Judy Corbett, Local Government Commission
Autumn Bernstein, ClimatePlan
3:00 - Bringing Old and New Partners Together to Reduce VMT and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Bob Heuer, Greenprint Project Manager, The Trust for Public Land
3:00 p.m. - Latest Applications of GIS Technology to Sustainable Development
Saturday
Barbara McCann, National Complete Streets Coalition
10:00 a.m. Best Practices: So You Want to Take Transportation Choices to Neighborhoods?
Steve Tracy, Senior Research Analyst, Local Government Commission
John Norquist, President and CEO, Congress for the New Urbanism
10:00 a.m. Fire Trucks, Fire Codes, Narrow Streets and the Future
Julia Seward, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Teresa Brice, LISC Phoenix
Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth
Mariia Zimmerman, Reconnecting America
Barbara McCann, National Complete Streets Coalition
Anne Canby, Surface Transportation Policy Project
10:00 a.m. - Best Practices: So You Want to Take Transportation Choices to Neighborhoods?
Councilmember Elaine Clegg, City of Boise, ID; Idaho Smart Growth
Conan Smith, Executive Director, Michigan Suburbs Alliance
10:00 a.m. - Infill and Redevelopment – Overcoming Challenges and Showcasing Success
Elizabeth “Boo” Thomas, Center for Planning Excellence
10:00 a.m. - Response, Resilience, Revitalization … and New Louisiana
James Schwab, American Planning Association
10:00 a.m. - Integrating Hazard Planning Mitigation into Local Planning
Victor Rubin, PolicyLink
Juliet Ellis, Urban Habitat
1:00 p.m. - The Regional Equity Movement: A Decade of Growth, and Key Opportunities in the Coming Years
Parris Glendening, Smart Growth America
1:00 p.m. - State Leadership on Smart Growth: Cross-agency Collaboration, Intergovernmental Cooperation, and Building Public Support
Brian Brandt, American Farmland Trust
Don Stuart, American Farmland Trust
1:00 p.m. - From Farm to Sea: Agriculture Working for Cleaner Water
Sam Zimbabwe, Reconnecting America
2:45 p.m. - Standards to Link Transit and the Community
Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth
2:45 p.m. - Mobilizing Support: Strategic Communications To Increase Public Participation for Regional Progress
Geoffrey Anderson, President and CEO, Smart Growth America
4:10 p.m. - Closing Plenary — The Smart Growth Legislation Tipping Point
Portland’s Assault by Snow (…continued)
Chapter 2
Escape From Portland to Grand Lodge
At 7:13pm Joleen and I finally departed from the ole’ apartment. We headed north a few blocks to get on the #4 Division bus instead of the #9 since it had become unbelievably unreliable. We walked for about 5 minutes through the meager inch or so of snow. We arrived at Ladd & Division #4 Stop and according to Transit Tracker we had 3 minutes until the bus arrived. Spot on accurate the bus arrives per the Transit Tracker Estimation, which was also spot on according to the displayed schedule at the stop, which showed 7:22pm as the arrival time for the bus. We however move along slowly once aboard the bus. The snow at this point has actually picked up.
At about 7:49pm we stop for the Hawthorne Bridge because it was raised, I can’t help but think, "jeez, this is going to be a LONG trip to the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove". But Jo and I didn’t care, we wanted out of town and we where going to get out of town, snow or no snow. After a short time the bridge lowered and the #4 Operator accelerated into town. We finally arrived downtown at 7:57pm. Probably the longest trip into town ever at 44 minutes, which is usually about 8 minutes from Ladd & Division to the first stop downtown. Still, we where glad to be headed out for the out of town trip.
We had an extremely short transfer to the MAX Blue Line of 4 minutes. It took us 3 of those minutes to walk the block and a half in the snow to get on the MAX. That extra minute between 8:00pm and 8:01pm when it pulled up we watched the MAX make its way around the snow covered street along and up to our stop. In a sense, majestic how little a rail vehicle is affected by snow. Primary corridor tracks (like the MAX or even freight rail) needs about 20-24 inches before honest to goodness snow plowing is needed, except of course, if their is ice below on the rails, then there is problem. But the same for road vehicles makes that impossible for any vehicle. We board, and off we’re headed for our hour plus trip to Forest Grove.
The Tunnel To Darkness in the White Glowing Snow
For some reason, as we head toward the tunnel, the stops each eat up extra minutes on our trip. We come to find because of frozen switches, we’re going to have slow going until we can get queued appropriately to go through the tunnel. I personally don’t mind, last thing I want is a hard breaking slide of a light rail vehicle to go slamming into the back of another light rail vehicle. So three minute separation is cool by me. We finally after 16 minutes get into the tunnel.
I noted the time again at 8:17pm, mind you I’m making these accurate time measurements because I’ve had my phone out tracking the buses, MAX, and reading news to see what is going on. This particular notation of the time though, was because there were two ghetto thugs standing directly across from Jo and I. Now, these guys weren’t threatening at all, but they were almost intolerantly stupid and ignorant. Excuse me, but object stupidity drives me absolutely nuts. Goofy stupidity is ok, silly stupidity, play stupidity, and other forms of being stupid are ok, but object, functional, "I can’t cuz I’m dumb" stupidity drives me A-Grade insane. These guys had this level of stupidity in droves. They went on about how unsuccessful they where, without using the word successful or unsuccessful at all. They rambled on about drugs and they didn’t understand why they felt weird sometimes when they smoked pot. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Really, nobody can be that stupid with declared retardation right? I guess I’m wrong, because these guys were just awe inspiring in their magnitude of idiocy.
All in all though, Jo and I however were amazingly entertained. It was one of those, oh my god it is so stupid all you can do is laugh scenarios. We sat snorting about them. Amazingly, they didn’t notice at all. I made a note in the notebook I was logging the trip with, thuggy bears. Thuggy Bears was what I have thus dubbed these well dressed wannabe ghetto thug boys. Seriously, no one could ever take them seriously, maybe, in the end they really where comedians of stupidity. It’s better to think of these guys this way, it’s easier than admitting there is that level of null thought out there in the world.
We broke out through the tunnel into pure darkness, except for the strange glow of snow along the way. Highway 26 was empty, with just a few vehicles here and there. Finally at Beaverton Transit Center the ghetto thug entertainment left the train, with relief from most of the passengers that where annoyed at their incredulity.
Taxi Waiting
The rest of the trip to Hillsboro where we’d transfer to the #57 the last dozen miles or so to Forest Grove was uneventful. We arrived in Hillsboro at 8:58pm and began our wait for the bus. The #57 is a frequent service, so now that Transit Tracker was completely kaput we hoped one would arrive without our getting too antsy. But after a 34 minute wait we called it quits and went into the nearby Sports Bar to call a Taxi and get warmed up. While inside we ordered some appetizers that where fairly standard pub grub, but after almost 6 hours of snow traveling and frustrations it sure was tasty. Fried mushrooms and jalapeno poppers, one word, awesome!
The first taxi service I called, they reported that a minimum wait of an hour and a half was to be had and suggested we call Orange Cab which is west side oriented. So on the second call to Orange Cab they told me to expect 45 minutes but they would probably arrive within 30 minutes. This of course, sounded great. As expected, we waited and looked outside waiting for a #57 to appear, and boy did they. After eating, and what would have been a 50+ minute wait three #57s headed for Forest Grove went by. Of course, since they were bunched the first was packed and the second two were empty for all but two or three riders.
Just nuts. Come on TriMet, there has to be a more dynamic way to manage this type of problem, because the bunching is a serious issue in weather like this. Either the drivers need permission to handle the call and hold a bus for a frequency time or management needs a way to communicate the issues in real time and alternate the route so the frequencies can be better spaced and riders can get better service along with as minimal number of bunched up crush capacity rides as possible.
Finally after a $20 dollar taxi ride we arrived at Grand Lodge at 10:41pm. Overall travel time of this adventure stood at a whopping 3 hours and 23 minutes.
…and yeah, there’s more to the story, we do have to get home, but…
to be continued…
Miami’s Highway Shoe Mystery Remains Unsolved
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
Was it a walkability protest, political demonstration, or just an accident? Regardless, the thousands of used shoes that covered Miami’s Palmetto Expressway last week, delaying traffic for hours, are now on their way to Haiti.
One Victory for the City in Billboard Battle
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
A federal court has knocked down a previous ruling that Los Angeles’ billboard ban is unconstitutional.
Oregon UGB Expanded
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
Bend, Oregon councilmembers took no more than five minutes to vote to expand the city’s urban growth boundaries, adding nearly 9,000 acres of developable land to the city’s map.
Canada on Verge of Wind Energy "Breakthrough"
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
Canada is now on the road to developing enough capacity to have at least some residents in every province receiving at least some of their energy from turbines.
How Green Is Your Garden? A New Rating System May Tell You
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/section/NytSectionHeader.gif NYT > Sustainable Development
A new report includes proposed guidelines for creating sustainable landscapes, as well as diverse examples of successful restoration projects.
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