Mainely Planning
Oil price spikes due to supply/demand and geopolitical concerns, water shortages (Google Lake Mead, Central Valley, CA or the Ogallala Aquifer for details), and soil depletion are just a few of the problems we face. As we move forward, the notion that we can continue with business as usual (BAU) is not going to sustain us.
Thinking creatively and making difficult decisions will test our abilities, push our cultural boundaries and hopefully shape a world where these uncomfortable realities can be dealt with in an equitable and meaningful manner. I write about things I see, think, and work on as I transition from being a planning student into the world of planning. I am neither a technological optimist, thinking we can invent our way out of all our problems, nor a doomer, believing in returning to a world much like pre-industrial times. I believe that our creativity combined with the lessons from the past will be instrumental tools for laying the foundation for the path forward. Some of my ideas may seem radical, others are just based on common sense and keen observations.
Links of Note
Mainely Rural
The Old Pine Tree
Strong Towns
Project For Public Spaces
Streets Blog
Cap'n Transit Rides Again
Human Transit
Pedestrian Observations
Urbanophile
The Broken Sidewalk
Maine Architecture
The Vigorous North
Depot Redux
Reason and Rail
Car Free Maine
Walk Around Portland
A Reason to Plan
Mainely Planning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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The Boulevard Proposal has been approved for Masonic Ave. in San Francisco!
SF’s first (and maybe west coast’s? are there any in...
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I have an idea!
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The economic strength of US cities.
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Photo of the Day: Stormy Sunset at Moulton Barn
Photo By: Brian Kerls (Denver, CO); Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming -
'Tis the season of home brew
I’ve been spoiled this month at parties with friends who are particularly good brewers. I’ve really enjoyed Dan’s rye...
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> Some people, who don’t like the idea of toll roads in general, will take these...
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In my daily rounds today I happened upon two picture perfect moments that describe some of my thoughts on institutional priorities at USM. The image immediately below is a bicycle “parked” next to a streetlight, which is used to secure the bike. I looked around the facility and didn’t see any appropriate facilities for bicycle parking. The next building over has a rack, that is often full, however Abromson Hall doesn’t seem to offer any facilities. However, if you look in the background, there is a large multi-million dollar parking garage to accommodate the automobile.
The next picture is worth a few more words. This building didn’t have any adequate facilities that I could see. The cyclist had few options and out of necessity parked his/her bike on the ramp. The background of the photo showcase’s USM’s commitment to the automobile and its temporary daily storage.
In light of USM’s efforts to become climate neutral by 2040, it appears they have made little headway in how to get there. It even appears that they have created a situation where being a cyclist and seeking secure bike parking, means becoming a scofflaw.
First action steps for USM if it really intends on seriously becoming climate neutral:
- put in bike racks at every building entrance
- put in high quality bike racks that aren’t wheel taco makers
- give free coffee coupons to cyclists in recognition that they are making a difference and staying healthy at the same time
- put in covered bike parking
These are just a couple easy steps that might promote sustainable mobility. There are more things that can be done, but start here now!
Below is a picture of a bus stop on USM’s campus. Can you see it? To the uninitiated it is tough to find. It is indicated by the yellow sign. For a campus that has signed onto an initiative to become carbon neutral by 2040, this is making little headway to reducing auto dependency.
How important is reducing auto dependency to achieving these goals? USM’s faculty and staff (estimated at ~2000 people) create 12% of the carbon emissions on campus by their commutes. The report doesn’t include students in its carbon assessment, but considering that there are 8,000 students, it is easy to see that emissions from students could increase that 12% figure substantially considering commute patterns and location choices.
Back to the bus stop and how this all ties in. If you want to become a climate neutral campus, you have to make some steps towards improving transit. Portland, ME has bad weather, so what about a shelter? There are steps being taken to use GPS transponders to track buses and through the QR Codes on signs, allow smart devices to pinpoint exact times buses are to arrive. That is a great step in the right direction at getting people the information they need to use transit more effectively. However, once you are at the stop, you need a dignified place to wait. Some place out of inclement weather.
I am sure there are questions about who would pay for such a shelter, but considering the asphalt parking lot and its high costs, a decent, artfully designed shelter would be pocket change to the University that wants to be carbon neutral by 2040?
College and University parking is a hot button issue and often there is significant negative spillover effects on surrounding neighborhoods. The relationship between a University and the area in which it sits are often strained to say the least, hence the common colloquialism referring to “town/gown” relations. Although many in the surrounding neighborhoods benefit greatly from the University with events, cultural happenings, diversity, employment, and the like, so much of the relationship is defined by the day to day. For Americans, sadly, it might boil down to the ease with which one can park on the street in the neighborhood where one lives.
The University of Southern Maine (USM) in Portland is located in a quasi-urban, quasi-suburban part of town. Forest Avenue to the northwest of campus is retail oriented but the neighborhood immediately southwest is primarily residential. The density is high (for a suburb), reflecting its historical past as a streetcar suburb in the days before the automobile. USM is essentially land-locked in its current location. The southwest part of campus is primarily composed of converted housing, now filled with administrative offices. The northeast is composed of large buildings and significant space dedicated to parking. The grey polygons in the map below represent surface lots, the orangish polygon is the parking garage.
During peak class hours, parking on campus is difficult to obtain. Without going into the numbers here, it is safe to say that many cars idle while waiting for turnover in the parking garage. Surface lots are reserved for faculty and staff and tend to fill up early. Many of those waiting for spaces to open resort to parking on neighborhood streets, much to the chagrin of nearby residents. The large polygon, in the map above, that nearly encompasses campus is neighborhoods that are likely affected by this parking spillover. This area is not definitive and effects could be occurring across Forest Avenue as well. For our purposes of thinking about solutions, I just included this area.
As a potential remedy to the strained relationship, what if neighborhoods issued permits to residents as well as students, faculty and staff, that would fund neighborhood improvement projects? Neighborhood residents who wanted to park on city streets would pay for a nominally priced, reduced rate permit, meant to cover the administrative fees of issuing those permits, and students, faculty and staff would pay for permits at a market rate. How is a market rate set you ask? Many transportation demand management researchers suggest that the target goal for parking should allow for 15% of spaces to be unoccupied at any given time. Logistically this is difficult with permit parking in an uncontrolled space. Rates would need to be adjusted periodically, and due to University scheduling, perhaps every semester, rates could be adjusted based on peak hour studies to achieve an optimal peak hour vacancy rate.
Administering a program such as this would require some monies, but much of the revenue would be surplus. To bolster relations with surrounding neighborhoods and foster good will, the revenue from those permits would be spent in ways that directly benefit neighborhood residents through infrastructure improvements such as improved signage, speed tables, and community events. A neighborhood association could be responsible for identifying improvements and work with the city to accomplish neighborhood goals.
I am not sure how something like this would play out, but as universities seek to grow from land-locked locations such as USM, surface parking lots seem like good choice for cheap real estate. A scenario such as this would have to be a small part of a complete suite of transportation changes on urban campuses. These would involve: land-use changes, enhanced transit offerings, financial incentives, financial disincentives, car/van pooling, and promoting walking and biking. A solution is out there, it just requires some planning!
