STEEL WORKS
Regarding seven steel houses designed for U.S. Steel and FHA in Rancho Peñasquitos in the early 1960s: “People had (later) added on all this stuff that had nothing to do with the structure. After seeing it that once, I've never been back. I have no desire to see it.” – ARCHITECT DON WEXLER IN SPRING ISSUE OF CA MODERN MAGAZINE.
A SAN DIEGO PLANNER IN L.A.'S COURT
Former San Diego planning director Gail Goldberg bolted to Los Angeles two years ago and is still marveling at the differences between the two cities. In an interview in the current issue of Cal Planner, the magazine of the California chapter of the American Planning Association, Goldberg said the difference in scale is daunting.
“How does one even begin to have a meaningful public engagement of 4 million people?” she asked rhetorically in her conversation with Lance Schulte, a chapter vice president. “It is made even more difficult because Los Angeles has not had a structure in place for community dialog.”
L.A.'s neighborhood council system, encompassing 100 groups, has been in place only a few years, she said, while San Diego's system of 44 community planning groups dates back 40 years.
In San Diego, many meetings and community forums preceded adoption of the “City of Villages” framework that guided the preparation of a recently passed new general plan.
“Los Angeles had already adopted a very similar growth strategy but without the extensive public outreach and strong implementation focus,” she said. “Our challenge in Los Angeles is the 'process' of planning and building public trust in implementation.”
Goldberg said she spent her first six months developing a strategic plan for the L.A. Planning Department. Her four strategic initiatives were: do “real” planning; build an efficient and effective department; develop innovative solutions; and engage the public.
Then, like Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, she and her staff came up with 14 principles that apply to San Diego cities as well as L.A.:
1. Demand a walkable city.
2. Offer basic design standards.
3. Require density around transit.
4. Eliminate department bottlenecks.
5. Advance homes for every income.
6. Locate jobs near housing.
7. Produce “green” buildings.
8. Landscape in abundance.
9. Arrest visual blight.
10. Neutralize mansionization.
11. Nurture planning leadership.
12. Identify smart parking requirements.
13. Narrow road widenings.
14. Give project input early.
Asked for her advice to planners, Goldberg said, “Be kind to people who fear you. Understand that lots of people fear you. Don't take yourself too seriously. Be grateful every day that you have a job that has meaning. Have fun!”
– ROGER SHOWLEY
[weisberg item on $2,000 highway charge approved by sandag]
GREEN-SPARK TO HELP FIRE VICTIMS
A grass-roots organization called Green-Spark is promoting sustainable and fire-resistant rebuilding following San Diego County's 2007 wildfires.
Green-Spark acts as an information clearinghouse for “green” building, said co-founder Jennifer Owens. It also helps fire victims understand the rebuilding process, providing education, resources and advice from experts in green construction.
Building “green” means improving the way builders use such resources as energy, water and materials. It calls for reducing the impact of construction on health and the environment.
“I am very active in the green building advocacy community,” said Owens, a civil engineer. “I really wanted to find a resource for fire survivors to rebuild green. There wasn't a local foundation that would provide green building assistance throughout the whole process.”
Most wildfire victims are in the early stages of home design, she said. While nature-friendly construction can cost more, it doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive, she added. Eventually it will pay for itself.
“It really is feasible on any budget,” she said. “It really is within reach. Your operation and maintenance is so much less expensive in terms of your electric and gas bills because you are using less heat, using less water. The payback times can be from one to three years.
“We believe that given the opportunity and knowledge, anyone can greatly benefit and find comfort in rebuilding their homes with eco-friendly materials and methods.”
Rebuilding a home that is fire-resistant and energy efficient benefits society and the environment, said Malia Durand, who co-founded the nonprofit organization with Owens in November.
On its Web site, green-spark.org, the group has information on local, state and federal financial incentives available to homeowners who implement alternative energy systems. The site also lists upcoming public events that provide information on green building topics.
– EMMET PIERCE
BIGGER ISN'T BETTER
New York City may be the biggest city but its residents only rank its lifestyle high enough to give a ranking of 8 from StreetAdvisor.com. The online grass-roots blogging real estate site ranked the nation's nine cities with at least 1 million residents, based on ratings posted by StreetAdvisor participants.
San Diego, eighth largest, ranked second most livable with a “CityScore” of 75.09 on a scale of 100. It ranked nearly four points behind No. 1 Philadelphia, the nation's sixth largest place, which had a score of 79.05.
Dallas trailed San Diego in both size (No. 9) and livability (No. 3, CityScore, 74.41) in the StreetAdvisor analysis, followed by its two Texas rivals, San Antonio (seventh largest, 73.1) and Houston (fourth largest, 70.72).
Chicago, No. 3 in size, was sixth in livability (67.51), followed by Phoenix (seventh largest, 66.63); New York (65.11); and Los Angeles (second largest, 62.59).
Converting the StreetAdvisor scores to high school grade point averages, five cities earned C's and four had D's. No A's and B's in this class of BMOCs. More details are at streetadvisor.com.
– ROGER SHOWLEY
ROAD FEE LOOMING
Come July 1, all home builders in the county will be required to pay at least $2,000 per residential unit to go toward major road improvements.
While most of the region's 18 cities and the county government have charged such a levy for years, others have not.
The required fee, which in some cities will exceed $2,000, should come as little surprise to local builders. Four years ago, when voters passed a measure extending the half-cent TransNet sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements, the builder fee was included in the measure. And now has come the time for all jurisdictions to ante up and approve a local fee program.
In all, there are 10 jurisdictions that already have a transportation fee on the books, according to Charles Stoll, manager of the TransNet program. He said the remaining nine jurisdictions have already taken steps to comply with the fee requirement.
At least one city plans to charge more than the $2,000 minimum, and in the city of San Diego, the fees vary widely among the many different communities.
A number of specific projects will qualify for fee exemptions, such as low-and moderate-income housing and condo conversions. Under the 2004 TransNet measure, the money collected from the fee has to be spent exclusively by the cities and the county on major roadways and thoroughfares that typically move traffic between jurisdictions. Freeway improvements are not included.
At a time when housing growth has slowed considerably, it may be some time, though, before there is a substantial pot of money in each jurisdiction.
“Over time, to the extent there continues to be residential growth, this will make a difference, but this has been a record low year in terms of building permits,” said Stoll. “But the idea of this program was this would be a means for new residential development to pay toward its fair share of regional transportation improvements.”
– LORI WEISBERG
