Ireland: the concrete isle 07 December 04

A bit of good news along these lines of better urban development is the approval for smarter urban development in the Washington DC metropolitan area of the USA.

Smart growth was the main topic at our local chapter of the Sierra club last month. The speakers belonged to an organization called The Coalition for Smart Growth. The group focused on how we could ease traffic congestion by planning denser developments near our subway stations.

This was an alternative plan to the traditional suburban model whereby people are forced to use cars and drive them more miles.

The smart growth plan is an alternative to the standard approach of simply adding more roads and widening existing roads.

In the front page of our Washington Post, the concept of Smart Growth was approved unanimously by the county supervisors. Some excerpts from our newspaper below:

A developer’s vision for a mini-city of more than 5,000 office workers and residents near the Vienna Metro Station won unanimous approval … signaling a shift toward more urban living in a county known for its sprawling suburb….

The developers hope to replace what had once been a neighborhood of 61 single-family homes on 56 acres, which they purchased …, with offices, stores, and 2,250 homes in a dozen buildings ….

The supervisors, joining some planners and environmentalists praised … as a case study in smart growth the land-use movement that encourages dense building around train and bus stations and focuses the demand for homes on a relatively small amount of land….

…. The board showed its intention to approve development that builds up rather than out even if the shift means disrupting the ambiance of neighborhoods that were there first….

Anyhow, this article is a bit of good news since I was present to listen to the presentation from the Coalition for Smart Growth last month. I am happy that their efforts created a unanimous decision. I enjoyed their presentation and getting to know them.

I was asked to become involved but declined since I felt they had it all together and said that I am focused on climate change issues only. Their leader understood this and mentioned some people I could hook up with. He mentioned that many people simply specialize on one focus only. I just do not have the time to learn the details of urban planning.

I did mention the added benefits of climate change prevention and that they mention them as additional benefits when presenting their case in easing traffic congestion.

I was only a cheerleader to applaud their brilliant strategies. But their success is worthy to mention to my extended family on Mark’s site since someone who reads this post may utilize their basic ideas in their own communities which may be experiencing rapid growth.

I can say from my observation that this success was only possible because the people who developed this plan allowed everyone to win.

The lesson for us concerned about preventing climate change is the same. Create plans whereby all problems are solved and everyone wins and there will be no one left to oppose its approval or its implementation.

I read your article in the Guardian and I just wanted to say thank you for articulating the disgraceful state of the environment in Ireland today. I say this as an Irish person, and as a student in conservation biology. This may shame a few more into a greater environmental awareness and if it does, well done. My only pity is that the people who should be reading this article won’t. Thank you again Senan Gardiner

Very interesting piece, Mark.

Maybe you will be as popular in Ireland as you were in the US after your hurricanes / global warming article earlier this year! ;-)

Ragging aside, good for you!

You’re not wrong, Peter. I just did an interview with Radio Kerry, who asked some pretty sceptical questions. The interviewer also sounded quite annoyed when I accused the Irish of “putting on the poor mouth” to justify subsidies for building roads. So I’m probably ‘persona non grata’ in most of south-west Ireland today too!