Since a couple of the most recent
discussion threads have dealt with Winona's Comp Plan process and city planning
in general, I thought I would pass along two related stories.
One deals with an interesting idea that St. Paul
conducted. To quote one of the sentences in the story, "Between September 2005 and April 2006 over
500
residents of St. Paul came together to discuss how to make the city
healthier and more livable by protecting and improving its natural and built
environment."
It would be interesting to have the same kind of
discussions at our city and/or county levels. It would be great to
get 500 people involved here.
The second article deals with a resolution the City
of San Francisco passed. This relates to a point I had made awhile
ago about planning for cities with gas that costs between $5-8/gallon in current
dollars.
How will that affect what a city looks like and how
it "runs?"
Those future gas price realities combined with a
bazillion retired baby boomers and other senior citizens seem to require a
new kind of city.
I don't think any of yesterday's or today's city
models will suffice.
Unless we created some kind of hybrid between
a pre-car San Francisco (with street cars et al) and a high density
retirement city somewhere in Florida or Arizona.
For those involved in the City's new Comp Plan
process, are aging and transportation issues like this being discussed
in any of the subcommittees?
Dwayne Voegeli
May 7, 2006
===========
-----
ST. PAUL ADOPTS CITIZEN
ENVIRONMENTAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
http://www.eurekarecycling.org/environmentalroundtable
Between September 2005 and April 2006 over 500
residents of St. Paul came
together to discuss how to make the
city healthier and more livable by
protecting and improving its
natural and built environment. During 12 public
meetings,
convened by the volunteer St. Paul Environmental Roundtable -
a
creation of the non-profit business Eureka Recycling and a city
council
member - 73 pragmatic, specific policy
recommendations were developed to
further the goals
of:
* zero
waste
* healthy
local food
systems
*
smarter, cleaner
energy
* greening
the built
environment
*
green space
*
clean water
stewardship
Based on guidance from Sustainable Saint Paul - a
group of city staff
addressing environmental issues - Roundtable
members prioritized the
recommendations on the basis of
environmental impact, cost-effectiveness, and
public support. A
general timeline was included for each
recommendation.
On April 19, 2006 the St. Paul City Council unanimously
accepted the
Roundtable recommendations, committing to
implement the following to the
greatest extent possible:
* Establish measurable goals to reduce garbage
over 20 years.
* Get 25% of City electricity from renewable sources by
2020.
* Cut carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 to a level 20% below 1988.
*
Develop sustainable design & building guidelines for new &
existing
buildings.
* Improve the availability of and access to healthy
foods.
* Recommit to maintaining open and park space.
* Work with
watershed districts to encourage Mississippi
River
stewardship.
See the web site above for background, the city council
resolution, and the
Roundtable's Executive Summary and
Recommendations (113 pages: see Appendix G
- pages 104 -
109 - for all 73 recommendations in table form).
----------
SAN FRANCISCO PASSES PEAK OIL
RESOLUTION
http://www.sfbayoil.org/sfoa/media/resolution_to_board.pdf
"WHEREAS, World oil production is nearing its point of
maximum production
("Peak Oil") and will enter a prolonged
period of irreversible decline
leading to ever-increasing prices;
and
...
WHEREAS, Price signals of petroleum scarcity are likely
to come too late to
trigger effective mitigation efforts in the
private sector, and governmental
intervention at all levels of
government will be required to avert social and
economic chaos;
... now, therefore, be it
...
RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors supports the
undertaking of a
city-wide assessment study in order to inventory
city activities and their
corollary resource requirements,
evaluating the impact in each area of a
decline in petroleum
availability and of higher prices, with the aim of
developing a
comprehensive city plan of action and response to Peak
Oil...."
With this unanimous action San Francisco became the
first major US city to
formally address the issue of the
geologically inevitable worldwide decline
in oil production. Local
grassroots organizations lobbied elected officials
for over two
years, using high-visibility tools such as the colorful "Oil
Age"
poster at
http://www.oilposter.org/ and the US Dept.
of Energy's
Hirsch Report (
http://www.mnforsustain.org search
for: Hirsch
Report) which raises concerns about the nation's ability to
avert
a major crisis from the peak and decline of oil
production.
San Francisco's concern mirrors that of US
Representative Roscoe Bartlett
(Republican; Maryland) who
introduced the first-ever peak oil resolution in
the US Congress
and formed a caucus to study the issue (see
http://www.bartlett.house.gov/
and
http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/articles/572).
