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Two of the biggest issues I often hear about in the Buena Vista and Chaffee County communities are that of the need for “smart growth” and affordable housing. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the two are rarely part of the same conversation and often times seem to be considered two issues isolated from each other. There is a perception, likely correct, that the more thoughtfully designed a community becomes, the more desirable it becomes and therefore the more valued and expensive it becomes, thus pricing lower income families out of the picture. Without making considerations for affordable housing while simultaneously seeking to demonstrate smart growth values, lower income families will inevitably be priced out of our community.
By many measures the population of our community will grow significantly over the coming decade and there is not much that can be done to prevent it. With this in mind, we must consider how we can thoughtfully guide this growth. According to wikipedia:
“Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, streets that work for everyone, mixed-use development with a range of housing choices.
Smart growth values long-range, regional considerations of sustainability over a short-term focus. Its goals are to achieve a unique sense of community and place; expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices; equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development; preserve and enhance natural and cultural resources; and promote public health.”
By its nature, smart growth also embraces values of efficient design and is more commonly starting to include ideas of green building in its approach as well.
The wikipedia entry for affordable housing reads,
“In the United States and Canada, a commonly accepted guideline for housing affordability is a housing cost that does not exceed 30% of a household’s gross income…. When the monthly carrying costs of a home exceed 30–35% of household income, then the housing is considered unaffordable for that household.”
A recent post on NewWest.net by architect Kent Means states, “The average national prices of natural gas and heating oil have risen by 150 percent in the past ten years (US Energy Information Administration). The average national median income has risen by only 12 precent in those same ten years and peaked in 1999 (Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, based on the US Census). If the trends for energy and income continue at the same rate as the last ten years, we may see the energy for homes taking 18 percent of the average family income.”
Considering all of these ideas together, one realizes that energy efficient living and affordable housing can no longer be mutually exclusive concepts.
In a 2001 article posted on the National Housing Institute website, Danielle Arigoni writes that conflicts in the past have suggested “that smart growth and affordable housing advocates are necessarily on opposing sides of an “either/or” debate – either plan future growth consciously or create more affordable housing. It’s a false choice, though. At their core, smart growth and affordable housing are not only compatible, but complementary, and the two movements are starting to find shared policy agendas and ways to work together.”
At this point, the most visible examples of smart growth type developments in our part of the valley are of the higher end sort and certainly would support the belief that these developments are exclusive of affordable housing. I greatly appreciate these developments for what they are adding to the community, but I also feel very strongly that we must start to apply these concepts to lower cost housing. The challenge I think though is defining where these two concepts meet in the middle.
I believe that through intentional, thoughtful design, there can be some good examples of how affordable housing and smart growth practices overlap. To start with, new homes can be built to be much more efficient which in turn will help to lower the ongoing monthly cost of energy bills. If you are concerned about the cost to build rising due to using more efficient materials, consider building smaller homes. (Do we really need all of that stuff?) Another overlap is that if affordable housing were to be built closer to urban centers, residents would not have to get in their cars and drive so far which would help reduce the need to have multiple cars (thus saving on fuel, insurance, and car maintenance). A good side benefit to this is that people would be out walking and biking more, getting exercise without even having to think about it – something we could all use a little more of.
Ultimately though, I don’t think it is just a matter of manipulating the built environment, but more significantly it is a matter of changing some of the ways we do things as a society. Some of the solutions to both the smart growth and the affordable housing issues will require a full blown shift in how we all choose to live our lives. The less stuff you buy, the less money you spend to buy it, the less space in your house you need to pay for to build to house it, and the less area you have to pay for on a constant basis to heat and cool. In addition to what people can do as individuals, we as communities must do a better job of looking at the big picture and acting on longer term vision.
I want the people who live here to be people who love this place, regardless of their income – senior citizens, school teachers, high net worth individuals, ranchers, retired surgeons, low income workers and young families alike. With that in mind, we must consider two important ideas. First, we have to make it so that the people who love this place can stay in this place – no matter who they are and how much money they have. This is where the affordable housing comes in. Secondly, we as a community must make decisions that will allow this place to continue to be one worth loving – especially in the wake of the oncoming population growth. The mountains will always be there, but the more vulnerable parts of our environment such as the watershed and river, the fertile soils, and the built environments, are all at risk of pollution, erosion, and careless development. This is where smart growth comes in.
Clearly these are both HUGE issues that require much thought, time, and education. It is reasonable to me that in many cases they have been approached as isolated concerns but I now believe it is time to consider them as interrelated. Choosing to build “green” is no longer a luxury of the middle and upper class. With oil prices quickly reaching new heights and even the possibility that global warming and limited fossil fuel sources could be a reality, it makes sense for everyone to try to live more conscientiously. It is up to individuals, government policy, and creative entrepreneurs to help achieve the coming together of these two ideas and make their blending a reality. I feel that it is time for our community to grapple with and come to understand the overlapping needs of these two issues and to create lasting solutions.
I can still vividly remember the first day of ceramics class my senior year of high school. Our teacher was sitting next to the window at the potter’s wheel with the class surrounding her, mesmerized by the spinning sloppy wet clay and its malleability to every pressure asserted by the tips of her fingers and the palms of her knowing hands. What started as a simple ball of clay was quickly transformed into what looked as if it might become a cereal bowl. As she worked, she said something that has stayed with me ever since, “It has taken my entire life to make this pot.” Knowing that my classmates and I did not entirely understand what she meant, she went on to explain that every experience in her life leading up to that moment has collectively contributed to who she is presently and therefore acts as the foundation on which her decisions are made.
It had certainly never occurred to me just how much our life experiences can influence the way we act and think on a daily basis, but ever since that moment years ago, I have often considered that idea and found it to be very true of myself and of others. In fact, it has helped me in many occasions when I don’t understand why someone thinks the way they do or why they act in a certain way to realize that their life experiences have been totally different then mine. That they are doing and thinking the best they can based on what they know and that often there is much that I can learn from them to broaden my own experience.
Someone mentioned to me the other day that a particular person was very opinionated. I quickly thought to myself that I did not consider the person to be particularly opinionated. In fact, I really valued her outlook even though I did not always agree. I checked out dictionary.com where I found the definition of opinionated to mean:
- holding stubbornly and often unreasonably to one’s own opinions.
The same website defines opinion as:
- a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
- a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.
I know that this person bases a lot of her view points on life experiences as well as information she actively pursues. So I’ve been considering lately what the difference really is between having a legitimate view point that is borne of a wealth of life time experience and just being plain opinionated.
Writing this blog has really challenged me to consider whether I am being opinionated in my views or if I can be grounded in them either by working to be informed on a topic or through first-hand experiences. I have appreciated the discipline and responsibility that seems to come along with putting myself out there for the universe to see. I like to think of blogging as an opportunity to mostly share your individuality with others and perhaps throw in a dash of opinion on top.
My ceramics teacher in high school always struck me as being a very wise, patient, and thoughtful person. It was easy for me to see how those lifetime qualities and the experiences that shaped them translated into her work with ceramics.
This week’s reading for the sustainable choices discussion group were centered around the theme of basic ecological principles. Key concepts covered included our ecological footprint as individuals and nations, the measurement of the earth’s carrying capacity, how as humans we typically make decisions in a linear fashion, and how we can choose to look to natural systems for guidance on how we create artificial systems that ideally may then be more cyclical in their manner.
One of the exercises we were encouraged to do was to measure our individual ecological footprint. This can be done at www.myfootprint.org. I have assumed for a long time that I am a fairly environmentally conscientious person, but after having taken this brief survey I am no longer so sure. It is quite shocking just how much of the earth’s resources are required for me alone to live the life that I have thus far. In fact, according to the calculated results of the survey, in order for every person living on earth to live the same way I do (same amount of driving, same type of food consumption, same amount of waste, same amount of living space, etc.) would require there to be 4 more planets! I imagine that there are quite a few generalities made by this survey and so I am mildly skeptical on the results. However, even if it was only half right, it is still a mighty fine piece of humble pie!
I came out of the Choices for Sustainable Living meeting in Salida last Wednesday with a whole new array of thoughts attempting to organize themselves in my head. As I had anticipated, everyone sitting at the table all pretty much agreed with the idea that we must as a society work toward better sustainability. What struck me though were some of the responses to the very first and only question of the evening:
When it comes to sustainability, are you a pessimist or an optimist?
Tonight is the first Choices for Sustainable Living discussion to be held in Salida. This is an eight part course sponsored by GARNA and created by the Northwest Earth Institute. It will likely be the only one I will attend as we are working to get a group together for here in Buena Vista. I would like to reflect on some of the ideas that occurred to me from the homework articles before I go because I am curious to discover how my thoughts will be influenced by the upcoming discussion. Read the rest of this entry »
All great ideas were once inklings.
I should remind myself of this often but rarely do. In every instance there must have been some magical point in time where a someday great idea started as the tiniest twinkle of inspiration in some unsuspecting mind. What makes these inklings unique from most others is that they were acted upon and often quite deliberately.
I’d like to do a better job of acting upon inklings and determinedly pursuing some of the ideas that come from them. I love to think, imagine, and test new ideas in my head but I don’t develop them nearly as much as I could. I enjoy considering ways in which my life and the lives of others around me could be improved simply or even dramatically. The challenge is that moving forward with an idea often forces one to place themselves in a position of the risk of being misunderstood, criticized, or even of having to face a sense of failure. This is scary stuff, especially when coming from a culture where security and safety are among the most highly regarded values.
Thus, I start this blog with the intention in mind that here is a place where I will post inklings and ideas of my own and others to share and develop. We shall see where they go…
