Wk+8

=**Wk 8**=

Retrofitting Suburbia - Ellen Dunham Jones:
(1/3) The difference is one third
 * 1. What is the difference in carbon footprint of the average urban dweller as compared to suburban dweller? **


 * 2. Describe the changing demographic in suburbia, and why having a house is no longer sustainable because of this changing demographic. **
 * Drive till you qualify – 29% spent on housing
 * 22% percent of transportation.
 * Major demographic shift - Since 2000 suburbia has fewer kids.
 * Through 2025- 75% of households will have fewer kids.
 * Therefore a more urban lifestyle within suburbia.


 * 3. 5 reasons to retrofit suburbia: **

 1. Asphalt – surface parking lots destroy land

 2. Reinhabitation – malls reused for other spaces, big box stores converted into community buildings

 3. Food – provides neighborhoods with a third

 4. Redevelopment – retrofit space with compact mixed use buildings. Convert underperforming properties. Pocket of pedestrians (walkability) – coffee shops, parks, retrofit corridors boulevards

 5. Regreening- opportunity to restore local ecology - also restores local economy - Path along creeks


 *  Lesson 8 - Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning: **

 A transit oriented/pedestrian friendly development:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">4. What is transit-oriented/pedestrian-friendly development? Was it successful in Portland, Oregon? Do you think it could be a model for other cities in the world? Why or why not? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;"> Light rail line – allow commuters to leave cars at home.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Accessibility – mobility without using cars.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Pedestrian considered the first class passenger – narrow streets allow for easy crossing. Infrastructure designed around pedestrians.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">People live in more sustainable lifestyle with minimum accommodation for automobile use. The use of modern streetcars with the ability to carry more passengers – connector. Permanent track transportation hard wired into the system, which forces building of structures around them.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Streetcar lines increase property value by 400%. City designed for sustainable urban lifestyle.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">The implementation of the project in Portland has transformed what would have been a struggling American City, to a city that has been a model for the rest of the states to follow. Models such Portland underscores the huge success witnessed in the city of Bogota.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">5. List some potential benefits and drawbacks to transit-oriented development. **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">1. People congregate around rail lines.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">2. Increase business profits

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">3. Increase property value – gentrification negatively affecting people with marginal income.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">4. Noise

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">1. 1973 – Curb urban sprawl and preserve Oregon’s natural landscape – Bipartisan decision. Advocacy Groups – Activists and civic minded people put up a cause of defending the rural landscape <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">2. Planning Law - Tom McCall Reconsideration of development and strategy. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">3. Implementation – mandating and identifying urban growth boundaries. The 'outside' preserved for farming and forests uses.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">6. What role did community members play in shaping the development in Portlandfrom the 1970s until today? Use specific examples from the video to support your **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">answer. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Development of light rail line.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Accessibility over mobility.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Pedestrian is the first class passenger.

**7.** **Charles Hales:** Charlie Hales can be credited for seeing the potential of the streetcar and actually making it happen. He envisioned the streetcar to serve as a connector. His main goal was allowing people to easily circulate in the downtown area. Furthermore, he envisioned that this change, would allow people to invest into the area by creating development projects and housing that could later be bought or sold.


 * Some factors developers must considering before building a neighborhood includes the type of people to whom they will sell the property.
 * When the target market is identified - developers can identify key factors which will determine how these people move, and their habits.

Investing in a property or neighborhood can be risky but if thought carefully it can be improve economy which in turn can benefit the city as a whole. Consequently, One of the the property value of the neighborhoods would increase.


 * 8.** The aforementioned urban planning designs could potentially be applied within Oakville and Mississauga. For the City of Mississauga, Hazel Mccallion has made provisions for a light rapid transit system along Burnhamthorpe Rd - when the need arises. Presently, the demand for does not call for major changes due to budget constraints.

Based on my personal experience, the City does not provide adequate transit due to reduction of routes which has reduced accessibility for people in certain areas. For example, what would normally be a 7 minute commute by car could take up to 35 minutes to commute via transit as a single bus route intertwines between stops as a result of decreased route options. Furthermore, the layout of the older developments in Mississauga and Oakville is not conducive to providing efficient transit accessibility.