Sarasota Livin'

There was a crowd watching the demolition of these building. The dust was thick. It is a 2 block area being cleared for the expansion of the Phila Convention Center..

WorldChanging website has an interesting article that captures one of the ongoing arguments that float around in Sarasota and I "assume" many other places.

Is density a "green" or "dirty" word..... I am a real believer that in urban / transit suitable sites it is a very green thing. I think a downtown and it's associated transit stops are "the" place for density. I could see major stops along US 41 / 301 are the places to allow increased density to create the numbers to support a real bus system that runs frequently and past dinner time.

The latest piece to kick up some dust is a report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which, as reported by Reuters, says

"Green" construction could cut North America's climate-warming emissions faster and more cheaply than any other measure...

Elsewhere, people reaffirm that North Americans' best bet for carbon reduction is walking and taking transit, while others (often including myself) think density is the best lever, if we have to pick one with which to start.

As the City of Sarasota contemplates removing one of its finest community gardens...

From The State.com "South Carolina's Home Page"
Foundation wants garden to grow

Posted on Sun, Nov. 26, 2006

BUILDING OUR CITY
Foundation wants garden to grow

Historic Columbia planning to build landscape district near historic homes

By JEFF WILKINSON
jwilkinson@thestate.com

Historic Columbia is embarking on an estimated 10-year, multimillion-dollar effort to turn the area bounded by Calhoun, Taylor, Marion and Barnwell streets into a destination garden district.

Under the plan, the 18 blocks that encompass downtown’s five historic homes would feature landscapes spanning 100 years of gardening, from 1820 to 1920. The project would include interpretive signs, streetscaping and pedestrian walks intended to attract tourists and locals alike.

Also, the new district would be a walkable link between adjacent but disparate neighborhoods: Main Street to the west, Bull Street to the north, USC to the south and Allen and Benedict colleges to the east.

“What we want to do is create a destination area where people can move comfortably from site to site and from neighborhood to neighborhood,” said Robin Waites, executive director of Historic Columbia, which manages the homes.

The effort is significant because city officials, developers and marketers are beginning to “connect the dots” of downtown’s ongoing building boom.

“Connecting the city through green spaces, gardens and parks is very important,” Mayor Bob Coble said. “This could be an excellent connection between areas of the city that have historically been divided. It’s a tremendous step forward and deserves the city’s support. It’s perfect.”

In the Capital City’s sprawling downtown, areas like Five Points, Olympia, the Vista and Main Street are all moving forward — but often separately — with beautification efforts and retail and residential development. Most have separate master plans, advocacy groups, marketing plans and funding streams.

Interesting comment by Otis White at Civic Strategies

A couple of months ago, we posed a question for smart growth advocates: How does adding large numbers of people to a neighborhood benefit those who are already there? It is, we said, the question that haunts smart growth and, if unanswered, threatens to derail the entire movement.

This is a question that our city and county have had to deal with frequently. For the city of Sarasota it comes every time a new mixed use "too tall / too many units" development is proposed and is then opposed by neighbors because of traffic issues.

This argument means that you think of transportation as "car traffic." We need a city where every trip we make is not in a car. If we can envision a time where a bigger percentage of our "trips" are walking, biking or public transit this argument goes away.

the solution requires that officials think of their cities in entirely new ways. The most important, as Hales says, is the concept that "the pedestrian is the first-class passenger." Therefore, transit and, indeed, the entire built environment (sidewalks, streets, crosswalks, parks, retail, office buildings) must be reoriented to making walking such a joy, who wouldn't want to stroll a few blocks on each end of a streetcar ride?

We are still at the chicken and egg level. Transit won't be economical without density. We need to build a consensus that public transit is worth the investment.

Check out this article on Transportation in Portland, Oregon on Wikipedia. Yes Portland is much bigger but it's still a great model.

Payne Park is under construction. I hope it goes fast... guess where I got these pictures from. I need to find my pictures from a few years ago -- yes I have pictures of the old trailer park that was on this land.

Here is the skate park and off to the left is the "Scotty's Property" that is moving through the development process.

It is a very big park. A nice walking trail and lots of trees will be great.

Many things going on in Sarasota. The ever popular School Ave Project made it another step towards reality. It has been a very "unusual" process with very emotional positions to consider. Glad I am not on the City Commission cause this one is hard.

• 130 affordable housing units managed by Habitat for Humanity in cooperation with Sarasota Memorial Hospital -- that is a good thing.
• Very mad neighborhoods ... this is a bad thing.
• City staff not getting listened to -- usually a bad thing..

The Michaels Development Co. -- rebuilding Sarasota Housing Authority Properties -- It could be a great deal. The developers comes up with the money. Seems no money needs to come from the housing authority (good thing -- it is broke). I guess the City and County will have to pony up some money or at least float bonds.

In other county news we had a battle between Sarasota County and the Cities of Venice and North Port..

Yesterday was a huge day for the citizens of the County and of the cities of North Port and Venice. The BCC voted unanimously to delay putting the charter amendment to referendum in November... a momentary disappointment. They voted instead to agree with the cities to a 6-month moratorium on the cities' annexing of county lands and some other provisions. The cities and the County will have until 12 January (4 months) to have EXECUTED Joint Planning Agreements for the future. The 12 January date was chosen because, failing to have executed agreements, it gives the County 60 days to go ahead and place the charter amendment on the ballot for the scheduled 13 March election for Cities of Sarasota and Longboat and for some special districts. I suspect that vote will be unanimous at that time. Meanwhile, the cities have a huge hammer hanging over them to encourage them to work in good faith. These agreements with the cities must be voted on this coming Monday... if the agreements are unsatisfactory, then the BCC will vote to place the amendment on the ballot on Monday for 7 November.

Another fun one the Reds have won a new ballpark. not with my vote I like parks but only the green kind..

No suprises in this report covered at Cool Town Studios

How does the planning of neighborhoods and cities affect your health? Thanks to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), that's answered in the first report that comprehensively summarizes the impact of the built environment on public health, and how changes can be implemented.

The study, the LEED-ND Report on Public Health & the Built Environment, measure five areas of health:

• Respiratory and cardiovascular health
• Fatal and non-fatal injuries
• Physical activity
• Social capital
• Mental health

Posts like this make Cooltown one of all time favorite websites..