JM Goldson community preservation + planning blog

Context matters: challenging the American dream

By Lisa Bassett, Community Preservation Planner, JM Goldson

On Wednesday, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) released a new report as described in the article “Demographic Changes Mean Dramatic Shifts in Demand for California Housing . . .” The report examines housing needs, supply and demand, and future trends through the lens of younger generations– namely, Generation X and Generation Y– and posits that housing demand between today and 2035 is going to change dramatically. This particular study, The New California Dream: How Demographic and Economic Changes May Shape the Housing Market, was written by an urban planner named Arthur C. Nelson, a ULI member and director of the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah. The research is focused specifically on California, but according to ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick Phillips, has implications nationwide.

The report essentially challenges the antiquated ideology of the American Dream: a big house on a large plot of land with a 2-car garage in the suburbs. It claims the existing supply of conventional subdivision lots exceeds current demand, and will continue to do for at least the next 23 years, even if no new supply is created during that time. It also predicts that increased demand for multi-family housing, as well as townhomes, duplexes, three-plexes and four-plexes on small lots will dominate the housing markets of California’s four largest Metropolitan Planning Organizations. This demand will be driven, according to the findings of this report, largely by the desires of Generation X, born between 1965 and 1978, and Generation Y, born between 1979 and 1996, both of whom are likely to be living in smaller housing than baby boomers. At least half of the demand will be for locations near transit.

I felt compelled to write about this report, admittedly without having read it all yet, because of its publicized findings, and more specifically, how its findings are being advertised. Phillips is quoted in this article for saying that “Generation Y, in particular, will have an outsize influence on consumer demand. It is the largest demographic group this country has ever seen, and their preferences will influence every aspect of American society. Quality of life is a paramount concern to much of this generation, and they will be drawn to places that offer the best work-life balance.”

This quotation made me pause and think, as a community preservation planner with JM Goldson, and also as a member of Generation Y, that even though the statement above is a dauntingly overzealous generalization, it is important to note. At the very fundamental level of planning, we must know WHO we are planning for, and for WHAT purpose. Context matters, and just as the times change, social norms evolve, and we as a society must adapt. I hope similar research is conducted in all US states, if for no other reason than to gain perspective about current housing needs in the context of today’s market. I believe that doing the work that California has done now in each state can only improve our planning efforts moving forward.

Free dinner and the appearance of exclusivity

Community Planning Workshop held in Stoughton, MA on 11/28/11

I wish I could lay claim to the idea, but I can’t. When I first began planning the community planning workshop with the Stoughton Community Preservation Committee (CPC), I did suggest to offer food as a way to encourage participation. But, the idea that really boosted participation in the workshop was something else – something the CPC members thought of – and it worked.

Communities often struggle to drum up interest in planning – it’s tough to get people to come out at night to proactively plan (it’s much easier to get people out to object to a controversial project!). I’ve written a few other posts on ways to increase public input and participation at CPC events, but this idea was new.

Although it’s based on the concept of exclusion, in an counter-intuitive way it actually INCREASES participation! OK, so here’s the idea – it’s really quite simple – announce a cap on the number of attendees who can participate in the workshop.

Of course, it’s important to point out that the meeting is an open public meeting where anyone can come to observe and offer comments during the public hearing, however the number of participants that can be accommodated in the workshop discussion groups actually is finite primarily due to room capacity and number of table facilitators.

Now, we don’t really want to exclude anyone who is interested in participating! Our main objective in establishing the cap is to INCREASE participation – there is a certain psychological tendency to desire something more when it is limited. The key is to set the cap high enough that it can easily accommodate every person who is likely to express interest.

In Stoughton we set a cap of 70 participants for the workshop and allowed pre-registration to reserve a seat at the workshop. The result: we had 54 participants! This is a terrific turnout for a community preservation workshop! Link to Stoughton CPA workshop flyer to see how we announced the cap.

The workshop generated many thoughtful community preservation project ideas that we are combing through at JM Goldson and will present to the CPC next week. The workshop also gave the CPC members and workshop participants a community-building forum to share ideas and knowledge. Everyone also seemed to enjoy the hot buffet dinner provided by the Sons of Italy, which was a great way to begin the evening (and, as it turns out, get people to show up early.).

Green community project – seeing the forest

As I work to complete a 14-month effort for Bridgewater, MA to become a Green Community, I am reminded of the expression “can’t see the forest for the trees.” After months of focusing on the many details of this work with the amazing team of volunteers from the Town’s Energy Committee (particularly the chair person!), I was reminded yesterday that it is actually quite exciting that Bridgewater is on the verge of becoming a Green Community after all this effort.

Some “Green Community” milestones already accomplished in just the past few months that Bridgewater deserves recognition for:

Adopted the Town’s first Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Policy
Adopted the Stretch Energy Code (one of the first 100 communities in MA to adopt)
Completed a detailed and thorough energy use baseline documenting all municipal consumption of energy in the past 3 years

The details of complicated projects can often obscure the big picture. Thanks to Seth Pickering at DOER, I was reminded just what an accomplishment Bridgewater is about to achieve to be one among only 75 communities in the state so far to achieve this designation. The official designation will be determined after the Nov 18 deadline. I have no doubt that Bridgewater will succeed and become eligible for significant levels of grant funding for energy improvements to municipal properties.

I’ll leave you with an Taoist expression as an alternative to the forest/trees expression:

We may see the tip of a hair while failing to hear a peal of thunder, or hear the melody of a song while failing to see a mountain. Why? A small fixation of attention results in a large measure of heedlessness.

What mountains are you failing to see?

Walking

In light of many looming deadlines, I have just a quick thought to share here today. Inspired by a recent visit to Fruitlands Museum to learn about Alcott’s utopian experiment, I cracked open my copy of Thoreau’s essay “Walking” and was struck by the opening lines:

I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil – to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school committee and every one of you will take care of that.

My take-away from these lines is less focused on his point about people’s inherent right for freedom and wildness, which is perhaps HIS main point, but more on his claim that there were “enough champions of civilization.” I infer that he felt there were not enough champions of Nature (with Thoreau’s capital “N”).

Although his essay was published almost 150 years ago, I see parallels in current open space conservation efforts – our society’s current-day efforts to protect and preserve Nature – which seem to be so often up against champions of expanding civilization’s footprint at the expense of Nature.

I am clearly taking liberties here with Thoreau’s intentions in this essay and I do not wish to obscure his intent but only to inject the thoughts of my own mind as triggered by his words. After 150 years, his words still inspire. Thank you, Thoreau.

Economic benefits at the community scale

It all boils down to economic development. I never call the work JM Goldson does “economic development.” I call it historic preservation, affordable housing planning, open space planning, even land use planning, but not planning for economic development. Yet, this work all deals with preserving and enhancing the character of communities and, in doing so, we can create a “wise economy” for the community.

The term “wise economy” is used by Della Rucker, principal of the Wise Economy Workshop, to describe “. . . an economy that makes the right decisions not just for today, but for the future” (Rucker’s blog post, 11/16/09). Here is a snippet of her wise words about what makes a wise economy:

Looks constantly for new opportunities — and particularly seeks the unexpected ones.

Embraces its differentiators and values its assets, understanding that differentiation leads to value and away from the chase to the bottom, and that liabilities turn into assets depending on how you look at them.

Begins with the end firmly in mind, and sticks to a shared plan of action.

Understands that the life of a community is a marathon, not a sprint (but celebrates winning the stages as well).

So, how does historic preservation, open space planning, and affordable housing planning fit into creating a wise economy? Both historic and open space resources are clearly the very type of differentiators that Rucker speaks of – your community’s assets are the things that make your community unique. Recognizing these assets and preserving them are steps one and two. Figuring out how to utilize that uniqueness is the next step – what is your plan of action and how does it enhance local economy?

Providing affordable housing in your community is economic development in a different way than historic preservation and open space planning. Much has been written about the direct link between the availability of affordable workforce housing and the growth of the local economy. The Massachusetts Foundation for Growth blog has much written on this subject: more housing creates opportunity for more job growth. In the Summer 2011 issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal, Rebecca Cohen and Keith Wardrip detail the non-social benefits of affordable housing in the article “The Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Affordable Housing.” Cohen and Wardrip state that ”From an employer’s perspective, a lack of affordable housing can put a local economy at a competitive disadvantage.” So, in addition to looking at the need for more affordable housing from the perspective of social need, we should also be looking from the perspective of economic need. If we did this, analysis of housing need in our housing production plans, for example, would change and the way we advocate for housing in our communities would also change.

And then there is the idea of creative placemaking as a framework for economic development. . . but maybe I’ll get to that in a future post.

The lost art of democratic debate

If you haven’t watched Michael Sandel’s series on Justice, I suggest you check out “The Lost Art of Democratic Debate.” Professor Sandel, Harvard University, uses examples with flutes, golf, and same sex marriage to present his compelling thesis:

A better way to mutual respect is to engage directly with the moral convictions citizens bring to public life rather than to require that people leave their deepest moral convictions outside politics before they enter. That is the way to begin to restore the art of democratic argument.”

In community forums (just as at family cookouts!) it is common to steer clear of the heart of a contentious matter – whether discussing protection of open space, creation of publicly-subsidized affordable housing, or whether or not to serve a vegetarian option. This is where community planners can help.

Planners, as facilitators of public discussion and debate, are in a critical position to help citizens communicate the essence of their convictions – to steer the discussion directly into the heart of the matter. In fact, I would argue that we aren’t doing our job if we avoid this.

To use Professor Sandel’s words – ask what is the essential purpose of the social institution and what qualities are worthy of honor and recognition. He gives us much to reflect on in order to become more effective instruments for facilitating meaningful community dialogue that results in just public decisions.

An Open Space Theme

In the past few days three writings have converged in my mind on the theme of open space and its importance in our well-being, our history, and enlivening urban spaces.

In Richard Louv’s 2005 book “Last Child in the Woods” he argues for the importance of regularly experiencing nature in childhood (and beyond) and coined the term “nature-deficit disorder”. He writes:

A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development. They say the quality of exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level. (page 43, 2008 edition)

The Planning Magazine July 2011 article “An Urban Treasure Hunt” by Tony Hiss includes his description of visiting New York City’s oldest tree – a 450-year old tulip poplar tree – located in what sounds like an urban wild along the Long Island Expressway. As Hiss describes, a NYC Parks Department plaque describes the tree as “The Alley Pond Giant” – “perhaps the last witness to the entire span of the City’s history.” Hiss also observes that the tree does not just have a link to the past but also a link the future:

The tree also has, just as forcefully, a sense of continuation and steady purpose.

If we don’t get in its way, the unparalleled arc of the giant poplar’s endurance will probably soar through another century or more. . . Alley Pond Park is home to a kind of two-way time beacon, one that shows us where we’ve come from and at the same time reminds us that we have a companion that can see us through the many uncertainties of the decades ahead.

A July 5th post on The Dirt, “Landscape Architects Take the Lead in Remaking Cities” describes the importance of the landscape architect’s perspective to projects reclaiming abandoned urban spaces with a very interesting example of an old Steel Yard in Providence, RI (which also has historic significance – it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places). The post supports an argument put forth by Robert Campbell, architecture critic for The Boston Globe, and others that landscape architects – perhaps more-so than architects and planners -can transform forgotten places into new outdoor public landscapes.

Best idea: solar development zones

Preservation Magazine’s article “Location, Location, Location” by Carlos Harrison in the July/Aug 2011 issue provides a thoughtful discussion about the the tensions between historic preservation and energy projects. Much of the article describes a variety of projects where that tension played out when siting wind turbines and solar arrays on land with significant historic resources (e.g., native american burial areas and Civil War battlefields). It’s an important tension to parse as it plays out on the larger scales mentioned in the article as well as on smaller scales such as a solar array on the roof of an historic church.

In my opinion, given the gravity of this issue for our global sustainability, the most positive development reported in this article is that the Department of the Interior is actively approaching the issue by identifying solar development zones – areas of land that present few or no environmental, historical, or cultural issues.

“You’re not always going to be able to avoid every resource conflict,” says BLM energy team leader Ray Brady. But the development zones, covering some 670,000 square miles, could smooth out a lot of that. . .

This represents a huge turnaround, according to Greg Seymour, a professional archaeologist, National Trust advisor, and self-described advocate for smart renewable energy. “The tide is turning,” he says. ”Government agencies are talking about doing the right thing from the beginning. And the reason is simple: Because preservationists and conservationists are getting past the ubiquitous statements of ‘no’ to renewable development. Instead, we are now saying ‘yes – but how can we do it better? How can we do it right from the get-go?’”

Banker & Trademan reports on Medway Housing Trust

The article “Medway Board Anxious as Affordable Housing Trust Vote Approaches” by Colleen M. Sullivan, Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer, (June 5, 2011) describes the controversy as Medway’s Affordable Housing Trust board members advocate for Town Meeting to appropriate its year-one budget. The Trust is requesting $430,050 of CPA funds, which represents less that 60% of the existing funds in the CPA’s Community Housing Reserve that has accumulated since fiscal year 2002.

The struggle Medway’s Trust faces to convince townspeople to capitalize the Trust is fairly common and highlights the need for Trusts to set a budget based on initiatives that are thoroughly vetted through community engagement. This is the work Beth Rust and I helped Medway with earlier this year, culminating in the publication of Medway’s Affordable Housing Trust Action Plan. Medway Town Meeting is scheduled to consider the Trust’s request on June 13.

The quote below from the Banker & Tradesman article sums up the main benefits of creating municipal affordable housing trusts including a quote from Mike Heinemann, chair of the Medway Affordable Housing Trust and attorney at Mingace & Heineman:

. . . , in the absence of a dedicated trust, any expenditures from the fund have to be approved by one of the town’s semi-annual meetings, along with other municipal matters.

That makes it tough to respond quickly to needs as they present themselves, says Heineman. When the owner of an affordable unit wishes to sell, they notify the town, and if a qualified buyer cannot be found they are able to sell the property on the open market, dissolving the deed restrictions that preserve its affordability. Though the town currently has 20 affordable homeownership units, “we’ve lost two in the past few years because there hasn’t been an active trust,” Heineman said.

That’s a problem the town hopes to solve. If approved, the trust will have the power to buy and sell land and housing, raise money for itself and potentially create other programs to help preserve affordable housing, including helping current owners of affordable units with capital repairs that might otherwise force them to sell.

. . . It’s a solution a lot of smaller communities are turning to, said Jennifer Goldson of Boston-based JM Goldson Community Preservation + Planning, a housing consultant who has worked with several Massachusetts towns on developing affordable housing trusts, including Medway.

Beth Rust, Kathleen O’Donnell, Jennifer Raitt, and I will be speaking on a panel about using various local resources, including CPA and Housing Trusts, at MHP’s Housing Institute in Devens on June 20th. Sign up at: www.mhp.net.

Keith Homestead - CPA project for preservation and open space

Keith Homestead - Bridgewater's First CPA Open Space + Historic Preservation Acquisition

It is with great excitement that I’m finally able to reveal a project that I’ve been working on for over a year for the Town of Bridgewater – Bridgewater’s first open space and historic preservation acquisition using Community Preservation Act funds!

The Keith Homestead acquisition, a joint effort between the Town of Bridgewater and the Commonwealth’s Department of Fish and Game (DFG), will protect the 14-acre property at 515 Lakeside Drive for open space, historic preservation, and passive recreation purposes.

Acquisition of the property will provide numerous benefits including:

protection from the approved 10-lot single family subdivision
preservation of the historic 1783 Georgian style Keith Homestead and maintaining this resource in the context of its historic landscape of field and forest
expansion of the large block of existing conservation land consisting of the Wildlands Trust for Southeastern MA’s Lake Nippenicket Preserve and the Commonwealth’s Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area
preservation of one of Bridgewater’s most scenic areas along the shores of Lake Nippenicket, a 500-acre recreational resource at the headwater of the Town River
enhancing public access to the Lake and surrounding wildlife preserves with a new DFG trailhead and car-top boat launch

Bridgewater Town Council approved the $1.297M CPA expenditure on 5/24/11 and the Town is scheduled to close on the property at the end of June. The homestead will be protected with a permanent Preservation Restriction and the open space will be permanently protected with a Conservation Restriction held by DFG.

This project is an excellent example of land conservation and historic preservation advocates working collaboratively to take this project from a “nice idea” to reality. I’m proud to be working with the Town of Bridgewater, especially, Troy Clarkson, Bridgewater Town Manager, the Community Preservation Committee, Conservation Commission, as well as Joan Pierce from DFG on this very exciting and important project.

Special thanks to David McGowan from The Nature Conservancy and Scott MacFadden from Wildlands Trust of Southeastern MA for their truly invaluable support during critical negotiations and project plannning.

JM Goldson community preservation + planning blog

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