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© 1997 - 2005 Terry Bailey all rights reserved
contact: terry@mediabench.com
Smart Growth Public Forum for Glendale and Burbank
by Terry Bailey
published in Glendale News Press
October 23, 2004
[Where: Glendale Fire Station, Second Floor Community Room (accessible), 421 Oak Street, Glendale Parking: on the street or in the Galleria parking structure]
Here’s an introductory Q & A that will explain why you should attend the upcoming Smart Growth Forum being hosted by the League of Women Voters.
Q: Why are there no trees in all these new housing developments that we see popping up around our towns?
A: Because building codes require enough parking for all the tenants, and builders are digging below the new buildings for subterranean parking; subterranean parking makes the existence of trees impossible because there is no place for their roots.
Q: Why is it important to save trees?
A: Because we people breathe the oxygen that trees create – no trees, no oxygen. Famed architectural philosopher, Richard Neutra, also believed that humans have the need for life among trees encoded in their DNA! Neutra said, “Our environment is the connection, Yet we have badly neglected it. While the public’s concern about the preservation of our wilderness and wildlife has grown in recent years, the quality and character of our man-made surroundings and social circumstances remain a low priority. As a result, our environment is often chaotic, irritating, inhibitive and disorienting. It is not generally designed at all but amounts to a cacophonous, visually discordant accretion of accidental events, sometimes euphemized as “urban development” and “economic progress.”
Q: Why don’t developers put in above ground parking, then, so that we can keep the trees, and have real park-like settings in these new developments instead of a few potted palms?
A: Good question.
Q: We have some wonderful old homes and buildings in Glendale and Burbank. Will they all have to be torn down for new developments?
A: Historic preservation and re-use of old buildings is a big part of Smart Growth. Like what Pasadena did with all the old buildings in Old Town. Yes, according to the LA conservancy and Glendale Historical Society, our cities need to take serious looks at Historic Preservation as we grow, too.
Q: I’m still thinking about that underground parking and tree issue. Is above ground parking more expensive than subterranean parking?
A: Not by a long shot. Subterranean parking probably costs developers ten times as much.
Q: Gasoline is up to $2.50 a gallon! How will people afford to commute any longer?
A: About time we took a serious look at mass transportation options, huh? How about “multi-use” work and housing and shopping developments, so people don’t have to drive such long distances?
Q: I’m still wondering about those trees. If above ground parking is less expensive than underground parking, and if above ground parking would allow us to save and plant trees, why aren’t more developers putting in above ground parking in these new developments?
A: I’ve heard quite a few answers to that question when questioning city staffs and urban developers. Some told me it is because citizens don’t want the added story that would be necessary in new buildings in order to accommodate above ground parking. An architect told me that above ground, carport type parking like some older buildings have, was made illegal because the police thought it was a greater theft risk. Others thought it was discontinued because it didn’t look good. Many I asked just didn’t know!
Q: While population is soaring in our towns, so is the cost of living. The News Press recently said only 17% of residents in our cities can afford to buy homes here anymore. Where are all the teachers and small business owners, and firepeople, and police, and city staff, and artists supposed to live? And what about the seniors living on fixed incomes – particularly as this Baby Boom generation starts to retire? And how will they all get around?
A: These are important subjects that Smart Growth looks at. Affordable housing for the middle class. A mix of housing and neighborhood types that meet the needs of couples, singles, families, and seniors, thus fulfilling the American Dream for everyone, not just a few. Public transportation.
Q: Sorry to belabor the point about the trees, but - don’t you think most people would rather have one more story on a building if they knew it meant there could be wonderful big trees planted all over the property, too? Don’t you think people would be willing to trade a jacket stolen out of the back seat of a car, which they shouldn’t have left there in the first place, if they knew it was a trade off between trees and a lost jacket from a carport? Couldn’t the developers do something to decorate the outside of above ground parking so it doesn’t look unsightly – like plant trees around it?
A: All very good questions. The Smart Growth Forum is a PUBLIC forum. Come hear what Mayor Marsha Ramos from Burbank, Councilman Quintero from Glendale, Glendale’s Planning Director, Elaine Wilkerson, Burbank’s Asst. Community Development Director, Art Bashmakian, other city planning staff, and smart growth architect, Wade Killifer, have to say about it – and bring your questions!
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