Tag: transit

A utopian, sustainable N.C. city

October 26, 2018 / odrozd

Columbia, North Carolina: A Sustainable Example

In April 2018, Viktor Agabekov wrote a fictional, first-person account of life in a utopian, sustainable North Carolina city of the future. Read his story below.

As dawn rolls through the transparent solar panel of my bedroom window, I start another day in the historic downtown of Columbia, North Carolina. Once a tiny settlement with less than 900 people, the city is now a national leader in adapting to sea level rise. Situated near the mouth of the Scuppernong River in northeastern North Carolina, Columbia first experienced irregular flooding in the late 2010’s, and city leaders boldly decided to reshape the image of the town to ensure it would have a future.

It is now 2040, the city has swelled past 4,000 residents, and the policies adopted in the past 20 years make it sustainable to live and thrive in the city. In addition to environmentally-minded designs, the city has shaped development to capture the benefit of social capital as part of its mission.

I work as an environmental consultant for the town, and start each day with a 5-minute commute to the city center by bicycle. The design of the town follows the “garden city” layout proposed by Ebenezer Howard in the late 19th century, as the town has capitalized on the nearby abundance of green space surrounding it (figure 5). The total size of the city is just over 25 square miles, with most of the area being dedicated to green space. Several “spokes” of transit that include three-lane roads and separated bike paths stretch to compact residential neighborhoods, such as the one I live in.

I leave my tiny home in the morning without having to lock my door, as the Internet of Things lets me do that remotely from my phone as I’m on the way to work. The roads and bike paths are elevated over the saltwater wetlands below, and are made of permeable material to limit flooding when heavy storms saturate the area.

As I ride up to my company building, I lock my bike in an elevated bike rack and head up the stairs to my office space. It’s not a long walk, however, as the city has a height limit of 4 stories for buildings by the waterfront as to preserve the profile of the riverfront. My office building has passive lighting and large windows, which offset its electricity use even on hot summer days by letting the sun do the electricity generation and lighting work.

The building facades of downtown Columbia are mandated to appear similar to historic buildings previously constructed, to keep up the historic charm of the city. My building, along with all others in the downtown area, also has a green roof to reduce the heat absorbed in the hot summer months planted with crop plants that can be harvested by workers for food. The roof captures rainwater in a cistern, which is then used for secondary non-potable purposes including flushing and irrigation.

Water in the city literally surrounds the core of downtown every day. As sea level rise has caused the height of the Scuppernong River to increase by 2’, Columbia has adopted strict building codes that minimize losses due to seasonal flooding and constant water presence. The riverbank is lined with a living shoreline, mostly made up of oyster reefs and vegetation beds. The river water isn’t fresh, as saltwater from the ocean mixes in during tide changes. This made obtaining fresh water a priority for the city, so a single large desalination plant was built in 2030 in the northern limits of the city to solve this problem. The rising water forced the city to condemn several older structures that became total losses over time, and these structures were torn down and converted into wetland park open spaces.

Water also serves as a means of transport to Columbia, and the city has a central transit hub on the downtown waterfront that links a ferry terminal, boat marina, bicycle path, and arterial road. It’s easy to get around the downtown by walking from this transit hub, and it’s a popular public space for people to meet up at and watch boats go by. The city is small and walkable to the point where local buses aren’t required, and all buildings are made inclusive for all people through accessible ramps, doors, and elevators to upper floors.

Lunchtime calls for a trip down to the local food co-op in downtown Columbia, and I walk across the main circular plaza at the core of the city. The streets here are made of cobblestone filled with permeable gravel, which slows down drivers and adds a cozy, historic element to the atmosphere of downtown. This allows water to quickly dissipate during rain events, and helps bring the total runoff from the city center to almost zero. The food co-op has a large open lawn that is open to the public, and is a popular spot to relax and enjoy the sights of the city at. It is lined with fruit trees that are grown in large containers, as the soil across most of the city is too salty for fruit trees otherwise.

Container gardens like this also line the windows of downtown buildings, and it is town policy to allow any citizen or visitor to freely harvest these gardens as part of an equal access to fresh foods initiative. Because the city is easily walkable, there are no recognized food deserts in Columbia.

Agriculture was once the backbone of Tyrrell County, but rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion have caused it to retreat inland within North Carolina. This has caused Columbia to rely on many crops to be imported from other locales, but several salt-tolerant crops such as sugar beets and barley are still farmed beyond the green belt band of the city. Lunch also includes a refreshing non-alcoholic craft beer from a Columbia brewery, which has become a cultural staple for locals.

The fishing industry on the Scuppernong River has also surged to cultural prominence, as the farming of oysters and blue crabs have made the city internationally recognized for its seafood products. Sustainable culling and size restrictions have allowed these populations to flourish near the town, and the fishing economy has become one of the largest employers in the region.

Another industry that has become integral to the city has been research in climate adaptation for agriculture and city resiliency planning. A large research institution sits at the core of downtown Columbia, bordered by a cobblestone woonerf plaza that gives its students access to labs and high-paying research jobs. This reflects the progressive ideology of the city, as the rise from a poverty-stricken town to a global leader in climate adaptation has caught the eye of many inspired planners.

Columbia is also home to the a significant government presence, as it is the county seat of Tyrrell county and hosts a US Coast Guard search and rescue base. The presence of this large amount of industry is the source of employment for most of the town’s 4,000 residents, including me. My company helps developers set up microgrids in new communities, and works with electric utilities to allow net metering of residential surplus electricity to take place. The city offers net metering in all of the low-income housing neighborhoods it maintains, allowing residents to gain supplemental income and proving that Columbia values them and is invested in their success, a commitment to social capital.

The emergency services of the city including the fire department, police, and paramedic, are all centrally located behind the city hall at the core circular plaza of the city. This allows them to respond to all emergencies in the city’s radius from a single, central point, and thus equalizes response times to neighborhoods despite their demographics.

The energy portfolio of Columbia is entirely made of renewable sources, primarily fed from a large offshore wind farm near the Outer Banks. The rest of the city’s electric needs, including a full charging infrastructure for electric cars, are met by solar microgrids that use transparent window-panels, much like my home neighborhood.

Columbia city schools are also powered by microgrids, and use electric school buses to get kids to and from their schools. Renewable technologies are taught to all kids enrolled in Columbia, and are favored in city policy. In fact, the city has a ban on internal-combustion-engined vehicles, including lawn mowers and carts, as the volatile compounds created by those emissions are precautionary blocked from impacting the wetland ecosystems that surround the town.

Since most of the former agricultural lands near Columbia became unfarmable due to saltwater intrusion back in the 2020s, the city bought them at fair market value and raised funds through taxes to convert them to a green belt, reverting them back to their natural pocosin wetland biome type. These delicate ecosystems are degraded by combustion emissions, and the city has opted to justly protect them since they are an ecotourism destination, provide ecosystem services to the city, and are a cultural staple.

Wetlands have come to define Columbia: they have naturally resisted climate change and rising sea levels, are entirely unique compared to other ecosystems, and provide valuable services that other regions can benefit from. The city knows this very well, and recognizes this through an annual celebration called “Wetland Day,” which involves completely closing the downtown of the city to cars and having local artisans, scientists, and teachers show visitors the benefits that wetlands provide the town. Because the scale of the downtown area is very human-centered, visitors are fully comfortable walking around historic buildings and bringing their families as well.

The city has a comprehensive CCTV network that monitors streets, neighborhoods, and the green belt, and thus creates a network of safety that wasn’t previously seen in such a coastal community. The monitoring of wetlands specifically deters any poaching of endangered animals such as the red wolf, which has become a local symbol of pride and resilience. The conservation of a wetland buffer around the city also provides many ecosystem services for residents, ranging from cooler temperatures in the summer, to protection from flood surges and hurricane winds. This protection extends to all residents of Columbia, regardless of their demographics, and is an example of the city’s commitment to nature and valuing social capital.

My day at work wraps up as I collect the compost bins from around my office and send them down a vacuum chute into a central composting and waste management center in the north of the city. Composting, along with recycling has lowered the city’s total waste destined for landfills to just 2% of the total waste produced by residents each year. Because the city’s low-lying topography and sensitive ecosystems make landfills unfavorable, it exports this trash inland to Person County, and pays for this service through a waste disposal fee levied on citizens. This makes everyone want to generate as little landfill garbage as possible, and most neighborhoods around Columbia even hold competitions to see if anyone can lead a truly zero-waste lifestyle.

My final stop before I leave for home is a small drugstore in a mixed-use building at the edge of downtown, to pick up some protein powder. I debated seeing my friends who live above the drugstore in an apartment, but decided against it as I still have to prepare dinner and harvest vegetables from my container garden back home.

As I cycle back home on the raised wooden bike path, I remember visiting Columbia when I studied on the Outer Banks in college. The town was entirely different back then, and didn’t have a single value of sustainability at its core. The Columbia I know now is at the forefront of sustainable living and development, and to see how successful policy has been for this city is humbling; it was an effort by the residents who denounced isolationism and banded together to outlast the changing climate that threatened their very homes.

As I look over my shoulder at the bright sunset, I pull up my bike to my house and check my net electricity meter. My house generated 3-kilowatt hours of extra power, which was used by my neighborhood microgrid to light a basketball court for a kids’ scrimmage game. I tend my garden and prepare dinner, winding down after a long day of analyzing sustainable policy.

I finally wrap up my night by stargazing with my telescope through my open window, a hobby I picked up since the wetland buffer around the city limits the sprawling light pollution, right as the sun finishes setting on my sustainable city.

About the Author: Viktor Agabekov graduated UNC in 2018 with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies, along with a minor in Entrepreneurship. A proud son of North Carolina, he has worked with state and local public entities along with student organizations and start-ups to find solutions to the question of what it means to be sustainable. He is now the Project Coordinator for the UNC Three Zeros Environmental Initiative. Aside from his official roles, he enjoys hiking, fresh and saltwater fishing, sustainable cooking, and organic gardening.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Viktor Agabekov.

New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens

January 5, 2018 / odrozd

In 2016, a small group urban planning enthusiasts from across North America formed a Facebook group to provide for the dearth of urbanist memes of the internet. From humble beginnings, the New Urbanist Memes for Transit Oriented Teens (NUMTOT) group has grown to over 40,000 members from around the world. From posts seeking transit-oriented recommendations to philosophical debates about planning’s most complex issues, the group has evolved into a home for more than just memes. Here are just a few of its humorous highlights from last year!

About the Author: Adam Hasan is a Junior undergraduate student studying Geography and City & Regional Planning. His research interests include understanding the actors involved in defining and redefining Global South urbanisms through social movements, governance systems, and media, as well as the history of spatial planning in post-colonial regions. Adam has previously worked with participatory informal settlement upgrading in South Africa, coastal resilience planning in Brooklyn, and was once ranked internationally as one of Simcity 4’s best city builders. In his free time he enjoys birdwatching, coffee roasting, and plays vice-skip on a local curling team.

All memes sourced from the “New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens” Facebook group.

What do Beyoncé and Lizzo have to do with transportation planning?

September 14, 2017 / odrozd

In 2009, cell phones were far from new. The iPhone turned two that year. Smartphones weren’t quite ubiquitous yet, but as a culture, we were thinking consciously about our phones. Although we relied on them and used them less than we do today, that didn’t stop “Telephone,” the iconic duet by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, from becoming a chart-topping hit (and internet sensation in early 2010 thanks to its associated Quentin Tarantino-inspired music video).

Beyoncé (giphy.com) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U

It’s interesting, then, to consider what “Telephone” tells us about the function and cultural significance of cell phones at the time. With lyrics like “stop callin’, stop callin’” and “call all you want, but there’s no one home,” our culture was seemingly reflecting that phones were still, well, phones, for talking. Beyoncé’s annoyance with the distraction of her phone culminates with regret:

I shoulda left my phone at home
‘Cause this is a disaster

– Beyoncé, 2009

Fast forward seven years to 2016. Lizzo bursts onto the scene with the incredibly catchy “Phone.” After a night out, the lights come on at 2:15am, and she realizes she’s lost her phone and doesn’t know how she’ll get home.

Where the hell my phone? Where the hell my phone?
Where the hell my, where the hell my phone, huh?
How I’m ‘posed to get home?

– Lizzo, 2016

In less than a decade, our culture went from viewing phones as an annoyance while out, enjoying life (to the extreme that one might have even considered leaving the device at home while one was out for the evening — a situation that would be virtually incomprehensible to today’s youth), to an essential technology around which we structure our lives, including in how we spatially navigate the world around us.

In 2009, figuring out how to get from one place to another looked a lot different. Uber, which launched its ride-hailing service in San Francisco in 2010, didn’t yet exist. Digital maps with instant directions weren’t quite widespread. Transit apps telling us when the next bus or train will arrive were still an evolving technology. Getting around required a working knowledge of how the places we visited were spatially connected as well as a general understanding of transit frequency in those places or where to catch a cab.

But today, with an Uber or Lyft a tap away, traffic-optimized directions available at a voice command, and the ability to track a train or bus in real time, having a spatial understanding of our surroundings is less necessary. Lizzo, after she’s left the bar and has started walking home, even admits, “I don’t know where I’m going,” even though she’s trying to get to her own home, in her own city.

: Lizzo (giphy.com) Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zZzn-KxeRI

Technology has long been a defining factor in how cities function and how cities are organized spatially. The easiest example of this is to contrast the urban forms of cities built pre-automobile with those built post-automobile. But smartphones, and the effects they have on our cities and how we navigate them, are somewhat different. The effects they have on our cities occur not because of a need to accommodate a new transportation technology in physical space, but rather because of the individual relationship each of us has with the built environment around us. What does it mean for cities when residents never have to develop a sense of spatial awareness? What does it mean for cities when its residents conceptualize of their home as only a series of unconnected places rather than one geographic entity? What does that mean for a city’s culture and economy? And what does it mean for the future of the urban form of cities?

These are just a few of the questions raised by the cultural change demonstrated by these two songs separated by just seven years. How we seek to answer them, and other questions like them, in terms of both culture and policy, will have a significant impact on the future of our cities and our lives.

About the Authors:
Nate Seeskin is a second-year Master’s student in the Department of City and Regional Planning, where he concentrates in transportation, land use, and environmental planning. Hailing from the midwest originally, Nate can often be found perusing around Carrboro on his bicycle.
Travis Crayton is a dual-degree master’s candidate pursuing degrees in city & regional planning and public administration. He is professionally interested in transportation planning & policy and is personally passionate about pop culture.

Featured Image: Pixabay, CC0 Creative Commons

Everything You’ll Learn from an Urban Design Competition

April 6, 2017 / odrozd

I was sitting on a Chicago Transit Authority bus, a fitting location to receive the news, when I learned that our team of Department of City and Regional Planning students won an honorable mention in the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Ideas Competition. The contest’s prompt: design and render a 45 acre greenfield site adjacent to a nearly complete light rail transit stop in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina. Of the ten teams that entered the competition, DCRP’s was the only student-led team to be distinguished with an award.

The existing conditions of the site: lightly forested, bisected by a stream, surrounded by a major arterial road and single-family homes. Image: University City Partners

In late January, we formed our team with minds representing our department’s strengths, transportation specialists, two trained architects-turned-planners, undergraduates with a focus on urban design, and experts on parks fully rounded our eight person lineup. Each member was an asset to the project who delivered a product they are proud of.

The site we were assigned to reimagine is ubiquitous in suburban sprawl: the tract of forested land that was mysteriously once lived on (we found brick and concrete foundations here and there) but now contained only empty liquor bottles and rubber tires. But the site’s natural elements, namely the creek bisecting the tract parallel to the adjacent arterial street, meant our design decision had to marry the built and natural environment. This conclusion is how we settled on the concept of OPEN at University City Boulevard Station (see link for full description and justification of our site plan).

A diagram that describes the site’s environmentally friendly features. Illustration: Brian Vaughn

Our proposal was a product of late nights, settlements and compromises, and perhaps most importantly the coordination of our team’s talents. I was honored to represent our team and accept our Honorable Mention at the Annual Conference of the ULI Carolinas. It was also an eye opening experience as a student of urbanism to learn how fields outside of city planning, especially investors and architects, related their fields to the competition. I was disheartened that the winning team chose to include 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit, but the economic reality of an auto-centric suburban form meant that this over-provision was most economically viable.

This summer, I am excited to further explore Charlotte’s light rail system as part of a research project in urban design. This competition is a prime example of the value of understanding the priorities of stakeholders in the built environment, and the primacy of navigating them in a way that promotes the ideas you want to be reflected in cities you work to redefine.

Brian Vaughn is an undergraduate and minors in Urban Studies and Planning. This summer, he will spend three weeks in South Florida, Charlotte, and Atlanta conducting a public life study around transit stations. His favorite transit oriented development is Union Station in Washington, DC.

A Streetcar Named de Blasio

April 30, 2016 / odrozd

Two months ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio debuted a proposal for a streetcar line that would link the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts. His announcement was welcomed by many, as it addresses the inequities of travel around New York City. As denizens of the city are well aware, commuting to and from the Manhattan central business district is easy and convenient, but inter and intra-commuting between the outerboroughs is arduous and time-consuming. The streetcar would be the second transit line (in addition to the G train) that does not traverse into the urban core, but rather meanders through the neighborhoods of western Brooklyn and Queens. In addition, it would mark the historic return of streetcar service, which was last provided on October 31, 1956. However, upon closer scrutiny, this reiteration of streetcar service has many shortcomings.

Proposed route for the Brooklyn-Queens street car line. Source: Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector

One of the most glaring issues with de Blasio’s plan is that parts of the streetcar line run among mixed traffic. Transportation planners and city officials across the United States often celebrate the idea that streetcars are acceptable only insofar as they are flexible with the environment in which they are built. The prevailing thinking dictates that streetcars should not require any more infrastructure other than the rails that guide the vehicles. Exclusive right-of-ways for transit vehicles are considered unacceptable because they challenge the status quo of an automobile dominated streetscape. It is this planning ideology that is reflected in the latest streetcar incarnation, and which makes the design so problematic.

Well-designed streetcars require more than a set of tracks embedded into the pavement. The underlying principles of great streetcar systems is that they are fast, convenient, and reliable. As Yonah Freemark points out, these basic tenets demand the “[redistribution of] street space away from private automobiles and toward public transit.” The dedication of an exclusive right-of-way ensures that the streetcar can proceed along its route without any obstructions, which raises the operating speed and reduces travel time of the vehicle. Investing more into physical segregation between modes increases streetcar reliability and guarantees regular ridership. There is evidence that the lack of a separated street lane impedes, and even chokes, ridership as seen in the case of the Seattle South Lake Union streetcar, whose ridership numbers declined since its opening. Without the full dedicated right-of-way along the entire line, it is not clear whether the streetcar will exact true mobility in the way the mayor claims.

A rendering of the proposed streetcar in Long Island City. Source: Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector

The design flaws are not the only issues plaguing the streetcar proposal. While it is true that the streetcar will add a more direct route to the subway system’s current hub-and-spoke layout, the areas it serves are not transit deserts. The neighborhoods through which the streetcar runs are already served by multiple subway lines and a plethora of bus services. Furthermore, much of the proposed route runs parallel to existing subway lines. The streetcar would not actually contribute to transit equity because there remain sizeable swaths of the city that lack any form of rail infrastructure, including most of peripheral Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Although Staten Island has a standalone rail line, it is not connected to the rest of the boroughs, which leaves the borough isolated from the rest of the city.

Rather than focusing on the streetcar, the mayor should refocus his attention on other plans that would do more to serve transit-starved neighborhoods and that would foster greater regional mobility. For example, New York’s City Council, citing above-average commute times for the Fordham Road corridor in the Bronx, advocated for a new subway connection that would connect several subway lines. Another project worth exploring is the reactivation of the abandoned Rockaway Line in Queens. Both projects are located in transit deserts, and would provide basic transit service to the demographic groups that depends on it most: low-income and immigrant households, as well as households of color.

Featured Image: Credited to The Brown Brothers. The New York Times photo archive, Public Domain.

About the Author: Allen Lum is a 2016 graduate of the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC. He was born and raised in New York City, and thrives on the constant visual, sonic, and interpersonal stimulation that big city life offers. Allen is a transit enthusiast, which is what brought him to planning school at UNC. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in history at Williams College, and understands the paramount importance of thinking about urban issues from multidisciplinary and intersectional angles. During his time at DCRP, Allen was involved in the Curriculum as well as the Alumni and Career Development Committees, the latter of which he chaired in his last year. He will return to New York and hopes to find work within the area of transit and TOD planning.