Since my last post dealt with my interest in urban planning, I thought I’d share the first in a series of videos I found on YouTube that has influenced my thinking in this regard…enjoy:
Posts Tagged ‘Urban Planning’
Growth is easy, sustaining it is hard
31
May
Northern Light Productions has a pair of excellent documentaries on urban sprawl. The first covers Phoenix, and the second Cleveland. One is new, the other is old, and both experiencing similar problems. As sprawl expands in concentric rings around the city, the less desirable inner rings begin to decline. Additionally, the vast geographic area that the metropolitan area begins to cover results in a staggering growth in the cost of maintaining the infrastructure. They are excellent films. Occasionally replayed on the on the local PBS affiliate’s HD channel, they are highly recommended if you get a chance to see them. You can catch a preview here.
The Cleveland film, especially, hit home with me. Because, in many ways, Indy has seen a similar pattern. As the first ring of suburbs began to be supplanted by the second, first tier neighborhoods decline and commercial and retail flee to where the money is. The Eastgate and Glendale malls, which originally were a source of decline for downtown retail, are now either a shell of their former selves or closed completely. Now, as the third tier of suburbs are the growth centers, you see Washington square, which supplanted Eastgate, in decline. Meanwhile, the cost of upkeep on what is fast becoming 8 counties worth of rather sparsely populated, but urban infrastructure, has the citizens in near revolt over property taxes.
Until we begin to plan and manage our growth in a smarter direction, we will continue to reap what we sow.
