David Cicilline Unveils a Green Print For Providence
Providence Mayor David Cicilline released details of a plan to improve the City by making it "greener". There are several initiatives, and the plan is quite impressive. Below are links to the article and the report, along with some high and low points.
The Good
- Find Locations for wind turbines in Providence.
- Produce hydroelectric energy at the Scituate Reservoir.
- Expansion of on street parking, and encouraging residents to "regreen" their property.
- Encourage redevelopment of Brownfields.
- Meet tree canopy coverage goals.
- Encouraging businesses to provide incentives for employees who use public transportation.
- Potential investment in light rail.
- Encourage commercial development near hubs, and require the amount of parking spaces required to to be tied to the distance to public transit. Convenient access to public transportation would require fewer parking spaces, which could help encourage more development.
The Bad
- Revolving loan fund to reduce the carbon footprint of private property owners. It sounds good in theory, but the City shouldn't be making such loans. Especially when it continuously needs to raise taxes.
- Green School Buildings. The City seems to be resurrecting their plan for a wholesale demolition of many of the district's historic schools. Instead of blaming poor performance on students, families, teachers, or administrators, they chose to single out the buildings. I would love to see these buildings renovated in an environmentally friendly way, but many of them won't be. This seems like an excuse to level historic buildings to make it look like Providence is being proactive. This is especially troubling since they promote the virtues of historic preservation elsewhere in the study.
- A "tree rescue" plan that will remove sidewalk pavement from growing trees. Quick question: How will removing chunks of the sidewalk affect the handicapped? I already see people in wheelchairs who have difficulty negotiating sidewalks without ramps at intersections. How will a partial removal of sidewalks afect their ability to get around?
- An anti-idling campaign that could result in fines.
- A Unit Based Pricing recycling system. The study claims that it will save tax payers money, but I have difficulty believing this. With nearly annual property tax increases, do we really need another fee? Isn't it also likely that when looking for a house, people who want to live in Providence would move to a neighboring community to avoid paying trash collection fees? I could also see an increase in illegal dumping by those who don't want to pay additional fees.
The plan has several good ideas, and a few that are troubling. Many of the ideas, such as fees on trash collection and fines for idling seem punitive. I also wonder whether additional fees and requirements in the city would encourage people looking for a new home to move to a neighboring community. With that said, let's hope we can move toward on-street parking, create a light rail system, and increase density to encourage development of a more effective system of mass transit.
Greenprint PDF
http://providenceri.com/greenprint/greenprint.pdf
Projo Article
http://newsblog.projo.com/2008/10/by-philip-marce-1.html#421438
The Good
- Find Locations for wind turbines in Providence.
- Produce hydroelectric energy at the Scituate Reservoir.
- Expansion of on street parking, and encouraging residents to "regreen" their property.
- Encourage redevelopment of Brownfields.
- Meet tree canopy coverage goals.
- Encouraging businesses to provide incentives for employees who use public transportation.
- Potential investment in light rail.
- Encourage commercial development near hubs, and require the amount of parking spaces required to to be tied to the distance to public transit. Convenient access to public transportation would require fewer parking spaces, which could help encourage more development.
The Bad
- Revolving loan fund to reduce the carbon footprint of private property owners. It sounds good in theory, but the City shouldn't be making such loans. Especially when it continuously needs to raise taxes.
- Green School Buildings. The City seems to be resurrecting their plan for a wholesale demolition of many of the district's historic schools. Instead of blaming poor performance on students, families, teachers, or administrators, they chose to single out the buildings. I would love to see these buildings renovated in an environmentally friendly way, but many of them won't be. This seems like an excuse to level historic buildings to make it look like Providence is being proactive. This is especially troubling since they promote the virtues of historic preservation elsewhere in the study.
- A "tree rescue" plan that will remove sidewalk pavement from growing trees. Quick question: How will removing chunks of the sidewalk affect the handicapped? I already see people in wheelchairs who have difficulty negotiating sidewalks without ramps at intersections. How will a partial removal of sidewalks afect their ability to get around?
- An anti-idling campaign that could result in fines.
- A Unit Based Pricing recycling system. The study claims that it will save tax payers money, but I have difficulty believing this. With nearly annual property tax increases, do we really need another fee? Isn't it also likely that when looking for a house, people who want to live in Providence would move to a neighboring community to avoid paying trash collection fees? I could also see an increase in illegal dumping by those who don't want to pay additional fees.
The plan has several good ideas, and a few that are troubling. Many of the ideas, such as fees on trash collection and fines for idling seem punitive. I also wonder whether additional fees and requirements in the city would encourage people looking for a new home to move to a neighboring community. With that said, let's hope we can move toward on-street parking, create a light rail system, and increase density to encourage development of a more effective system of mass transit.
Greenprint PDF
http://providenceri.com/greenprint/greenprint.pdf
Projo Article
http://newsblog.projo.com/2008/10/by-philip-marce-1.html#421438
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