Land Use City Planning City Design

1. Land UseCity PlanningCity Design

2. Land Use: Definition • Land use is the modification of the natural environment or wilderness by humans • Modifications include creating fields, pastures, roads, and settlements

3. Government • City/ Urban Government Common Council Mayor Alderperson • Country/ Rural Government Town Chair County Board

4. Public Hearings • Recommendations made by council committees may require public hearings • The public is invited to make comments to the common council • Are 12 and 13 year olds allowed to speak at council meetings and public hearings? • YES!

5. Zoning • Residential (R-1; R-2; R-3) Single family; duplex; multifamily • Commercial • Agricultural (A-1; A-2; A-3) • Tax Exempt School, church, city hall, police, fire… • Recreational • Industrial

6. City Growth: Urban Planning • Includes the built and social environments of municipalities and communities • Building Architecture • Landscape Architecture • Roads and highways • Recreation • Education • Safety

7. Eminent Domain • Eminent domain gives the government the right to possess all property within the state • It was intended to only take private property for public use (roads, utilities) • However it recently has been invoked to take land for commercial businesses like shopping malls

8. Annexation • It’s the process that transfers parcels of land from smaller towns to cities • For cities it’s a way to continue growing and developing • Towns lose population, territory, and taxes so it’s often seen as hostile • If it’s not done thoughtfully, it can lead to higher taxes for the city

9. America- Building for the Automobile • One in Eight (12.5%) jobs in the U.S. is directly related to transportation • 440,000 public school buses transport 24 million children each day • 68.9% of all petroleum used in the US is for transportation

10. More Transportation Facts • In 2006 there were 8,371,718 miles of roads in the U.S. (US DOT) • That equals almost 55,000 SQUARE MILES of land used just for roads • This does not include parking lots! • Wisconsin’s land area is 54,310 sq miles

11. Automobiles have changed the landscape • Paving land means that water can’t percolate into the ground water • That water is funneled into lakes and rivers via storm drains • This can destroy aquatic organisms • Watertown gets about 30.88 inches of precipitation annually

12. Let’s put that in Perspective… • A parking lot is 50 feet by 100 feet • The area = 5000 sq feet; times 12 equals • 60,000 sq inches • Times 30.88 inches of precipitation • Equals 1,852,800 cubic inches of water; divided by 12 equals • 154,400 cubic feet; divided by 3 equals • 51,466.666 cubic yards of water • That’s 10,396,065.03 gallons from that one parking lot in one year

13. Floodplains protect against flooding River at flood stage Floodplain Floodplain

14. Filling in & building in the floodplain Flooding inevitable Floodplain buried by fill Floodplain buried by fill

15. Sprawl in Watertown • Many of the commercial buildings on Hwy 26 are built on filled-in floodplain • The drive-thru for Rocky Rococo’s slid into the river one week after it opened • Now that there is no floodplain, where will the water go after a flood? • We can’t keep allowing this kind of development without repercussions

16. Sustainability • Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely • Sustainable Development Stephen Wheeler: “Development that improves the long-term social and ecological health of cities and towns."

17. Why consider Sustainability? • Urban development creates many problems: Overuse of natural resources Ecosystem/ Natural Habitat destruction Urban heat islands and climate change Pollution Growing inequality in cities (Racism) Poor living conditions & quality of life How can quality of life be made better?

18. “Man's heart away from nature becomes hard” Chief Luther Standing Bear, 1891

19. Greenspace • Greenspace provides natural areas for people living in urban areas • Greenspaces are multi-functional and are used by many different people for many different things • It can help deter flooding • They also offer habitat for wildlife

20. Greenspace: Fukuoka City, Japan

21. Greenspace: Piedmont Park, Atlanta

22. What can you see in this field?

23. Urban Sprawl • Urban growth without central planning and control becomes urban sprawl • It often starts by building along main roads and highways • Sprawl is made worse by commercial development like strip malls • Provides high visibility for advertising

24. Example of Strip Mall

25. Sprawl Costs Us All • Allowing sprawl costs taxpayers more than careful planning and development • Cities must provide new infrastructure (schools, roads, police, fire, gas lines, water and sewer) to serve a dispersed population • These costs are more than the city gets back in tax revenue • All infrastructure needs maintenance

26. Sprawl development forces more commuting • Driving to work and to the store means we spend more on fuel and car maintenance • Families spend less time together • Smart Growth includes a convenient blend of residential and commercial zoning • Smart Growth is sustainable • It allows choices of walking or biking to destinations

27. Sprawl happens even in the country

28. Sprawl follows the roads

29. There is no way to walk to the store with this kind of development

30. Conservation Design • Randall Arendt is well known designer • http://www.landchoices.org/docfilm/arendt_clip1.htm • Controlled-growth land use that adopts the principle that ‘nature knows best’ • Allows sustainable development while protecting the area’s natural features in perpetuity • Includes preserving open space and vista, protecting farmland and natural habitats • Maintains the quaint character of rural communities

31. Does this look like a healthy place to live?

32. Typical Development

33. Homes on Large Lots

34. Conservation Design

35. Smaller lots with more Greenspace

36. Common Greenspace requires a change in thinking… • We need to move past the idea of exclusive ownership, to some extent • We adopt a cooperative philosophy that sharing these spaces is best for everyone, not just those that can afford large lots

37. Subdivision Design Project

38. Riverwood Subdivision • Role Play- Zenith Council meeting • Riverwood is the oldest part of the large city Zenith • Zenith has a population of 200,000 • The following arguments are from past student responses:

39. Pro-Development • New jobs • More jobs • Buildings in disrepair need fixing • Hazardous; woods not safe for kids • More people means less taxes • More income for cityservices

40. Pro-Development • Less poverty • Better education; more schools • Better transportation/ more efficient • Modern buildings- energy efficient • More things to do; more skate parks, etc.

41. Pro-Development • Less welfare • Improved technology • More sports for kids • Sustain professional sports • Less dust from dirt roads • City can grow better if we start over

42. Pro-Development • New boat dock • ABC will pay to relocate residents • Marsh full of garbage • More money for parks • Offer enough to bring Olympics to Zenith

43. Pro-Development • Proposal can change if needed • Taller buildings, less land used • Modern buildings are cool • More tourism; more hotels, casinos • More police- safer • Increased business connections

44. Anti-Development • View will be obstructed • Landmarks destroyed • Need to keep marsh for wildlife and flood control • Children play in woods • More air pollution with development • More traffic = more accidents

45. Anti-Development • Pay more for insurance • Higher taxes • Less farmland if developed • More noise pollution • Transportation problems; traffic jams • There is a petition against it

46. Anti-Development • More water pollution • Not enough residential/ homes • Poor land use • Architecture not aesthetic • More crime • More poverty

47. Anti-Development • Too many people • Buildings too close • Not enough greenspace • More maintenance/ cost • Loss of quaintness

48. Anti-Development • More competition for jobs • Gangs like bigger cities • Waste disposal problems • Less outdoor recreation • Lose natural beauty

49. Anti-Development • Smaller community is family-oriented • More boats mean we can’t swim • Not as peaceful • Won’t be able to fish • Modern buildings look ugly

50. Now what? • Both sides have valid arguments • We should be able to find sound solutions to these problems