Smart Growth and Sprawl Presented by the Whatchamacallits (Darrell Goodson and Cherlshee Bass)

What is Sprawl? Sprawl consists of environments which is at a loss of green public space and has a great dependence on automotive travel. A lot of the area is developed and paved and it is expanding onto unused land instead of improving the existing monuments.

Sprawl and Urban Environments Because sprawl is spreading out onto new lands, people will want to leave the cramped city and head to the new suburban homes. As a result, urban disinvestments occur. This causes the old city communities to wither and die out, leaving only those who couldn’t pay the money to move.

Preventing Sprawl For healthier cities, we should follow the ten principles of smart growth. What are theses principles? The next few slides will explain.

The Ten Principles of Smart Growth  § Use varieties of houses in communities like one, two, and three family houses, as well as the features in the houses.  § Create centers close to the housing neighborhood to prevent use of automobiles.  § Allow people who live in the community to help develop their own environment.  § Use house development to bring people into the community.  § Make choices that can benefit everyone, from those living in the community to those developing it.

The Ten Principles of Smart Growth (continued) § In the process of developing communities, the keepsake of nearby greenland is also high priority. § In a community, development should allow residents to use different methods of getting around besides the car. § In communities that already exist but are in poor condition, instead of building new ones, the old should be updated. § Instead of spreading out new buildings, development should be on top of existing places to prevent land use. Use the land of the community for a variety of uses like recreational and industrial.

Further Explanation Now you know the ten principles, but which ones will have the greatest impact on the community. Why should you care about smart growth? Here’s a clearer explanation on the most important parts of smart growth.

Smart Growth Housing To improve the housing establishments the two most important are affordability and accessibility. Smart growth encourages low- price houses that is in good condition. Accessibility not only means easy, nearby access to the home but also access to other homes, families, and stores.

Mix Land Use > Single Land Use All the spare land in the above photo is paved over, which could be used as a open grass area for those willing to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. If everything is in one area instead of spread out, the free space can be used to for parks and recreational facilities for people to relax.

Schools: Anchors of the Community Good schools means healthy, populated neighborhoods. If the neighborhood school’s criteria and condition are below average, the family will most likely move from there to seek better opportunities. A strong school system could also lead to extra curricular activities that can bring the community together. Strong school=strong community.

Transportation In the city of Newark, car transportation is the most widely used. There isn’t much room to use other types such as scooters or bikes. People always have options, like taking the bus or subway to get downtown or walking or riding a bike to get to a nearby store, cutting down on the amount of pollution created.

Compact Buildings and the Big Three People tend to avoid living in compact buildings because of the ‘Big Three’: noise, lack of green space, and parking problems. If parking lots are built right behind the buildings, making sure that a large space is still green open space, as well as a restriction on loud noises during the day and night and soundproof walls, then the compact building will be in great place to live.

#1: Create Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices In the current state of most communities, houses are either identical or similar in structure. Either they all are 1-family houses or all are apartment buildings, or apartments mixed with 3- family houses. In the smart growth plan, communities should have a choice in which types of houses and housing styles should be in there. Also the choices shouldn’t all be identical (i.e. 2 family houses with slightly different structures and features.) This way, everyone isn’t crowded into large buildings or spread out in single-family houses. It is all balanced out.

#2: Create Walk-able Neighborhoods Creating walk-able neighborhoods means that communities should be built in a way that’s pedestrian-friendly. In short, houses and industries shouldn’t be far from accessibility. A person should be able to get out of his or her house and travel to his or her destination without having to use the car. Also, this can lead the way to less pollution from the car exhaust and less traffic in the streets.

#3: Mix Land Uses The way the land is used to make neighborhoods should be balanced. A big chunk of the land shouldn’t be used solely on one thing (let’s take industry for example) without considering transportation, housing, and recreational options. A section should be divided fairly and safely. It’s a hazard to put a recreational park next to a waste dump. This way, there are no problems concerning how the land is used.

#4: Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices In Newark, a lot of travel is done by automobiles. There isn’t much room for bike transportation or walking. In this method, communities should be designed to allow people to use all modes of transportation, limiting the use for waste-producing and energy-consuming automobiles. Examples could be a biking lane in streets and more walkways.

#5: Strengthen and Direct Development Towards Existing Communities Building new communities is nice, but it takes up new land and supplies to do so and this also costs a lot of money. If developers can use the old, rundown buildings in existing neighborhoods, then at least the cost of repairs will be less than the cost of working from the ground up. This also saves useful land that can be used for other activities without building over it.

Smart Growth in Newark Newark is in the mist of revitalizing it’s downtown community with house and stadium development. However, as good as all this might sound, isn’t exactly a good smart growth tactic. The usage of land (housing), not to mention the transportation to get around downtown because of the stadium causes wastes. A smart growth solution would be to revamp all the houses that need the touch-up instead of some. Specific routes to the new stadiums parking lot (which could be a multi- level parking garage instead of a huge parking lot) will also take care of the stadium problem.

Upper Clinton Hill The neighborhood of choice.

Where is Upper Clinton Hill? Upper Clinton Hill is located in the south ward of Newark. It is boarded by Avon Avenue in the north, 21 st street in the west, Route 78 in the south, and Bergen Street in the east.

The Clinton Hill Boundary

What’s in Upper Clinton Hill? Residential areas Commercial Corridor Highway Transportation Religious area Educational facilities

About Upper Clinton Mostly residential with 1 and 2 family houses. Commercial corridor allows shopping nearby homes. Residential areas are alongside multiple schools. A highway (Interstate 78) to the south allows long distance travel. Religious groups and charities are also located in the area.

Improvements to the Neighborhood Bike route Vacant buildings

Closing Proposal There is a lack of open space in the area. The vacant building space can be used as individual playgrounds and medical centers. A bike route through the commercial corridor and other main routes can reduce the amount of pollution made by cars traveling.