Our Views: Political will for transit? | Opinion | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

(Food for thought: How does our current political climate affect our communities going forward? ~ Ann)

Our Views: Political will for transit? Opinion The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

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Being Human

There is a debate raging these days about global climate change and evolution. Instead of arguing over things that divide us – lets think for a moment about what binds us together. Our species, as you know, is not like any other on this planet. No matter where you stand (right, left or in the middle) what we all can agree on is that we are, in fact – Different. What strikes me as the most significant difference between us and, let’s say, dogs, is that we worry about the future and about the well being of other living things.

Dogs may seem to care for us and form bonds of friendship with other animals – but they only live in the NOW. They aren’t worried about what kind of home their puppies may have one day or if a dog on the other side of the planet has enough clean water to drink. A dog is only concerned with what is right in front of their wet little noses - like that ham sandwich on the counter.

But not us. We fret and worry about everything from how much money we are going to have in the bank in 10 years to who will win the next presidential election. We save money for our retirement and we write wills so our loved ones won’t have to deal with it after we are gone. Animals don’t plan for the future; they react to changing conditions as they occur. As humans, we have the ability to see how our decisions today could affect the lives of our grandchildren tomorrow – and we care about what might be. Not only do we have the ability to plan and to reason, but we also have the capacity to have compassion for something other than ourselves. No other creature on this planet does this. To me, these are the most significant things that set us apart from animals and define us as human.

When we act selfishly, put our heads in the sand and refuse to care about the future or about the other living creatures around us, we are acting like something less than the humans we are. So, if you feel moved to bash an environmentalist for wanting our water to be clean, or ignore a scientist who releases a study that shows a rise in global ocean temperatures– don’t just dismiss them as godless liberals. The desire to understand our world and protect it for future generations is simply the manifestation of the better, selfless part of our nature. They are, after all, just being…human.

Have Car? Can Play!

The Oak Grove Spray Park in Prairieville is finally opening to the public on Saturday October 16th at 9:30am. The park had originally been due to open in the early summer months - but as with all construction projects, there were delays. Add to that a last minute donation of concrete for our lovely new paved parking lot and the already late grand opening was pushed back, again.

Don't be let down when you walk in and notice that the park doesn't look exactly like the plan pictured here. What you will see on the 16th is just "phase one" of the new Spray Park's construction. Eventually, the parish will raise funds for the remaining landscaping and a much needed remodeling of the community center is also in the works.

There is only one problem with this wonderful park. Don't try to walk or ride your bike there - unless you are into extreme sports or have a death-wish. Deep ditches along Highway 73 and 42 with no shoulder make both walking and biking treacherous at best.

Will we ever have a safe way to get to bike or walk to the park? Not in the foreseeable future. In order to fill in these ditches (to get a shoulder or have sidewalks installed), we first need to have a regional or parish-wide sewer system. Before that can happen, the parish needs to project where future growth may occur over the next 20 years – in order to properly design said sewer system. Hmm... didn't we just try to do that? Oh yeah - The Comprehensive Plan. So much for that idea.

Maybe one day we can create a park with a bike path (that we will all have to DRIVE to) so we can get out and safely exercise outdoors. Didn’t most of us move here because we love the pastures and rural “feel”? Too bad we only get to enjoy it from our windows on our long commutes to and from work.

JMHO,
Ann

P.S. So, when you take your big honking truck or SUV (yeah - I have one too) to the park, please don't take up two spots. Be kind and stay inside the lines since parking is bound to be an issue. Better yet, try carpooling.

Federal Conspiracy? Or Land Use Planning?

RE: Public meeting on September 15th at the Oak Grove Community Center (the new spray park) at 6:30pm

I just got back from the Galvez meeting on the Comprehensive Plan. If you were to believe all of the people there (led by the same people we see at every meeting and talk so much that no one else gets a chance to ask questions) you would think there was huge conspiracy to urbanize our entire parish and build tons of HUD housing that was subsidised by the federal gov't . If you believed them, you would think that our parish government is socialist and has a shadow government running behind the scenes that was both malevolent and all powerful. If you believed them, you would think that it was a religious imperative to keep those poor, low income types out of our parish. If you were to believe them, you would think that high income planned neighborhoods that are both beautiful and walkable - are NOT what the people of this parish want or need.

All we really want to do is guide the growth that is happening (and will happen) in our parish. The Comprehensive plan will be a tool that our councilmen and Planning Commission will be able to use in order to make better land use decisions in the future. All we want is to be able to plan where to put new roads and where to put in a parish wide sewer system so we can stop having 1/2 treated fecal matter running in our open ditches and put an end to needless traffic jams. All we want is for there to be a vision for the parish that allows us to accommodate new growth while trying to maintain a rural character. All we want is to have housing for people in all stages of their life and affordable housing for people like teachers and firemen. All we want is to end the practice of building strip malls all over the place when 1/2 of them lay empty.

We want to get control over our traffic. We want connectivity, sidewalks and bike paths.. and one day, when our density requires it - mass transit. We can also plan for the possibility that we will get a passenger rail from New Orleans to Baton Rouge with a stop in Gonzales.

Change will happen and people will move here whether or not we have a plan. Developers will continue to build here as long as people sell them their land. Do we do business as usual, or do we embrace the Smart Growth Practices that have created some of our country's most beloved communities? (http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/)

For more information, please read this:
http://www.businessreport.com/news/2010/mar/22/sprawl-peace/

Visionaries, Out-of-towners and Progressives Not Welcome

“That’s just not how things are done here in Ascension Parish.” Expect to hear some form of this statement from many well-meaning and established residents and business owners here in Ascension Parish when you mention planning or smart growth. Any course of action that would ensure the success of the parish and bring it up to speed with some of the most beautiful and livable cities and towns across America is immediately dismissed as “foreign” or “liberal”. “Visionaries, Out-of-towners and Progressives Not Welcome” is the message that is currently being spread throughout the parish. For instance, a majority of the citizen input received for the Comprehensive Plan effort uncovered that many people do not desire the amenities of recycling, bike paths, parks, dog parks and jogging trails. Citizens have seemed to embrace the lack of connectivity between retail locations and subdivisions and fear that inner-connectivity puts them in danger of crime and speeding traffic. Speaking progress to a parish resident whose grandparents, parents and families have always lived here, you best be prepared for a snide remark, defensive retort or to be stared at as if you are an alien or worse… a “foreigner.” Throughout the Comprehensive Plan process, the parish, parish planners and plan supporters have been called “socialists” by many long-time residents for suggesting that we take steps forward to improve the quality of life in Ascension Parish.

I am finding that most of the people who understand what we are trying to do are the “newcomers” – those residents who have moved here in the last 5 to 10 years. Motivating this growing sector of our population to speak up is proving to be difficult. Busy young executives, families trying to spend time together or parents helping their children with their homework don’t usually have time to go to public meetings. Unfortunately – the only people talking to our elected officials are the ones who are not on the same side of the issue that we are.

I enjoy living in Prairieville. I have wonderful neighbors, a large backyard and am in close proximity to the amenities of a rural lifestyle, horses and open pasture land. My family feels safe walking our dogs at night, and our children attend public schools where they receive a great education. However, in Ascension Parish, we live in an area of transition. On one side, there exists the nearly land-locked Baton Rouge with its sprawl and heavy traffic that bleeds into our northern parish border. On the other side, the “rural” side, there exist acres and acres of remaining open land. As Baton Rouge continues to overflow its border into our parish, Prairieville and Dutchtown continue to grow in popularity and density. With the reality of parish population numbers doubling over the next 20 years, we face the threat of growing into another Baton Rouge. It is sad enough that many of us both work and shop in Baton Rouge instead of our own parish, which, in turn, gives East Baton Rouge Parish schools our tax dollars. How will we be able to sustain our great school system if we give all our sales tax dollars to another parish? With the adoption of the comprehensive plan, we’d have the ability to attract investment and better retail stores to Northern Ascension Parish and begin to create a sense of our own identity and place here in Ascension.

Let’s think about all of this for a minute and decide….. Do we really want to make the same mistakes that Baton Rouge has? Do we want to close our eyes, stick our heads in the sand and hope that this potential for growth and CHANGE goes away? We cannot afford to continue living in a bubble due to our antiquated thinking. Is “That’s just not how things are done here in Ascension Parish” going to be our battle cry? The old and comfortable ways of going about business in Ascension Parish need to change. It’s time we accept that we are part of the success of the rest of Louisiana and begin to be the masters of our own destiny. When it comes to our future, and the changes that are coming to Ascension Parish, I’d rather be in the driver’s seat than the road kill on the side of the road – wouldn’t you? If so, please make sure you attend one of the upcoming Comprehensive Plan public meetings and learn what this plan means for the future of our Ascension Parish. Please share your opinions with the parish planners while also keeping open mind to what we can become. All ideas are welcome.

Mid-Week Thoughts

Comparing High and Low Residential Density: Life-Cycle Analysis of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

J. Urban Plng. and Devel. 132, 10 (2006)

http://link.aip.org/link/?JUPDDM/132/10/1

Recently, I ran across an article titled: "Comparing High and Low Residential Density: Life-Cycle Analysis of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions" What I love best about it is that it’s not written by environmentalists or urban planners. It’s published by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Much of the criticism we "progressives" get seems to come from retired engineers. I'm not sure why. Most of my family members are all engineers, yet they seem to all put up with my ideas and political views quite well. Maybe they are just being polite...

Anyway, it’s nice to finally have a paper that says what planners and environmentalist alike have been saying for years - that city living can actually be a more energy efficient and sustainable lifestyle than a sprawling suburban one. By concentrating most of our infrastructure in one area - we not only keep down on the costs of building said infrastructure - but we also are able to keep more land outside of the urban area open and undeveloped.

This leads me to another topic… the Ascension Parish Comprehensive Plan and the front page of The Advocate (“Growing Pains in Ascension, July 25th). Do me a favor, and read this article closely. I’ll be commenting on that whopper soon.

Off to tame the wild rug rats upstairs and make them go to bed. Before I go, here is your parting thought for the day: “Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open.”

Goodnight!
Ann