Mayor Mike announced, in Mark Lamster’s words, his “rethink the toll-road squad” this morning. Tim, assuredly, will be along with additional thoughts on this later this morning. But here are the names on the squad, and what they may bring, Cliffs Notes version:
Larry Beasley: The retired director of planning for Vancouver, now serves as chief advisor for Dallas’ CityDesign Studio. Largely credited with helping transform downtown Vancouver into a place people actually wanted to be. Sound familiar?
For a recent take on the Trinity, watch this:
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John Alschuler: The former city manager of Santa Monica, California, Alschuler is also emeritus chair of the Friends of the High Line, the non-profit that supports New York’s High Line Park. His architecture firm also designed nearly 250 acres of parkland for the 2012 London Olympics, among other things.
Allan Jacobs: Served as director of planning for San Francisco from 1967 to 1975, taught at UC-Berkley for 26 years. A quote: “If we can develop and design streets so that they are wonderful, fulfilling places to be — community-building places, attractive for all people — then we will have successfully designed about one-third of the city directly and will have had an immense impact on the rest.”
Alex Krieger: Harvard Graduate School of Design professor, apologizer to Dallas. From Frontburner, earlier this year:
Krieger is already on record (the last time he was in town, at the New Cities summit) as saying he thought a plan that favors moving traffic over making a beautiful park along the Trinity was flawed. But he plans to be much more direct in his speech in Dallas on Friday.
“I want to apologize to Dallas,” Krieger said this afternoon. “I feel like I helped persuade a whole lot of people that the road in the Trinity was a good idea. And that’s the reason I want to apologize. Because, yes, a parkway that makes the Trinity more accessible is a good idea. A fricking highway is not the thing to do.”
How did we get to this point, then?
“We were all duped a bit,” Krieger says. “It’s clear now that the traffic folks nodded as we showed them the Balanced Vision Plan, but they were just waiting for us to get out of town.”
Elizabeth Macdonald: Another UC-Berkley professor, this time one with a speciality in “North American waterfront promenades and their impacts on physical activity.” Seems like a smart pick.
Jeff Tumlin: I don’t know you, Jeff Tumlin, but I like you. From the Santa Monica Daily Press:
City officials confirmed Wednesday that they would no longer work with traffic and circulation consultant Jeffrey Tumlin after comments on an online biography proved even more controversial than the parking policies he espoused.
In the bio, Tumlin wrote that Santa Monica politics “had been dominated by NIMBYs who used traffic fear as their primary tool for stopping development.” The reference, indeed the entire section on Santa Monica, had been removed as of Wednesday.
The comment spurred outrage amongst residents, who called for Tumlin’s dismissal. Additionally, Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, or SMCLC, wrote an adjoining letter expressing distaste for Tumlin’s parking policies, which involve building less parking than currently required for new development and opening up existing lots to increase supply in some areas.
The net effect would be to drive down costs of development, and therefore the price of housing, and ostensibly cause fewer car trips by attracting fewer cars based on the premise that you will not drive where you cannot park.
Traffic fear! Sound familiar?
