Monday, December 01, 2014
RenewLV Suburban Sprawl Summit
RenewLV has a piece on the Lehigh Valley's suburban sprawl. A college student claims that "after driving for a little while, it wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be. Traffic congestion made driving awful, and even more so, gas was and still is an expense." I guess he'll be taking a bus to the Summit for Smart Growth and Sustainable Communities taking place on Friday, 12/5 at the Hotel Bethlehem. You can sign up for it here. For $65, you get two meals at the Hotel Bethlehem, along with speeches from Alan Jennings, Joyce Marin, Holly Edinger, Ron Beitler, Deana Zotsky and Don Cunningham, to name a few.
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17 comments:
It should be an interesting meeting. Aggressive parking enforcement in the cities is a deterrent, though. Couldn't they consider a more parking-friendly venue?
Here's the thing: f you don't like the suburbs, stay out. If you don't like the taxes, move. There are individuals who believe, because they are smarter than you, that they have the right to dictate how you live.
By the way, RenewLV's intern will be riding his bike to the Summit. He bike-commutes everywhere. We have two bike-commuting interns. Go figure. RenewLV is a magnet for young whippersnappers who walk the walk and ride the bikes.
The Summit will be great. I hope that you can join us. We will hear a good summary of the EnvisionLV process and next steps, as you mentioned, panels of regional leaders with diverse opinions, a keynote with a national expert on farmland preservation, Professor Tom Daniels, and an opportunity for people to put in their two cents during "table talks," hosted by RenewLV board members with the conversations informed by regional "experts."
By the way, the chef at the Hotel Bethlehem is Michael Adams, formerly of The Farmhouse in Emmaus, so the food will be great.
These sustainability-types always serve good food.
Hi Joyce, had no idea Michael Adams was the chef. That's pretty good. If your interns do ride in and I actually can make it, I want to snap a few pics.
Bernie, will you be riding your bike to become an intern too¿ You to could be about chest high for this one too¿
Yes, people can be bought on all corners of ReNue the valley, the poverty magnet of epicentral¿
It is a ginger thing u wouldn't understand¿
redd
patent pending
Yawnnn
$65.
Further proof that there is, indeed, a sucker born every minute.
"speeches from Alan Jennings, Joyce Marin, Holly Edinger, Ron Beitler, Deana Zotsky and Don Cunningham, to name a few."
Wow only $65 to hear them talk. No one loves the sound of their voices more than they do. They are brilliant just ask them. Can't we just donate the money to an animal shelter or something that actually does some good?
There are more people lined up for panels than the ones you mentioned, Bernie. The key note speaker is a national expert on farmland preservation, Professor Tom Daniels from UPenn.
With the culmination of the three year EnvisionLV project, the theme of the event is "from ideas to actions."
So, the final hour of the event will be a facilitated discussion that will provide an opportunity for attendees to contribute their ideas and expertise to crafting plans on a variety of topics of regional interest from land use to municipal cooperation, trails to emergency preparedness.
For more information, people can go to renewlv.org
Here's the link to information about Professor Tom Daniels:
https://www.design.upenn.edu/city-regional-planning/graduate/people/tom-daniels
Those who don't want to pay the $65 can still attend the Summit: the money is for the FOOD.
Disclosure: I am a panelist at the Summit and a Renew Lehigh Valley board member representing the Sierra Club.
Anonymous: who are you? Your rant would have more credibility if you weren't afraid to say who you are.
- Donald Miles, Bethlehem
Our local urbanistas are a bunch of hypocrites. Most don't practice what they preach. Most are out living in the suburbs they hate so much. They tell everyone living in a city is just great but they get in their cars and drive out to a township come 5 o'clock.
Urbanistas are no hypocrites. They are, for the most part, true believers. They live where they do out of economic necessity, not preference. Also, I have heard most of the listed speakers and they are good speakers who have something to say. I know I will learn something if I go. I doubt very much they will convert me, and i may convert a few of them to the dark side. But whether i go is going to be a function of Thursday night. I am usually up until 3 or 4 am after a Council meeting.
Renew Lehigh Valley and its Summit are not anti-suburbs, they are about sustainable land use and regional cooperation. Opposing sprawl is not about opposing suburban living, it's about opposing unplanned growth into needed farmland and environmentally-sensitive areas that lack water, sewer and other needed infrastructure. It's not about urging everyone to live in the city (by the way, both Alan Jennings and I do), it's about urging land use that preserves a sense of community, convenient and accessible amenities, energy efficiency, and historic continuity. That sort of growth can be suburban and can preserve housing choice. Come to the Summit and learn a little about what you're ranting about.
Hi Don,
I'm always willing to learn, but am a difficult student. You might flunk me.
Being chest high is like ass in the face Bernie¿ Your side is not the dark side just a growing fact¿
redd
patent pending
So it is cheaper to live in the suburbs than in the local cities?
How can that be if our cities are so depressed they have formed all these Nizes, Crises, Whizes....
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