Earlier this evening I had the opportunity to listen to Tony Nelessen summarize the results of the visioning surveys taken in Oshkosh a few months back. Not surprisingly, the surveys reveal a preference for a city that is walkable, biker-friendly, makes maximum use of its 16 miles of waterfront, has a vibrant downtown and tree lined streets.
Nelessen said that in order for the vision to become a reality, the city's land use and zoning regulations need serious reform. For that to happen here, the City Council and City Manager must lead.
What I found most fascinating about Nelessen's presentation was his claim that the surveys suggested the possibility of developing a three-pronged Oshkosh brand: Healthy, Sustainable, Green. Certainly no other Fox Valley city is branded that way, and Nelessen claimed that Madison is probably the only city in the state that comes close. I think it's a great way to brand Oshkosh.
Moving toward a model of health, sustainability, and greenliness when almost all development since the 1950s has been the opposite will be no easy task. No doubt most elected and appointed officials--along with the Onionesque major media--will have no trouble espousing "health" as a value. The trouble is that almost every time a real opportunity comes to reject old school thinking (i.e. big boxes, TIF for retail development, etc.), council majorities, the administration, and the Onion(s) all seem to forget the health endorsement.
Nelessen said that a vision report will soon follow. He said that the city council should endorse it with a non-binding resolution. If the report is consistent with what I heard today, I would most likely support such a resolution.
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Tomorrow, June 24th in Appleton there is an open meeting on the comprehensive plan or the
strategic plan for the city. These are two different things and I forget which is which. Regardless, I will go to that and see what takes shape.
Just reading this new post at T2T I saw the article on the sidebar about Carless suburbs. It was a good piece (with reservations.) For any interested, the library system has a book called Carfree Cities by J. H. Crawford. I have read this. It envisions carfree cities designed from scratch and introduces the subject by comparing Los Angeles and Venice.
The best that Oshkosh or Appleton can do is improve the quality of life for those who want to
minimize car use. For this, designers have come up with the concept of "Complete Streets."
Complete Streets have the safety of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians foremost in mind.
About those reservations mentioned. Any pedestrian-oriented improvements have to take into consideration both our harsh environment (not Los Angels and not Venice) and access for the
disabled and elderly when looking at these issues. Example: adult bicycle riders have no
place on the sidewalk where pedestrians walk-- ever.
Lon,
The Complete Street Concept has been popular in parts of Europe for a long time and is finally picking up some steam in parts of the US. Wisconsin cities, unfortunately, are not yet part of that movement.
Riding bikes on the sidewalk in Oshkosh is legal according to the municipal codes. It has to be that way right now because we don't have bike lanes (except on a small portion of the UW Oshkosh campus.).
The visioning survey showed widespread support for biker friendliness, and we are currently updating a bike plan from 2000 that the city council never acted on. Hopefully within the next year there will be some real progress in Oshkosh on bike issues.
One of the things I suggested in other furum threads and discussiosn is making our Hwy. 41 corridor a Green Belt. What I mean by that is recruiting businesses the sell and install green technologie s to homes and businesses. (jobs, economic growth, increased tax base)
We need some heavy recruiting an marketing. We've got the land space available.
We could plan a green technologies and sustainable practices fair. We've got home shows, horse shows, farm shows, the EAA and all other types of conventions and events..
Why not dive in and focus on the future while driving our cities economy?
Our corridor could be a hub for all things green.
We are centrally located (basically 1-2 hours away from every major city in WI.
P.S.
Direct the city manager to shake the Department of Community Development's tree and get the sustainability plan done. We don't need a three year plan to write the plan. The plan is going to change and be continually updated as it progresses anyway.
Let's get a few things started NOW.
In the meantime, we can put written resolutions for GHG reduction, green practices and urban sustainability into the hands of Common Council members. Here are some sources:
ICLEI-USA: Learn from Others
http://www.icleiusa.org/action-center/learn-from-others
US EPA: Urban Sustainability & the Built Environment
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/builtenvironment.htm
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