by Ken Shelin
In recent years, our area has experienced annual in-migration of up to 13,000 people per year from out of the State of Florida. This in-migration will continue and expand as the baby boomer generation begins retirement and movement to a climate that allows them the level of activity and interests to which they have become accustomed year round.
Since WWII, an important goal of every happy family has been a single family home on a large lot with a manicured lawn and a beautifully landscaped garden. The adverse impacts of our suburban land planning model have resulted in significant adverse effects on our fragile environment.
If we adopt standards that provide for increased density in our urban and nearby areas, we will reduce oil dependency and make public transit more economically viable. We can reduce our transportation and utility infrastructure capital costs. The number and distance of travel trips will be reduced because workers can use alternative means to get to work as well as public transit. Climate warming will be mitigated because of less fossil fuel usage. Our carbon footprints will be smaller. And we leave more open land.
Housing costs can be made more affordable with compact development because unit prices are reduced. Our unique and fragile lands will experience less development pressure.Downtown retail becomes more robust with customers living nearby.
So what is more sustainable for our environment, lands, economy, and climate? It will be a changed development paradigm that acknowledges the wasteful suburban model we have used for the last 60 years. It will be a paradigm that minimizes transportation needs, fossil fuel use, respects our environment and fragile lands, but provides an exciting and stimulating place in which to live, work, play, retire and enjoy the assets of our City and County. That changed model has got to use less land and require less reliance on motor vehicles. In a word, it is called “density.”
