Renewal on the East Coast and elsewhere

[Les Ballard]

This is the single most important collection of people in the universe who can be called upon to begin, or design for, renewal on the East Coast of America from Canada down, not to mention Florida, the Mississippi flood areas, the new dustbowl of West Texas and elsewhere.  

Will the site leaders represent the group to The White House, what can be contrived to assist on a voluntary basis of just, say, an hour’s work for a sketch of an idea?  Can state and more local government agencies and leaders be constrained to work with Land8Lounge in any way?  Will they be made aware of the wealth of talent available or are they all up with their local firms and individuals who might be members here?

Can the leading designs in the Drylands competition now be called upon to assist regeneration?  You know, the regeneration and building programmes that were going to reflate the economy when Obama was running last time.  Will there be a planning group with teeth who can require weather proof homes and everything else, set out what forests and parks are going to be wanted for the next 300 years and not just allow folk to build a new shack on their old land and replace whatever they can over time where salt water will have killed trees and everything else off.  What facilities should be pushed to ensure fresh water where needed and what populations should be allowed to move to different areas.  I am thinking artistic communities, cottage office villages and so on with minimal road or rail links and just the infrastructure they need – like we were supposed to have by now, you know?  Then of course we need cheap housing and good schools for all as part of a new, new deal.  

If anything comes from the idea then those ideas need giving free for use or adaptation elsewhere in the world.  There are the earthquake and tsunami areas, including Japan and they have a couple of volcanoes about to blow now.  A lot of places need to benefit from the Drylands project too.  We are losing land to the sea and need to reclaim it from the desert and ensure that it remains viable.  Overall, just this idea could ensure a lot of people stay in the LA field and other folk in decent townships with planned job opportunities rather than the urns they are currently working their way towards.     

[Boilerplater]

You know, I haven’t seen much discussion of rebuilding strategies yet on regional sites and message boards.  Maybe its too soon.  People are too shell-shocked as of yet.  I’ve seen some calls for a storm surge barrier across New York harbor, on the scale of Holland’s Delta Works, but that’s about it.  I seriously wonder if people will rebuild right away or if they have the resources to do it.  Many properties are under-insured.  There is great potential for a lot of work for the design and construction fields to come out of this, but there just hasn’t been the opportunity to get life back to normal enough yet to even think about it.

[Trace One]

You know, Boilerplater, I think LA’s are done to death with re-building strategies – not that it hasnt been brought up yet, but it has been discussed TO DEATH, over and over and over..for fifty years – when was “Design with nature” published? so at least ten years BEFORE  that.

 

I heard a bureaucrat on NPR this morning say, perhaps building in flood zones should be discouraged – DUH! And don’t give them insurance, so I have to pay for it..Sorry. Don’t rebuild HWY 12 out to Hatteras, etc. This is OLD OLD OLD news..bored already.

And also has been acted on in some places. the State of Virginia relocated GRUNDY out of the River flood plain, in the nineties – , yes, took the whole town and moved it up the mountain, out of danger of flooding..Small town, yes, but thats the way to go!!! 

[Boilerplater]

Yeah, it has been discussed to death, among LAs and related professions!  I guess we just have to keep reminding the general public and the political establishment.  Here is a guy, though not an LA, who is still active in advocating for the same stuff called for in “Design with Nature”

http://www.andrewwillner.com/userfiles/file/Sandy11312.pdf

 

There was a town on the Mississippi called Valmeyer, I think in MO, that was also relocated.  On a recent visit to Memphis, I went to the MS river museum on Mud Island and was fascinated by the scale model of the river and the stories of the towns along the river.  A large number of them were abandoned or moved due to changes in the river’s course.  Maybe modern Americans don’t think they have to do that anymore, that they are masters of nature.  But the fact is that a lot of real estate is volatile and cannot be expected to permanently stay in a buildable condition.

I’ve heard that those principles had a big role in the development of Hilton Head Island, so it has had some effect in how coastal property is developed, and it has paid off economically as well. 

[Les Ballard]

I am obliged for your responses.  I agree with the attitude of needing nothing and noone to continue to live in some areas – whereas we should know our place more and be called upon to work together – and as for the barrier, it needs to be finished before the next surge, not after all returns to normal or it may never get the chance.  Just build it 20cm higher than the highest projection for highest surge in 200 years.  Our Thames barrier is lovely but already an inch short to fully protect London due to water rises from global warming over 20 years.  .  

[alland]

I would think that these northeastern coastal towns  in ruin need to put some planning policies in place to to establish whole new zoning standards and master planning to redesign and recreate places in an effort to replace single family homes affected by Hurricane Sandy that were 25 feet from the ocean. We all knew that “one day” a hurricane could take these homes. Our ‘one day’ has come. Now the infrastructure that so badly is needed HAS to be replaced on the dime of the Federal Government. On the eve of Obamas re-election, this is the chance for Planners and Landscape Architects to put their foot in the proverbial door. This is it. Wake up officials….out of tragedy, action is sadly and usually the outcome. 100 year storms are happening every two years. 

[Trace One]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/nyregion/protecting-new-york-city-before-next-time.html?pagewanted=3&ref=nyregion

 

three ideas for Manhattan. Geuss which one our culture can most easily deal with – resotred wetlands or a HUGE GATE!

[Boilerplater]

Honestly I think the pendulum may be swinging in the direction of wetlands and other “soft” strategies.  There is greater general understading of the role of natural systems and how they’ve been altered anthropogenically.  A lot of the people affected know their homes are in risky, vulnerable locations.  They know that barrier islands shift over time.  But they buy homes there because they can, and because it is really nice most of the time.  Flood insurance enables it.  They can get governments to maintain roads to these locations, they can get utilities to service them.  As long as that remains, people will populate the vulnerable locations.  Would they even be able to find the funds to create a huge gate?  Governor Christie stopped the ARC project, another rail tunnel to Manhattan, in his first year with the argument the NJ would have to pay too much of the cost.  If that was in service by now, it might have provided some relief to the traffic nightmares that now exist due to limited PATH service and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel still OOS.  Last friday it took me more than two hours to get from the Bronx to Jersey City.  This is a distance of about 12 miles!  Restored wetlands cost a LOT less.  While the coastal defenses of the Netherlands are effective, they did cause considerable environmental damage.  Regardless, it will be interesting to see what kind of changes come about as a result of the storm.

[Boilerplater]

See? See? See?  The attititudes about wetlands are changing.  Its part of planning for resilience.

http://http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/opinion/forget-sustainability-its-about-resilience.html?pagewanted=2&goback=.gmp_4079228.gde_4079228_member_182719505

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