Let’s play SimVirginia! Cooch plays coy with tainted funds, and Norfolk enjoys public art and maritime jobs.

Plans to fix aging roads remain on the horizon

State transportation officials, the people paid to think about how to make our roads better, have come up with a figure of $4.7 billion as the number of dollars it will take to “fix” our roads. Presumably they are looking at the transportation issue as a problem to be solved by counting how many cars are on the roads currently, plus any extra cars they predict will be added in the next decade or so. Presumably this is a large number, indicating that our roads must (of course!) be expanded, extended, widened, smoothed and enhanced.

The problem here is not an engineering one, but a cultural one and it arises because of sprawl. When everyone is convinced that he only way to live comfortably is on a quarter-acre plot, then suburbs have to grow and grow, and with them, the demand for roads. The other component of the transportation problem is zoning. Allowing for medium density development in areas that were primarily rural erases open space, pushes farms farther away from the city, and puts increasing amounts of traffic on roads that were meant more for tractors and pickups than for SUVs and sedans. Pretty soon these SUV-drivers start demanding better transportation infrastructure.

Photo | EA

Imagine you are the mayor of SimVirginia, an imaginary computer game similar to the popular SimCity games. Your job is to manage the state toward economic success. Your primary power is the ability to declare “zones” where certain types of development are allowed. You start by following the current cultural trend and you create vast swaths of medium-density residential zones outside of your cities. You smile as the houses start popping up in your happy suburban paradise. But then the little roads start to clog up. You find yourself draining your coffers of SimBucks as you struggle to widen, lengthen and repave all the roads you now need, as well as stretching your electricity and sewer grids, building far-flung schools, police and fire departments, and taking care of the other demands of this voracious population.

Now imagine that you change course. You stop zoning new suburbs. Instead, you start redeveloping your cities, replacing the low density industrial zones with high-density residential. You build parks. You designate commercial zones. In little time, high-rise business and apartment buildings start to pop up. Soon after that, the roads in your city begin to clog, just like the ones in the suburbs.

This time you know what to do. You create a central rail hub in your downtown, and you send rail lines into the suburbs. You zone for mini-cities, higher-density residential and commercial zones, to surround the train stations in the ‘burbs. You watch as the traffic patterns change. Of course, your little SimPeople still drive on the roads, but in increasing numbers they now keep their cars in the driveway, and take the trains to work.

The counterintuitive lesson of this zoning exercise is this: spreading people out in suburbs creates more traffic, while concentrating people in smaller urban areas creates less, as long as that concentration is centered around effective mass transit. This has been a long and pedantic ramble, I admit, but I’m always amazed by the number of people who don’t see it this way, who seem to think that we can go on spreading and expanding indefinitely. I’m more likely to align with the kooky but convincing James Howard Kunstler who has declared that “the days of happy motoring are over.” Suburbanization has to stop. Let’s find a better way to spend $4.7 billion dollars. Let’s drive less.

McDonnell to give up donation from scrutinized veterans group

The interesting part of this story is not that McDonnell is giving $5000 back to a dodgy political action group, declaring that “it’s the right thing to do.” Oh, no. The interesting part is that Ken Cuccinelli plans to keep the $55,000 he received from the same group. When asked why he did not plan to follow the governor’s lead, Cuccinelli said, “We don’t assume someone is guilty based on circumstances that are out of the ordinary.” First, I love that he has starting referring to himself as “we.” Second, WTF? I can’t even parse the rest of that sentence. But whatever he means, it doesn’t seem to mesh with other recent actions of the AG’s office, such as his decision to pursue legal action against climate scientist Michael Mann.

I decided that Cuccinelli is evil a few months ago, and he’s done nothing but encourage me in that belief ever since.

Explore how public art and inspiration intertwine

Photo | artfuldistricts

The committed and creative people behind Alt Daily should be very interested in this one. Artful Districts, a statewide conference on public art, will be held in Norfolk on May 27 and 28. The 2-day event will explore “how public art can bring meaning to a community and lift residents spirits.” Speakers will include Raymond L. Gindroz, co-founder and principal emeritus of Urban Design Associates; Kent Bloomer, designer, sculptor, and fabricator of Ornament in Architecture; TED Fellow Naomi Natale, founder and director of One Million Bones and The Cradle Project; and Arts Commissioners from Norfolk, Alexandria and Roanoke, Virginia.

Maritime job fair to be held Thursday in Virginia Beach

At last week’s Downtown 100 event about brain drain in Greater Norfolk, one subject that came up again and again was the lack of good jobs in our area. Another theme was the need to forge an identity that includes our downtown, the military, and the ports. Well, folks, here’s a chance to see what’s available in the maritime job market. I think Alt Daily should definitely go cover this event. I want to see some pictures, and I want to know something about the maritime jobs that must be all around us.

Vote Now Against Offshore Drilling in Chesapeake Region

Allow me to introduce you to a great blog that covers environmental issues here in the Chesapeake region. Bay Daily writer Tom Pelton is a journalism veteran and he now blogs for the Chesapeake Bay foundation. Today’s top story is a link to a poll at the Daily Press. Go register your opinion about offshore drilling. And don’t forget to check back to read Bay Daily for links to environmental coverage and local calls to action.