How do Urban Planners feel about Property Rights (highway, downtown, Detroit)
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First off I am not an urban planner. I live in Albuquerque. My concern is how urban planner present themselves to others.
I have watched some videos on urban planning and sometimes it appears that some urban planners can be arrogant. I also have some friends that speak negatively of this profession.
Aren't property rights considered in urban planning. I just have this terrible feeling that some urban planning people would tear down "blighted" (not really) housing just to make gentrified housing and walkable neighborhoods or whatever regardless of what the current residents want.
I don't want to broad-brush a profession but I cringe at some of the arrogance people have in some of the you tube videos I have watched on the subject.
I am doing my best to keep the conversation civil. Does anybody get this feedback?
When dealing with urban planners in my city, (as a resident, not in a professional way; I haven't dealt with urban planners at my job) it was always at community meetings, where the planner was mostly concerned with what the residents in the room wanted, when creating community/neighborhood plans.
They consider it to some degree. Sometimes a highway is routed around an important property, e.g. a cathedral. In many cases, though, it is ignored completely, as when Detroit bought, and sometimes condemned, property in "Poletown" so GM could build a new plant back in the 80's.
When dealing with urban planners in my city, (as a resident, not in a professional way; I haven't dealt with urban planners at my job) it was always at community meetings, where the planner was mostly concerned with what the residents in the room wanted, when creating community/neighborhood plans.
A big complaint in my area is that they hold these meetings, then do what they want.
Sadly, this is what I thought. I have been to some "developer meeting" where they ignored the residents opinions/complaints and built what they wanted anyway.
Maybe they can stick to playing Simcity. I was hoping to get a different viewpoint by posing a neutral open question, but I guess arrogance runs deep in that profession.
First off I am not an urban planner. I live in Albuquerque. My concern is how urban planner present themselves to others.
I have watched some videos on urban planning and sometimes it appears that some urban planners can be arrogant. I also have some friends that speak negatively of this profession.
Aren't property rights considered in urban planning. I just have this terrible feeling that some urban planning people would tear down "blighted" (not really) housing just to make gentrified housing and walkable neighborhoods or whatever regardless of what the current residents want.
I don't want to broad-brush a profession but I cringe at some of the arrogance people have in some of the you tube videos I have watched on the subject.
I am doing my best to keep the conversation civil. Does anybody get this feedback?
My experience with "urban planners" has been entirely bad. They came into our city in the 1960s and trashed more than half of our architectural heritage and put an end to our downtown area as a commercial center. They have plotted various civic projects and always condemn more land than they need, so they can sell it back to commercial investors at greatly increased prices, after the adjoining projects raise its value.
They have no regard for personal rights or interests, when they set their sights on pieces of land. The Highway Dept. in my state does the same thing, when they want a new section of roadway, to move traffic faster. That's all they consider and will destroy residential neighborhoods with impunity. Often, there are very good, undeveloped alternative routes, but they won't consider them, just to block any sense among people, that their imperial power can be challenged.
Our regional transit district has become the worst offender in this, in their ramming of rapid-transit routes through the town. Businesses and homes have been heavily impacted and long rows of giant, century-old trees removed. The resulting "rapid" service costs huge amounts of money and in my case, slows my travel by bus, compared to the old, standard system.
In my experience urban planners themselves make none of the big decisions. Their recommendations will go before the relevant commission (zoning/plattting, design, historical, etc.) where the plans will be voted on before going to the city council which is full of elected officials the citizens put in there. In other words the people only have themselves to blame except in the rare case a planner goes rogue, in which case there are appeals.
Not sure about the condemning of property to sell back to investors. In my city the old airport was converted to houses and businesses in a master planned community (Mueller) that has been a great success. I think Denver did the same with their old airport.
As far as respect for property rights I do see this coming up but more in overzealous zoning (again with the blessing of city council) and mandates for affordable housing. I think Santa Monica, CA wants to make inclusionary zoning mandatory, which is forcing developers to sell some units at a loss. I'm not too fond of this.
Now that I think about it the biggest stick against private property owners in downtown Austin are not planners or even city officials, but rather the state of Texas which enforces "Capitol View Corridors" that limit building heights over a large part of downtown.
Last edited by verybadgnome; 08-13-2017 at 08:31 PM..
In my experience urban planners themselves make none of the big decisions. Their recommendations will go before the relevant commission (zoning/plattting, design, historical, etc.) where the plans will be voted on before going to the city council which is full of elected officials the citizens put in there. In other words the people only have themselves to blame except in the rare case a planner goes rogue, in which case there are appeals.
Right.
When I worked as a city planner we were staff to the standing commissions: Planning & Zoning, Board of Adjustment, Preservation, etc. Citizens and developers brought projects for approval by the commissions and everything went to the city council. There were several layers of hearings and citizens were given opportunities to support or oppose projects. Many times we were left talking amongst ourselves because nobody showed up at hearing to oppose a project. We had a minor enforcement role in monitoring projects to make sure they were following the approved plans and conformed to city codes (parking spaces, shade trees, signage, ect.) but other departments (code enforcement) did most of that enforcement work along with building inspectors.
The most contentious issues were often related to preservation and how to manage abandoned structures that fell into city ownership. Some absentee owners allowed property to deteriorate -- demolition by neglect -- and the city took steps to preserve or demolish derelict buildings. Neighborhood property values are at risk. In some instances property owners (70% of property owners) requested a neighborhood be designated as a conservation district to establish guidelines preserving the nature and appearance of a neighborhood. City Planners don't go out willy-nilly creating work for themselves.
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