Suburbs and cities.....the changing cities of America.... (versus, Baltimore, suburban)
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As cities grow and change what type of issues do you here come up? The small city near me, has 45,000 population and has just passed for 2,000 new affordable housing homes to be built. With busines s parks, and other stuff too. So soon the pop will be at 50,000 population.
And we also have a downtown adding taller buildings.
And the reason of course is because of paying for infustructure, traffic, and keeping crime rates low. And luckily the city's economy has alot of engineers, lawyers, doctors, store managers, college professors, cops, and other high paying jobs.
So anything you guys can think of? I also hear keeping local businesses inside downtowns is becoming tough.
In Gaithersburg Maryland population 60,000 and density 5,882 per sq. mile, they have reached the Adequate Public Facilitates cap for schools with widespread overcrowding. It has actually caused a major new urbanism project "Kentlands Downtown" to be delayed. Although, I should say that the reason Gaithersburg reached the cap in the first place is because of all the new urbanist apartment towers and row homes being built everywhere. 7 High schools serve the Gaithersburg area with each having an enrollment between 1,500 and 2,000 students and capacity is definitely an issue with the building boom going on in Gaithersburg. The city has more projects under construction than any other city besides Baltimore in the state of Maryland. Here is the article:
APFO Restricts City Development | The Town Courier (http://www.towncourier.com/2011/08/15/apfo-restricts-city-development/ - broken link)
Within just the past six months, two developers approached Gaithersburg city officials about implementing elements of the Kentlands master plan.
One property owner was interested in building more live-work type units in between the Michael’s and Whole Foods stores. Another was considering a unique residential concept on an office pad site near the Colonnade.
Gaithersburg’s Assistant City Manager Greg Ossont said both property owners were unable to move forward in the planning process because of the city’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), which limits development based on school capacity.
As evident by the portable classrooms on site, Rachel Carson Elementary School is enrolled over-capacity.
“We can’t add one single-family house, one townhouse or one apartment at all,” said Ossont. “None of the Kentlands master plan can be implemented. More than half the city is in residential moratorium.”
City leaders also learned this month that Gaithersburg Elementary has now been added to the growing list of schools enrolled at over 110-percent capacity.
Ossont said the news has “significant implications” for redevelopment of Olde Towne and the Frederick Avenue areas.
In addition to Gaithersburg and Rachel Carson elementary schools, the city’s over capacity list now includes: Strawberry Knolls, Summit Hall, Judith A. Resnick, Brown Station, Jones Lane and Diamond elementary schools; and Wootton High School.
Gaithersburg City Council member Henry Marraffa voted against the APFO when it was adopted in Jan. of 2007 and remains convinced the ordinance, which is more stringent than Montgomery County’s APFO, hurts Gaithersburg. “People have to live somewhere,” he said.
Ossont said amending the city’s ordinance is one possibility.
“If we changed it to be consistent to Montgomery County, then it would take care of all of these issues,” he said.
When asked what he thinks, Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz said local leaders need to have a comprehensive discussion about the issue as soon as possible.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 08-26-2011 at 11:15 PM..
I guess some things that run through people's mind for suburbs and cities are:
-affordable housing
-traffic congestion
-crime (some crime is related to gangs, other because of a college drinking problem, etc...)
-generating tax revenue (usually shopping centers and downtown businesses and economic drivers)
-downtown height
-public transportation (is it through out the city)
-eminant domain
-redevelopment versus revitilization
-small business and large business balance
-homeless (are the shelters full? are the facilities good?)
-political corruption (are their hidden agendas for elected officials who got money and support from other parties)
-sprawl (are the new housing developments draining resources?)
I guess some things that run through people's mind for suburbs and cities are:
-affordable housing
-traffic congestion
-crime (some crime is related to gangs, other because of a college drinking problem, etc...)
-generating tax revenue (usually shopping centers and downtown businesses and economic drivers)
-downtown height
-public transportation (is it through out the city)
-eminant domain
-redevelopment versus revitilization
-small business and large business balance
-homeless (are the shelters full? are the facilities good?)
-political corruption (are their hidden agendas for elected officials who got money and support from other parties)
-sprawl (are the new housing developments draining resources?)
Most of the schools are in unincorporated parts of Gaithersburg. The school district lines divide the city population. Gaithersburg has a program called MPDU that provides workforce housing or moderate priced dwelling units. Gaithersburg is home to the award winning first successful new urbanism community called Kentlands. The city has a smart growth philosophy and are redeveloping the city shopping center into mixed use mid rises. The new urbanism developments are mostly on the west side of the city preparing for the corridor cities transit way light rail line which will have 8 stops in Gaithersburg. This is a link to the redevelopment going on in the city:
What I see more and more is areas outside the cities incorporatig to prevent cities form anneing them. The changing democrgraphic of bommers retiring and movig wil eman alot of chnages to where americans live and they wilt ake many jobs to service them with them.mnay older smaller towns with little inductial growign zone are comig to life more and more as boomers retire.
What I see more and more is areas outside the cities incorporatig to prevent cities form anneing them. The changing democrgraphic of bommers retiring and movig wil eman alot of chnages to where americans live and they wilt ake many jobs to service them with them.mnay older smaller towns with little inductial growign zone are comig to life more and more as boomers retire.
What I see more and more is people who can't spell or proofread. Seriously, though, most suburbs in IL were incorporated to prevent nearby suburbs from annexing them. The aging of Boomers will temporarily cause schools to close and be converted to other uses, until they die off and new families move in.
Most of the schools are in unincorporated parts of Gaithersburg. The school district lines divide the city population. Gaithersburg has a program called MPDU that provides workforce housing or moderate priced dwelling units. Gaithersburg is home to the award winning first successful new urbanism community called Kentlands. The city has a smart growth philosophy and are redeveloping the city shopping center into mixed use mid rises. The new urbanism developments are mostly on the west side of the city preparing for the corridor cities transit way light rail line which will have 8 stops in Gaithersburg. This is a link to the redevelopment going on in the city:
As cities grow and change what type of issues do you here come up? The small city near me, has 45,000 population and has just passed for 2,000 new affordable housing homes to be built. With busines s parks, and other stuff too. So soon the pop will be at 50,000 population.
And we also have a downtown adding taller buildings.
And the reason of course is because of paying for infustructure, traffic, and keeping crime rates low. And luckily the city's economy has alot of engineers, lawyers, doctors, store managers, college professors, cops, and other high paying jobs.
So anything you guys can think of? I also hear keeping local businesses inside downtowns is becoming tough.
well, it's certainly not a new problem, but when the majority of businesses that cater to consumers (grocery stores, department stores, shopping centers, etc.) move out of the city, the city starts to become more and more like a crime-ridden pit.
That happened in the city I go to college in. Many of the white people who lived close to downtown moved into the suburban community next door. And now that end of the city is mostly non-caucasian races.
And crime is high in that area. Mostly latino gang organized gang activity.
The small city or college town near to me is a college town, so it's mostly caucasian and asian like most college towns. And it's also has a lot of middle and upper middle class families due to it be a desireful area.
am i the only one who can't make heads or tails of this thread?
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