By Jasmine Vazin
Ripple Effects of Urban Structure
The American dream has been portrayed since the post-war period to include a large house with a sizable yard and white picket fence, located in a perfectly manufactured suburban neighborhood. The American morning consisted of homeowners rushing out the door to speed away on their commute to work in the city, on repeat twice a day, everyday, until they retired. Many U.S. families now have two parents working and children in school, and these giant houses in the suburbs sit empty for a majority of the lives we lead, and there's often at least two cars per family to be able to keep up with our ever-busier schedules.
Since the flight of the upper and middle class to the suburbs, the American urban landscape has completely changed, with crumbling urban centers surrounded by sprawling neighborhoods being the norm. This history of sprawl not only created vast economic and racial inequalities, it has decimated our environment. Ecosystems have been completely wiped out, city water is polluted or is dwindling, and urban air is harming the health of millions nationwide. Our roads are congested and the number of commuters is at a critical mass in all major cities. Green spaces and wilderness are in short supply in many major urban centers, threatening or contributing to the extinction of American wildlife and the biodiversity that supports us.
But this shift hasn’t just changed our cities and our environment, it’s changed us. We spend our lives in our homes, in our cars, at our jobs, and back again, with little exposure to outside air and nature unless we make the concerted effort to do so. Anxiety and depression are on the rise nationwide, but both have been shown to be mitigated by exposure to green spaces and nature. We are more disconnected from each other than ever before, with 35% of Americans over 45 reporting being physically isolated and chronically lonely.
The current status quo of urban design forgets that humans are by nature nomadic and social animals, we have evolved to interact with one another and travel about (but not in cars) to meet our basic needs. Even the seemingly mundane interactions with our world and each other can ground us and make us happier.
“[Talking to his wife about going to buy an envelope] Oh, she says well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope.
I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And ask a woman what kind of dog that is. I don't know...
And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. What the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we're not supposed to dance at all anymore.”
- Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without A Country
The Smart Growth Solution
Urban spaces that provide seamless public transit, dense mixed-income housing, walkable streets, and green spaces provide a community structure that favors interaction with our surroundings rather than isolated movement throughout our lives. Smart Growth is a well studied and applicable model for urban planning, and in the face of climate change we have everything to gain in revolutionizing urban development now.
Catherine Cortez Masto has released a bill draft that proposes to sprawl Las Vegas by 42,000 acres (that's 1.5 times the size of San Francisco). Washoe county is pursing similar legislation without any mention of climate change or sustainable development requirements. This business-as-usual approach to growth is contributing to the climate, pollution, congestion and social woes mentioned above. We can do better by mandating sustainable planning regimes in all new developments in Nevada. Smart growth principles offer the solutions we need to ensure a better future, but this planning needs to be done in a thoughful, responsible manner and not be overshadowed by bill timelines or developer interests. We don't have time to wait. Both Washoe and Clark legislative processes are opportunities to begin implementing these changes now.
The Clean Transportation For All Campaign is working to revise these bills and advocate for a healthier, more sustainable future, and our cities need your input in developing a new vision for what Nevada could be:
- Our state suffers from some of the worst air quality in the nation, but ozone and carbon monoxide pollution would begin disappearing almost immediately if we make public transit a central mode of movement through our lives.
- If we build denser, more efficient housing options in our cities, electricity and water use will decrease while creating community spaces for us to congregate and more easily socialize.
- Using mass transit can turn our commutes into time for us to catch up on reading, planning our days, or relaxing before our daily work begins, instead of the mad dash to make it to work in the drudgery of rush hour traffic.
We can change how our lives impact the planet and ourselves through advocating for a holistic change to our current urban planning paradigms. Smart growth has been applied in communities around the country. Nevada can follow suit if we create a grassroots movement advocating for a sustainable and equitable future. YOU can help design a healthier, more liveable future for our communities.
How You Can Help
Sign up to volunteer. We will inform you of opportunities to engage around these issues as they come up in the future. By taking action around climate, transportation and urban development, we can create a beautiful future for everyone.
We will be planning events to engage our communities in shaping these trends. Join the conversation to help us establish our priorities. Help form our campaign initiatives and organize within our community!
If you’re interested, contact the Clean Transportation For All Organizer Jasmine Vazin at Jasmine.Vazin@Sierraclub.org.