Newspaper Page Text
by TOM TOMORROW
* atsMc&uii **»' 0
m
Ward Healing: Savannah has been highly
regarded, more or less since its founding, for
the elegance of its urban plan'. However,
it's a place that must truly be experienced to
be understood and appreciated. Perhaps that
lack of experience with truly successful models
is one source of our local apathy regarding
good planning. Visiting Savannah recently
and experiencing it by foot, bike and car, it
was incredible to see how this city has, over
its nearly 300 years, evolved to handte all
sorts of new challenges, and to integrate so
many different kinds of uses and movement so
seamlessly.
The key unit of Savannah is the ward, of
which the square Is the centerpofnt The
relationship between space and architecture,
nature and city, is rarely so well integrated in
the American landscape, and
while the squares were origi
nally militia parade grounds,
they have become green jewels.
Indeed, the "garden city" iden
tity of Savannah has always
been there to some degree,
with the original plan for the
city's larger area also setting
aside neat agricultural plots
each ward.
The average ward measures
out at a little over eight acres,
with a square of around one
acre in the middle. It's cr-
tainly interesting to compare
this flexible unit to similarly
scaled projects here at home.
The network of streets also
performs quite well as
infrastructure, subtly providing
on-street parking for around
200 cars per ward, not includ
ing those that park in the
alleys. That the centuries-old
Oglethorpe plan is capable of
storing so many vehicles with
out creating any parking lots
or overtly impacting the qual
ity of the squares or buildings
is a lesson modem planners
and developers would do well
to consider, as they attempt
to solve current infrastructure
issues with single-use solu
tions'. It's also remarkable that the contours
of the grid mandate buildings that are well
served by windows on all sides, keeping them
well-lit and breezy, and putting more eyes on
the street It's interesting to think that the
average student apartment complex is similar
to a Savannah ward in area, scale and square
footage, and yet fails so horribly to produce
an environment of any quality.
Ultimately, Savannah's plan is an egalitar
ian and nonhierarchical one, and that makes it
eminently adaptable to other contexts, includ
ing ones like ours. Although we shouldn't nec
essarily stamp out wards in the same manner,
the principles upon which those solutions are
based-connectivity, self-contained neighbor
hoods and well-scaled streets and buildings—
are ones that do apply. The scale of urban
development relative to the street grid appar
ently hasn't changed in the last 300 years,
and perhaps we could develop our own local
module: a prescriptive approach that would
steer development, whether medical offices
or student apartment complexes or mixed-use
supercenters, towards a more compatible and
connected form. — . , *'= v
A Transit Solution?: I recently caught
Megabus to Atlanta, and it's interesting to
consider, in light of so many debates about
commuter rail and subsidized air travel to
Atlanta, just what it means for regional trans
portation. This company's growing network
is based on a very minimalist approach, with
direct routes, online booking and no-frills
stops. It does fill a long-debated niche,
namely affordable and quick transit service
to Atlanta, at least for the occasional rider. I
wonder how the service will evolve, though,
and whether it will provide a viable alterna
tive to the federally subsidized air service to
Hartsfield from Athens, or to airport shuttles.
Likewise, will the company be able to tap into
a commuter market, serving daily travelers
headed into Atlanta?
no ngnts-or-way to purchase and only cables to hang rather than
tracks or pavement to lay, creative solutions like this aerial tram in
Portland may be only a sample of what post-recession transit solutions
look like.
The practicality and ingenuity of transit
solutions in other parts of the world with lim
ited resources, especially South America, has
always fascinated me. That continent's nations
have produced innovative approaches, includ
ing the now commonplace bus rapid transit
model, as well as more recent aerial tram and
gondola lift systems, which are more familiar
here as a ski resort feature than as a part
of the urban transport system (Portland and
Manhattan providing the only two American
exceptions). I wonder: can we expect a more
complex network of public and private trans
portation options in this post-recession era
of high fuel costs and shrinking government
budgets, especially given our state's inability
come up with any solution other than a sales
tax to build more highways?
Megabus' American operations began in
2006, and given that the company has grown
so much during the course of this recession,
perhaps we'll be seeing other new business
models for alternative transportation as the
economy warms back up.
Kevan Williams 3thensrising@fiagpole.com
How long does it take for the Legislature
to adopt a tax revision plan? As we saw last
week, it does not take very long. The tax plan
known as HB 386 was released to the public
Monday morning at a joint committee meeting
where lawmakers spenc a few minutes giv
ing a quick overview of the bill's provisions.
When House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams
asked to see the fiscal models that were used
to determine the impact of the tax changes,
Rep. Mickey ChanneU (R-Greensboro) curtly
responded, "We don't have that available right
now."
The joint committee met again Tuesday
morning for less than 10 minutes to vote the
bill out. When Senate Minority Leader
Steve Henson asked why this bill had
suddenly appeared so late in the
session. House Majority Leader
Larry O'Neal enlightened him.
"We're late in the session,"
O'Neal explained, "because it has
taken this much time."
The House passed the bill that
same afternoon, then rushed it
over to the Senate, where it was
unanimously adopted on Thursday
and sent to Gov. Nathan Deal's desk.
Boom-boom-boom: it was done and over
that quickly.
Will the revision be a good thing for the
state and its citizens? Nobody really knows.
The leadership wanted to get the bill out
before anyone had a chance to read it very
closely. Lawmakers wanted to pass something
they could call "tax reform" when they are „
running for reelection this year, and that's
what they did.
"It means our state is more competitive and
is a state where we can grow jobs," Deal said.
Actually, numbers released by the state
Labor Department on the morning of the
Senate vote refuted those job growth assump
tions. Labor Commissioner Mark Butler dis
closed that Georgia's unemployment rate
dropped to 9.1 percent in February, the lowest
rate in three years. "We created 15,600 jobs;
lots of unemployed Georgians went back to
work, and fewer people were laid off," Butler
said.
Georgia's economy has turned around,
and jobs have been growing for the past few
months, in the absence of any new tax breaks
passed by the Legislature.
HB 386 was supposed to be a compre
hensive overhaul of the state's antiquated
tax code, but it became an odd collection of
tax breaks and tax increases. There are some
tax changes that Georgians will undoubtedly
enjoy. The yearly property tax due when auto
license tags are renewed will eventually be
replaced by a one-time title fee of 7 percent
paid at the time of the vehicle purchase.
Anyone who buys a car will surely
approve of that
The tax change that could have
the largest long-term impact is
the requirement for retailers like
Amazon to collect sales taxes on
merchandise Itiey sell over the
Internet.
People who buy stuff online
are going to be paying higher
taxes, because this is definitely a
tax increase. Given the growing trend
towards Internet shopping, this could eventu
ally become one of Georgia's biggest sources
of tax revenue. This was also a part of the tax
bill that irked the tea party factions.
"We got this bill yesterday afternoon,"
conservative activist Kay Godwin complained
before the House passed it on Tuesday. "We
had less than 24 hours to look at it before it
will be voted upon."
Godwin wasn't the only one who didn't *
have time to review this complex piece of
legislation. There were a lot of legislators who
were in the same boat with her.
Tom Cravrtonf tcrawlord@gareport.com
Tom Crawford is editor of The Georgia Report, an
Internet news service at gareport.com that reports on
government and politics in Georgia.
TW» MWIM mu
I' LAWS AX£| I
^ I
rrs racist euvMA/rrEftr, coomep
imo LAW.
SO WHAT If A HACK
<*o*r#*>5 y<k# m
OUT WITH A
HAW! WHAT
AH IMA6I-
HATMH VOU
Jv/
6 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 28,2012
KEVAN WILLIAMS