Phoenix as Everycity: A Closer Look at Sprawl in the Desert - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 261

is one way to help ensure that redevelopment does not just push out lower-income people,
and, for new neighborhoods, inclusionary zonings (zoning that requires a certain portion
be devoted to affordable housing) can also help accomplish it.
The City of Rockville, Maryland, has required subdivisions of 50 or more dwellings to
include moderately priced units as part of their development. In Florida, the state has an
active affordable housing program that takes $0.20 out of a $100 real estate transfer tax and
sets it aside for affordable housing—that amounts to about $200,000 per year. 37
The state of California passed the California Community Redevelopment Law, which
requires private developers to set aside 15% and public agencies to set aside 30% of units
for affordable housing in all redevelopment areas. 39 Minnesota has a voluntary “Innovative
and Inclusionary Housing Program” that provides gap financing and regulatory relief for
builders who set aside 10%-15% of their developments for lower-income families. 40
An important component of community revitalization is promoting infill develop-
ment. This can be done via incentives such as waiving development impact fees, but a
critical component for infill is ensuring that the proper amenities and transportation
are available. For example, Phoenix has opened its first stretch of light rail. Much of
the route within the city itself has seen an increase in mixed-use and higher density
development, and ridership on the light rail line itself has far exceeded projections by
both federal and local agencies. The light rail line opened in December of 2008, and by
February 2009, the average weekday ridership was 35,277, over a third greater than the
26,000 riders Valley METRO (the Maricopa County Public Transportation Agency) had
forecasted. 41 Projects such as this indicate that if further transit options are effectively
integrated into land-use planning for the Greater Phoenix Area, they would be wildly
successful as well.
A number of these “smart growth” ideas have caught on. According to a 2007 survey
done for the National Association of Realtors Ⓡ , “three-fourths of Americans believe public
transportation and smarter development will do more to cure traffic than building new
roads.” In that same survey, 81% said that they wanted to redevelop older areas rather than
building new, and 70% indicated that they were concerned about “loss of open land such
as fields, forests, and deserts.” 42
14.5.5 Effective and Integrated Transportation and Land-Use Planning
With better transportation planning and support of alternative transportation choices like
commuter trains, regular bus service, light rail, and walking and bike paths, vital urban
centers can be developed and encouraged and residents can spend less time behind the
wheel (see Chapter 27). New light rail systems have helped contribute to an increase in
transit use in many communities, including some in the Southwest. Cities such as Denver,
Dallas, and Salt Lake City and at least 10 other places have added new lines or extensions
in the last 5 years (Figure 14.7).
Other large urban areas should develop real regional planning entities similar to the
Metro in Portland, Oregon. The Metro is a regional elected body that serves 3 counties
and 25 cities. Twenty-seven municipalities in the Phoenix area are addressed by the MAG,
including 24 cities and towns, 2 tribal nations, and Maricopa County itself. MAG lacks
any real authority, however, and tends to look out for the parochial interests of individual
cities and serve more as a pass-through for federal highway dollars rather than provide
for regional land-use and transportation planning. Clearly, regional planning for growth
and transportation is imperative. What one of these 24 cities does impacts all others in the
nearby metropolitan area.