Lampson: Panama Canal widening demands smart growth planning here
According to KUHF-88.7, something called the "Economic Action Summit" was held in Pearland (not sure when) to discuss "unplanned growth" in the counties surrounding Houston. You won't be surprised at one person who was present:
A sumit of area mayors and county officials in Pearland provided a forum to discuss future economic development plans for the region.
[snip]
Unplanned growth threatens [!!] the quality of life in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Galveston Counties, but counties have little authority under state law to respond. Predicting that the Houston region will add another 3.5 million people to the 5 million, an Economic Action Summit in Pearland is looking at smart growth, as David Crossley of the Gulf Coast Institute explains.
"What do we actually want this region and out towns and cities to feel like in 30 or 50 years, and then what do we have to do in order to get to that place? What kind of investments do we have to make, what kind of plans?" Ed: "What are the factors that you have to consider, what are the realities?" "Maybe the biggest reality is that we have of a 144 towns and cities that are incorporated places inside these eight counties, with a sort of bare majority of the people living in the towns and cities, and the minority living in the other places where there are no mayors, there are no rules, there are no...and so how do we deal with that in the future if we want to preserve green space, if we want clean air, we want good water, particularly with the counties, as I say, not having the authority to do any planning."
No mayors and no rules? Shoot, there ought to be a law against that! How DO the folks in the unincorporated areas get along, anyway? Well, besides ruining all the green space, clean air, and good water for the city folks.
The story finishes with some rambling quotes from Rep. Nick Lampson who says, among other things, that we need to begin smart growth planning now to be ready for the impact of the Panama Canal widening.
Really.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/08/08 08:06 PM | Print | Comments (9)
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