|
|
Ventura
County Civic Alliance
Livable
Communities Newsletter
|
|
|
2011 1st Quarter,
Number 17
|
February 2011
|
|
|
|
Welcome
to Our Winter
2011 Livable
Communities
Newsletter!!
We
think that you
will find
this edition
of our
newsletter
both
interesting
and
thought-provoking.
We
begin this
edition with
a review of
one of the
most
interesting
projects we
have seen
since we
started
writing our
newsletter
over 4 years
ago. The new
WAV project in
Downtown
Ventura is
more that a
well designed
building. It
is an entire
community that
captures many
aspects of
what the 10
tenets of
livable
communities are
intended to
accomplish.
Next,
we turn to a
subject we
have been
following for
years that is
now at a
critical point
in its
development
and
contribution
to our
community: The
Compact for a
Sustainable
Ventura
County.
Results at the
conclusion of
Phase 2 of
this work are
highlighted
as part of the
starting point
for the Alliance's series of community
dialogues in
which the
findings of
the
Compact will
be shared,
discussed, and
refined over
this year.
In
our third
report, our
guest writer
Paul Crabtree,
PE, CNU starts
preparing us
for a future
review of the
impact of the
new MS4 permit
that is
currently
being
implemented in
Ventura. In
this edition
of the
newsletter,
Paul takes us
through the
fundamentals
of proper
rainwater
handling in
land use
planning as he
ties these
practices to
the 10 tenets
of livable
communities.
Finally, Ed Lacey asks us
to think
strategically about
long
term impacts
to our
community's
sustainability
in light of
significant
shifts that
have taken
place in our
economy over
the last five
years.
Let
us know what
you think
about this
quarter's
coverage and
what you would
like to see
discussed in
future
editions.
Stacy Roscoe and Dao Doan
 
|
|
The WAV
- Working Artists of
Ventura
by
Dao Doan
and
Katrina
Maksimuk
San
Buenaventura, as the
City of Ventura is
officially known, is a
mecca for many surfers.
They come from all
corners of the state
with the hope of
catching that "perfect"
wave at California
Street. Then there is
another WAV that
"crashed" onto our shore
not too long ago, a
four-story building
completed in 2009,
appropriately named The
WAV (Working Artists of
Ventura). It is a mixed
used building designed
for local artists.
The WAV
was originally conceived
in the early 2000's by
PLACE (Projects Linking
Arts Community and
Environment), a 501(C)3
non-profit organization
headed by Chris Velasco,
President, together in a
50/50 partnership with
The John Stewart
Company, a California
housing management and
development company.
The objective was to
provide much needed
housing affordable to
local artists, with
emphasis on new emerging
artists during a time
when housing prices were
starting to spiral out
of control. To the
city's credit, the
council had an early
recognition of the role
artists play in the
local economy, and of
the enrichment they add
to the city's cultural
heritage. It would be a
shame, indeed, if
artists left the
community because they
couldn't afford to live
here.
|
|
UPDATE:
The Compact for a
Sustainable Ventura
County
By
Mary Ann Krause and
Sandy Smith
Through a
process of identifying
key regional challenges
and solutions for our
future, the Ventura
County Civic Alliance
has been working to
promote a more
sustainable future for
Ventura County since its
inception as a regional
civic collaborative in
2001. Since January of
2007, the Alliance has
been engaged in an
effort to address one of
those challenges: How
do we maintain our
quality of life within
sustainable principles
given the fact that the
county is projected to
grow to 1,000,000
residents sometime near
the middle of this
century? The Compact
for a Sustainable
Ventura County will
serve as the blueprint
for a strategy to allow
that growth while
protecting our quality
of life by focusing
dialogue through the
prism of the three E's:
Economy, Environment,
and Social Equity.
 
The
Compact for a
Sustainable Ventura
Steering Committee,
composed of
representatives of the
Ventura Council of
Governments (VCOG),
the Ventura County
Transportation
Commission (VCTC), and
the Ventura County
Civic Alliance (VCCA),
has now led the draft
Compact through two
phases. In Phase 1 and
Phase 2, information
was gathered through a
series of mapping
exercises spread
throughout the
County. This data was
then compiled, and a
series of public
workshops was
scheduled throughout
the County.
Participants at these
gatherings were
provided a keypad
voting device which
allowed them to
provide immediate
feedback on the
findings of the
mapping exercises. A
Phase 2 draft report
was then prepared
detailing the findings
of this public effort.
See
What Ventura County
Residents Feel About
Managing Future
Growth in the County
|
|
Principles
of Smart Growth and
Their Corresponding
Rainwater Do's and
Don'ts
By guest
writer Paul Crabtree,
PE, CNU
Smart
growth is an
urban planning and
transportation theory
that concentrates growth
in the center of a an
urban area to avoid
urban sprawl; and
advocates compact,
transit-oriented,
walkable,
bicycle-friendly land
use, including
neighborhood schools,
complete streets, and
mixed-use development
with a range of housing
choices. Smart growth
is an alternative to
urban sprawl, traffic
congestion, disconnected
neighborhoods, and urban
decay. As this
quarter's guest writer,
Paul Crabtree attempts
to lay a rainwater
policy base for a
general audience, before
a future review of
important sustainability
issues relative to
handling water in future
land use planning as
required in Ventura's
new MS4 permit that is
currently being
implemented.
|
|
|
Will A Tough
Economy Trump
Livability?
By Ed Lacey
 
As
proponents of the 10
Tenets of Livable
Communities the
Ventura County Civic
Alliance has worked
to promote these
planning guidelines
throughout Ventura
County and to
highlight projects
that exemplify one
or more of these
Tenets. However,
during the more than
four years that our
Livable Communities
Working Group has
functioned, our
economy has
undergone a change
of seismic
proportions - a
change which is
bound to impact
almost every aspect
of community life
and which cannot be
ignored as we strive
to make our
communities truly
livable.
Read
More About Why We
Should Not Loose
Sight of the Goal
of Livable
Communities in
Today's Economic
Situation
|
|
 The
Southern California
Gas Company Supports
the Civic Alliance
The
Ventura County Civic
Alliance recognizes
Southern California
Gas Company as our
latest
Visionary Sponsor.
We appreciate their
support for our
Compact Phase II
project which
combines the efforts
of VCOG, VCTC,
VCAPCD, SCAG and the
Civic Alliance to
look at long-term
sustainability
issues in the
region. Thank you!
|
|
|
|
|
