How zoning aimed at eliminating sprawl caused sprawl
In 1997, Ames began the Somerset
development. The stated objective was to
avoid urban sprawl which was apparently threatening to engulf our community of
just less than 50,000 inhabitants. The
development was intended to follow a village concept: high density housing
reminiscent of brownstones, walk-ups or semi-detached housing commonly found in
east coast cities. The village would
include businesses. Resident would walk
to these businesses, to the local school that would be built to serve the many
children in the village, to the parks and other green spaces.
Skeptics at the time pointed out that small towns such as
Ames did not have the population base to support numerous local business
centers, that residents wanted to raise their children in houses with yards and
not next door to bars, and that high density apartment living in urban areas
was in fact inferior to living in one's own home. The reason individuals in New York live in apartments is not because
they prefer them. No one save the late Fricks could
afford a house with a yard in New York
City.
Nevertheless, such skeptics were quickly dismissed as
development-minded, free market capitalists incapable of supporting the
environment.
Ten years later, the part of Somerset that still reflects its original
plan is a Potemkin village.1 The condominiums and apartments filled slowly
and businesses did not flock to fill the quaint storefronts. These businesses turned out not to be local
shops meeting the needs of Somerset residents as there were not enough Somerset
residents with needs to meet. Instead,
customers drive to these stores and make use of convenient parking hidden
behind the Potemkin storefronts. Even
after ten years, a weed-filled empty lot sits adjacent to the Café (which is a
great restaurant frequented by customers who make use of the terrific
parking). Half of Somerset looked like a landfill. Beautiful urban neighborhood scenes are
overlooked by large piles of dirt as if we had reclaimed an abandoned open pit
mine.
Immediately outside of Somerset,
we have housing developments that have filled in rapidly over the same period
that Somerset
has languished. Many of these houses are
owned by people who commute to Ames. One imagines that these houses might have
even been in the Somerset area, in close
proximity to jobs, schools and shops, but instead they are part of the sprawl
around Ames. Only recently has Somerset started to fill in. Ironically, the recent rapid expansion is in
the form of the owner-occupied housing that was not part of the original
Somerset design.
Ames has paid a heavy price
for Somerset. Tax dollars were used to encourage businesses
to set up there, some of which relocated from other business areas. Other new businesses might have been located
in the older Ames
business centers instead of creating yet another place we have to drive
to. A large chunk of developable land
has remained vacant which has lowered our property tax base. The development has had few children,
contributing to the necessity of closing schools, and the planned Somerset school remains a
vacant lot. Meanwhile, immediately
outside the boundaries, we have the most rapidly growing segment of the tax
base supporting the growing Gilbert school district.
Drive, walk or bike through the Somerset
development, look at Ames,
and then look north and west. Derive
your own conclusions about whether Somerset
has eliminated or exacerbated sprawl.
Then consider that the Ames City Council is actually considering doing
another Somerset-like development.
Addendum:
Individuals have asked why we have so many new apartment
complexes in Ames. The answer is that under the land use plan, we
subsidize the development of high density dwellings at the expense of
owner-occupied housing. Developers agree
to devote the ground floor to commercial space and then get a tax reduction for
the property. As a consequence, Ames has a surplus of
office and commercial space which is driving down the rents in our traditional
business areas such as Campustown or Main Street. We also have many vacant buildings. Most towns have to grow and then shrink
before they have vacant storefronts. We
subsidize the development of new vacant storefronts.
Figure 1: What Somerset
was designed to look like. Source http://www.architectsrld.com/proj%20somerset.htm
Planned high density housing now being built as detached
houses.
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Somerset
School: Relocated to
Gilbert
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