Suburban sprawl and development do not help build more affordable housing
In his Nov. 27 op-ed, Barry Saturday used the excuse of racial justice to rally against Lexington’s Comprehensive Plan, rural farmland preservation, and, of all things, buses. Setting aside the issues of yet another white man explaining what is good for minorities, I’m instead going to address his poor arguments for how we should address our housing shortage. While it is very true that we have a housing shortage, the way he proposes addressing it is unsustainable and will only hurt Lexington in the long run.
Mr. Saturday advocates for solving our housing shortage by expanding the Urban Service Boundary and opening up more farmland for residential and commercial development. This was typically how Lexington and a majority of the US grew after World War II. It has also been proven to be incredibly short sighted and unsustainable in the long run. Suburban sprawl and car dependence doesn’t pay for itself. Any taxes raised from new residents and businesses are overshadowed by the increased costs to provide them with city services. We need to leverage our existing infrastructure and build more housing where we already provide services, especially with the dire budget situation that we are in now.
It’s not just the cost either. Allowing our neighborhoods to grow makes small businesses more viable and brings vibrancy to the neighborhoods. Corner stores, barbers, cafes, and other small businesses that give life to a neighborhood need enough people within walking distance to survive. It also benefits neighborhood traffic when people don’t have to hop in the car for every little errand, perhaps even saving some the cost of owning a car.
Speaking of traffic, those added cars and that spread out development leads to more of it. It’s simple geometry, we have limited road space available and having every person in their own 50 sqft takes up too much of it. Even ride-hailing, which Mr. Saturday suggests that the city should subsidize, has been shown, by a local UK professor no less, to actually increase traffic congestion. And, since Mr. Saturday has couched this as a social justice issue, we cannot ignore their issues with handicap accessibility and racial discrimination, with one study finding that having an African-American-sounding name doubled the chances of a driver canceling the trip.
Fortunately, we have a mode of transportation that disproportionately serves the poor and minorities, while also moving people significantly more efficiently, Lextran. Lextran most certainly has its problems, but it still had 4.5 million passenger trips last year, that hardly seems “unproductive”. When public transit is adequately funded and roads are designed to give it priority, it leads to faster, more reliable service. That means it’s easier to use for everyone and moves more people more efficiently than everyone in their own private vehicle ever could. There’s a reason that cities all over the world are painting bus only lanes and it’s not killing their “tourism, restaurants, and shopping”.
The best way for Lexington to grow is not with more unsustainable, suburban sprawl, but by allowing our existing neighborhoods to grow and change. It also means we need to look at our streets and reprioritize how we design them. This would help by making the bus easier and more reliable to ride. Or making it safer to ride a bike or just walk. Yes, maybe for car drivers it takes a little longer or the route is less direct, but you’ll still get there. Providing everyone with the ability to safely and reliably get around does not mean burdening them with the cost of car ownership and the city with car dependence. It means empowering them to choose safe, reliable alternatives.
Blake Hall is a member of Lexington United for Livability, a group of Lexingtonians focused on housing, transportation, and urban design. He also writes about these topics at Build a Better Lexington.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 8:42 AM.