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Congrats Pete!
August 26, 2004
Congrats to Pete Hoekstra, a longtime friend of my family.
Posted by paul at 01:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Letter to the Editor
August 22, 2004
I just submitted this letter to the Sentinel’s Editor… we’ll see if it makes it in the paper sometime soon. I hope it doesn’t sound bad… I didn’t edit it before sending… just spell-checked it.
To the Editor:
After reading Julie Harkema’s editorial and Tracy Overway’s letter, I cannot help but write in to display my disgust at their ideas.
Window on the Waterfront is NOT a waste of space. The marsh should in no way be dredged to provide a minimal economic benefit for a few people in the city.
The local ecology depends on the marsh to provide environmental diversity. The plants in the marsh help filter out excess phosphorus, a goal of many of us who live around Lake Macatawa. Window on the Waterfront provides ample opportunity for bird watchers, animal lovers and nature nuts to view God’s creation. It is a wonderful place to walk or sit and enjoy with friends - it should not be taken for granted.
If people wish to develop the lakeshore, they should focus their attention on land that is already developed. Focus attention on conservation and alternative energy to eliminate the need for the power plant. Convince Padnos to move their facilities to a rail spur close to the city limits. Move Verplank next to Brewer’s City Dock. Then develop on the lakeshore. Built a hotel or two, add a restaurants and public docks, but don’t do it at the expense of what little marshland we have left!
Paul Ryckbost,
Park Township
EDIT: I realize now that I failed to add this quote, and I had originally intended to… “I do not intend that our natural resources shall be exploited by the few against the interests of the many.” - President Theodore Roosevelt
That is a man I am highly interested in and who I deeply respect. Plan to hear more about him in the future.
EDIT TWO: Here it is!
Posted by paul at 04:31 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Public Docks
August 20, 2004
An editorial in today’s Holland Sentinel really aggrevated me this morning. The author, an event planner for the Piper Restaurant, has noticed the need for more public docks, restaurants and hotels on Lake Macatawa, close to downtown. Her realization is not that extrordinary, but her suggestion is - and I’m appalled.
She suggests we “dredge the marsh” at Window on the Waterfront and build boating access and hotels, shops and resaurants in that area. She comments that the current focus on developing new Kollen Park is futile, since there is no room for expansion due to waterfront industries. This is not true. But more on that in a moment.
The part that upsets me is her blatant disregard for keeping Window as natural as it can be. Dredging the marsh to create better boat access would ruin vital habitat for the local animal and insect populations. Marshland is extremely important for ecology, especially since it is engangered because so many people do see it as expendable. Why destroy the little we have left in this area? Sadly, economic gain, in Holland, is often placed in front of environmental protection.
That said, there is room for waterfront expansion in Holland, but it is in the far future. Among my many visions for this area, I see a waterfront devoid of Padnos and the powerplant. Some industries cannot be moved from the lake, Brewer’s City Dock and Verplank’s, but the others can be moved. Padnos uses mostly truck and rail for its transportation, and therefore could be moved off the waterfront. Other fuels and alternative energy could lead to the decommisioning of the power plant. And, as we have learned in the past week, Lake Michigan Contractors is already vacating the waterfront to make room for a new restaurant.
Therefore, there is no need to destroy the marshland we need so dearly to support the local ecology. All that is required are goal-minded people willing to enact change on already developed areas in order to improve the local water-related economy.
Posted by paul at 08:46 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Influences
August 14, 2004
Ever since I choose to attend graduate school for urban planning, I’ve been asked the questions “What is urban planning?” and, “Why are you changing to that?” I am still not able to easily answer the first question, since so there are so many options for someone with a degree in planning. And, until recently, I was barely able to answer the second question. However, after reading a new book, Skinny Dip, and a few recent epiphanies, I’ve realized how I came to be so interested in urban planning and related issues. The extended entry includes a short list of the people and things that have directly and indirectly led me to urban planning.
Carl Hiassen: I was introduced to Carl Hiaasen by Adam Mims one day in Venice, Italy, sitting on the the beach, way back during the summer of 1995. He had just completed Double Whammy and recommended I read it too. I was intruiged by the title, which refers to a fishing lure, and the content of the book. Over the years, I’ve read every major title by Hiaasen and a few shorts and editorials of his as well. I would describe his work as pop fiction - extremely funny, sexual, even vulgar, but focusing on weighty topics, usually involving environmental destruction. Each novel is set in Florida, with many notes about the decline of the Everglades and the rise of suburbs and beachfront monstrosities. His work opened my eyes to land use and environmental planning, albeit through a round-a-bout way.
Trains Magazine: I also began reading this during the summer of 1995. I picked up a copy the day before I left town for Italy. The magainze is obviously about railroads, and is mostly focused on the current state of railroading or the past glory of rail. However, each month there is at least one or two small articles about existing and planned light, commuter and heavy rail systems in the U.S. In fact, the magazine has recently gone from just one or two articles a month to two pages specifically dedicated to such rail systems. The magazine promotes these systems because its readers are railbuffs, but their promotion also helps people realize what a difference public transportation can make.
Professors Henk Aay and Robert Hoeksema: These two professors led my first overseas interim class, Dutch Landscapes. This one-month trip to the Netherlands completely changed the way I thought my life would end up. Before then I was all civil engineering, all the time. After the trip, I realized I did not want to sit at a computer and figure out minute details of a water main design, I wanted to design where the neighborhoods that the water main traveled through would go. The Netherlands is refered to as the “most planned country on earth,” and it shows. Professor Aay, a Geography prof, introduced me to urban studies and planning. He took us to a new towns and old towns, explaining how various they were formed and designed. It was an incredible learning experience, and without it I don’t know if I would have ended up here. Professor Hoeksema was quite possibly the man who got me into grad school as well. After four years at Calvin, I had had him for seven (7) classes overall. 2 interims, 4 regular classes and a lab. And even though I didn’t always do the best in the class (I was a solid B student), he seemed to realize I had something in me. And here I am, waiting to really prove that.
Posted by paul at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Contractor’s Responsibility
August 11, 2004
Driving around Holland much of the day gives me great opportunity to watch and analyze much of what goes on around this town. Since my job is construction-related, I often focus on development issues. And, working with city employees and local contractors, I often receive viewpoints quite different from mine.
Most discussions end up at money. Many of the people I work with see the large amounts of construction around town with disgust - not at the problems caused by construction, but at the money spent. They want the city to spend money on them, not beautification projects. Therein lies a typical urban planning debate. The affects of spending public money on beautification or utility improvement projects are rarely seen immediately, or seen at all. Projects like the 8th Street Farmer’s Market Canopy or the Tulip City Airport Tunnel do not result in direct benefits. The Farmer’s Market may attract more people or farmers, resulting in an indirect economic value to all involved, but it’s not a tangible benefit. The Airport’s longer runway will allow planes to fly out with full loads of fuel. Local economists estimate that the runway improvements will add at least $30 to $40 million to the local economy, but most people cannot see how that will directly benefit them, so they dissaprove.
How do you convince people that money spent to improve the area will end up benefiting them in the end? It’s the trickle-down theory of public spending. The trick is convincing enough people that their support will benefit them someday, in some way.
Posted by paul at 05:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Housing, Housing Everywhere
August 10, 2004
Take a drive around Holland sometime. Drive through the horror that is Holland Township, through the new expanse that is Zeeland Township, through the threatened farming township of Fillmore - look at the new housing that keeps popping up. Then take a deep breath, think hard and ask yourself, “Where do all the people to fill these brand new, rarely inexpensive homes, come from?”
For instance, the new Knollwood development at 104th and Ottagon (32nd). It will contain over 120 single family homes when completed. Granted, this is a new traditional neighborhood design community, but despite its environmental and community benefits, it is still a large swath of new housing.
Or, think about the new Homestead Village (soon to be known as Kensington Place… or something of the sort). This new neighborhood, completely located within the City of Holland, will have apartments, townhouses and single family homes, with room for a possible 5,000 new residents. I do not know what the price ranges will be, but chances are they aren’t necessarily meant for low-income families.
Finally, the new Macatawa Legends, located at the four corners of Holland, Park, Olive and Port Sheldon Townships. This massive project will include a golf course, horse stables, and a large community park and over 700 homes. These will definitely not be low-end homes; my guess is that they will start around $200,000, probably more.
Most of the new housing projects seem to be targeted to the middle class residents of the area and recent implants; local engineers, scientists, and other middle-income professionals. But this leaves out the large numbers of new residents who are lower income; the Mexican migrant workers who move in with their families, the Chinese immigrants, the Vietnamese, Laos and Cambodian families attracted by prospects for a better life, not to mention lower income American families. Don’t they deserve better homes to live in? Should they be forever relegated to run-down housing or apartment lives?
The easiest part about looking at this problem from the outside is my ability to critique and not have to propose a solution. However, that tough part is the part I want to try to change. Multiple solutions abound, but it takes those in power to realize that change is needed, in order to positively affect progress.
Posted by paul at 07:42 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack