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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=834202218-12052006>OKC saw some
wonderful exposure for smart growth and sustainability on the cover of the
Journal Record today in article about our recent smart growth
speaker, Hans Butzer. It's great to see the economic side
of smart growth highlighted; it hits home for everyone when we talk about
an inefficient use of tax dollars. For anyone who didn't see it, the
text is below. It was accompanied by a great photo of
Hans.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=834202218-12052006></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=834202218-12052006></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jennifer Gooden</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Program Coordinator</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Homeless Alliance</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>312 W Commerce</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Oklahoma City, OK
73109</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>(405) 632-7431</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.homelessalliance.org/">www.homelessalliance.org</A></FONT></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><STRONG>Sustaining growth: OU architecture professor stresses need
for more efficient design in downtown OKC, surrounding areas <?xml:namespace
prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></STRONG></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><STRONG>by Kevan Goff-Parker <o:p></o:p></STRONG></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><STRONG>The Journal Record <o:p></o:p></STRONG></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><STRONG>5/12/2006</STRONG><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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face=Arial><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>OKLAHOMA CITY - Hans Butzer, principal of design at TAParchitecture,
said Thursday he's heartened by comments made by Oklahoma City Mayor Mick
Cornett during the fifth annual Mayor's Development Roundtable.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>"It
sounded as if we were reading from the same script," Butzer said, who recently
gave a lecture titled "Building a Great City: Now's a Good Time" at Oklahoma
City University. "Mayor Cornett spoke about how Oklahoma City and its
surrounding communities, like Midwest City and Bethany, can become more
efficient in providing services like police, fire, utilities and trash service.
I'm very excited." <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>And
Butzer, an associate professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the
University of Oklahoma who teaches sustainable design, has a right to be
energized. He takes such issues as urban sprawl and inefficient planning to
heart. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>In
2003, Butzer led an OU research design class focused on developing a
medium-density, mixed-use vision for a 35-acre area of downtown Oklahoma City.
The team tackled downtown Oklahoma City's sustainable-development issues. Today
local developers use the comprehensive vision, known as the Triangle, as a basis
for further exploration. Butzer said the Triangle represents development that is
place-specific and resource-efficient. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>"A
part of my research at OU is an extension of my practice in Germany," he said.
"It has to do with trying to encourage greater efficiency in the way we design
our city and design our buildings. A city like Oklahoma City strikes me as being
inefficient in how big it is as compared to its population."
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>Butzer said he doesn't enjoy paying taxes and finds it frustrating
when his tax dollars are inefficiently spent or when they are used to subsidize
development that harms Oklahoma City's fiscal, physical and environmental
well-being. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>"Forethought in the design of Oklahoma City's periphery seems to be
lacking," he said. "Inefficient development contributes to worsening health
conditions of the population, which in turn can contribute to high health care
costs. It seems we continued to develop at the periphery, and it doesn't seem
like we're stepping back." <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>He
said one of the jobs of the architect is to measure small-scale decisions
relative to the larger picture. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>"It
is inevitable that when we see sprawl, you can't stop it, but development at the
periphery can be done in a more efficient manner so that the rate of
inefficiency starts dropping," Butzer said. "The downtown Oklahoma City area is
so fertile with redevelopment sites, which, for starters, allows for us to
capitalize on MAPS and MAPS for Kids investments. You are starting to see this
widely published now - the high-quality, mixed-use lifestyles that even give
people the option of walking to work in the downtown area."
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>He
said it is imperative when one does dense development that green spaces like
parks are included and that developers follow LEED (Leadership, Energy and
Environmental Design) guidelines. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>"A
lot of the sites that we are looking at developing on and planning for include
brown-field and gray-field sites," Butzer said. "They are sites that have
previously been built upon or that might contain some ground contamination that
once they are cleaned up, can be used. We don't want to eat up farmland or
destroy habitat." <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>He
said challenges, of course, do remain in forging the future of downtown Oklahoma
City, including higher development costs. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>"What we try to do in our work is to look at the cost at a larger
scale," he said. "The price of adding utilities when you add a house in
suburbia, you end of paying more in the long run. Roads aren't maintained as
well, police and fire protection diminishes and the city keeps creeping
outwards." <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>He
said such sprawl sometimes causes the core of a city to fail first, followed by
layers of maintenance and infrastructure. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>"Who pays for all that and maintains it?" Butzer asked. "It's a huge
piece of the puzzle. What I see in downtown Oklahoma City is an opportunity to
work with existing infrastructure and keep building with higher density, as
opposed to proposing new neighborhoods at the city's periphery."
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>He
said the rising cost of fuel and the ongoing need for wider, longer highways
mean that Oklahoma City's transportation opportunities need to be expanded
through options like commuter rail. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>"Sprawl is going to continue, but we can certainly slow it down and
be more efficient," Butzer said. "One way to do this is to improve
transportation options, especially for people who live at Oklahoma City's
periphery. Ultimately higher density and more efficient design in both downtown
and at the city's edge will contribute to a healthier, more efficient Oklahoma
City lifestyle." <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>Butzer's presentation was a part of the "Smart Growth" series,
sponsored and organized by Sustainable OKC along with the Vivian Wimberly Center
for Ethics and Servant Leadership at OCU.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
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