May is National Bike Month with special Bike to Work events occurring throughout the month in cities across the country.  It’s time to pump some air into your tires and get out there!  Biking to work is such an enjoyable way to commute.  You get fresh air, your heart gets pumping and you’re doing a good thing for the environment while you’re at it. 

The Today show and Self Magazine ran a special segment on biking to work last week.  According to the segment, 50% of American’s live within 5 miles of work.  And if you bike to work three times a week, the average person will lose 10 pounds in one year.  Now think of how much weight you could lose if you bike more than 5 miles three times per week. 

If you don’t have a bike, borrow one, rent one or buy one.  Bikes choices have expanded lately.  You don’t have to have an expensive road or mountain bike.  Try out a comfort bike, a beach cruiser, ones with greaseless chains (so you don’t get grease on your dress paints), and ones that fold to fit into your cubicle.  Your local bike shop will be happy to help you find the perfect bike for you.

Many cities throughout the country are planning group rides throughout the month.  Check out www.bikeleague.org for information about special events in your area.  It’s safe.  It’s good for you.  You’ll save gas money.  It’s let’s stressful.  And it’s good for the planet.  I hope to see you in the bike lanes!

My husband, Bill, works for the Department of Defense as a civilian federal agent where his current day to day responsibilities involve protecting U.S. naval assets travelling throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.  When the 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti on January 12^th, he unpacked his bags for a scheduled trip to Panama and repacked them for the unexpected in Haiti.  Now, he has just returned after being there for almost a month.  Although his mission in Haiti wasn’t directly related to the urban and environmental issues that are the focus of this blog, some of the issues his team faced and the city he observed are definitely of interest to our readers.

Transportation Woes. Haiti’s transportation infrastructure was substandard to begin with.  When the earthquake hit, many bridges collapsed, the docks at the ports were heavily damaged and roads all over the city were blocked by buildings that were shook to rubble.  These obstacles increased the difficulty for aid to reach the Haitians in need.  Tasked with assessing ports, medical facilities, criminal threats, mass migration, allegations of orphan kidnappings, helicopter landing zones for aid distribution, and helping wherever they were needed, Bill’s team needed to move about steadily.  Initial travel proved to be difficult through the unfamiliar territory with a damaged road system.   At first, they hired locals more than eager  to earn some money to drive them around, navigate through the heavily damaged roads and translate from Creole and French to English when needed.   The people were friendly, gracious and excited to see help arrive.  Eventually, they were able to rent a car and find their own way around, as businesses began to reopen.

Haiti’s poor transportation system, washed out roads from mud slides of the past, and now earthquake damaged roads also caused horrible traffic.  It would take the team several hours to go only a few miles by car.  Gas scarcity and high prices also added to the complicated equation.  They were lucky to receive their daily ration of gas from the US military.

Given the high gas prices, normally five dollars per gallon, and extreme poverty that the Haitians live with, most Haitians primary mode of transportation is by foot.  Other common modes include bicycles and motorcycles.  Tap Taps are a popular way to get around.  These are independent trucks that operate as unregulated taxis.

Garbage Collection. Haiti lacks many of the basic city services that we take for granted.  Garbage and trash pile up on the side of the road.  When the pile gets big enough, they burn it.  The smell of burning plastic resonates through the air.  Port-au-Prince ranked 3^rd as the dirtiest city in the world in the 2007 Quality of Life Report produced by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.  The report ranks 215 cities throughout the world based on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious disease.

Water Pollution. The rivers that run through Haiti and the Caribbean waters that surround it are used for everything that you can imagine.  People wash their clothes in it, dump biological waste in it, bathe their children in it, and drink it.  The water’s edge along the coastline is covered in garbage.  The water running down the street gutter is brown.  Bill did not want to step in the gutter water for fear of what he would bring home on his shoes.  Just after that thought ran through his head, he saw a woman bend over and drink from it.

Deforestation. Most of Haiti’s countryside has been deforested and used to meet basic needs.  As was pointed out in past articles, the deforestation has led to a lack of wood to properly build buildings.  Without the proper support, the buildings in Port-au-Prince could not handle the magnitude of the earthquake, contributing to their collapse and the demise of over 200,000 people.

Recycled Clothing. Bill noted that a lot of their clothing looks like our old clothing.  Our clothing is apparently being recycled to them.  He saw a “Where’s the Beef” t-shirt and a “Frankie says Relax” t-shirt.  He even saw several people wearing my old alma maters t-shirts, Florida State and Georgia Tech.

Toys from Trash. Smiles were starting to come back to the children’s faces by the time Bill left.  With so little that they have, they still are children.  They still like to play.  They made kites out of trash bags, pull toys from empty water bottles and toy cars from old cans.

A World Community. On a brighter side, a tragedy like this does bring the world together.  Makeshift medical tents from teams of almost every country you can think of – Jordan, Canada, France, Germany, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Israel, Russia, the United States, and so on – were cropping up all over the country.  Bill met so many amazing people that put their home lives on hold, hopped on a plane without a formal plan in hand to come help.  They came as volunteers, packed their own food and brought supplies, because their hearts led them there.  I am proud of many of our own friends and neighbors that did just that.

“Haiti Normal” as it is called, is starting to return.  Cleanup efforts have begun.  Markets are reopening.  Bill bought local art from vendors on the street.  In so many ways, the Haitian people live much more sustainably than us.  But in so many ways, they are destroying the environment that surrounds them.  With all eyes on Haiti, we can learn a lesson or two from them, while trying to help reverse the horrible cycle of poverty and environmental destruction they are stuck in.  Now it’s your turn.  As part of the international community that is helping Haiti, what do you think are the key pieces to rebuilding this country?

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”

I lived in Norfolk, Virginia approximately 10 years. It’s apart of the Hampton Roads (HR) region that comprises 16 different cities and counties with almost 1,700,000 residents. You’d think a region with a population that large would have strong growth prospects, producing thought leaders at a rapid pace and is a place where young professionals could grow and develop – quite the opposite is true. HR is home to several institutions of higher education and has a relatively recession proof economy given the presence of the largest naval base in the world. More recently the industry has become diverse away from government services as investments pour into the newly built ports in Portsmouth. What’s really interesting about this area is that not many have ever heard of “Hampton Roads, America’s First Region“, have you? Therein lies the problem.

Tunnels and Bridges to Nowhere

The region has a plethora of natural assets with water almost everywhere you look; on the contrary they too have their drawbacks and one of them – their separation. Locals call it the HRBT but some commuters call it hell and if you’ve ever visited HR during inclimate weather, an accident or rush hour, you’ve probably experienced the back ups at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. You won’t hear much about the transportation woes from this side of the world. Though the region’s issues are very real, they often pale in comparison to their northern neighbor, Washington, DC who ranked forth in a recent Intrix report for having the worst congestion in the country. Hampton Roads was ranked 33rd. I noticed in the report that HR’s ranking didn’t change and represents the overall climate of region.

Hampton Roads is divided into two sections – South Hampton Roads (SHR) and the Peninsula. If you were a transplant, as I was, you’d think they were two foreign countries they way the were regarded in conversation. I lived in Norfolk (SHR) and commuted to Yorktown (Peninsula) for two years. When I told people that the expression on their faces suggested I’d told them I’d seen the Lochness Monster. I was a resident of Downtown Norfolk for several years and fell into the group-think trap that many do. I felt Downtown was “mine and not theirs” instead of a place to be shared among it’s city and region. Some 22,000 people worked downtown but only 15% or so, actually lived there. So you have a large group of people commuting into the city from neighboring cities.

Bridges and tunnels throughout Hampton Roads allow for better connectivity between the cities or at least in theory. Residents of the Peninsula rarely went to the SHR and residents of SHR only went through the Peninsula heading to Richmond, VA or DC. It’s almost as if there is a brood of snakes in the middle of these two areas that prevent them from intelligent dialogue about the region’s challenges. “We have different issues than the Peninsula” and vice versa. Serving on the Executive Committee of the ULI Hampton Roads, I saw the lack of motivation to engage leadership from the Peninsula as it was almost entirely South Hampton Roads businesses.

Competing Disinterest

Not only does the Peninsula and South Hampton Roads compete, you have very real competition among individual cities. Norfolk vs. Virginia Beach; Virginia Beach vs. Chesapeake; Newport News vs. Hampton; Williamsburg vs. Yorktown and on and on. It’s a bit ridiculous in my opinion. On a visit to Boston, from Charlestown, I looked over the Charles River and saw beautiful Downtown Boston. If you’re Downtown Norfolk and look across the Elizabeth River, you’re looking at Portsmouth, VA with a completely different government and conflicting visions. To compete with Downtown Norfolk, developers built Virginia Beach Town Center in the middle of suburbia to create a “downtown Virginia Beach”. At last count there are at least 5 “convention centers” with each city trying to attract their own clientele. What sense does that make if you can fit all of those convention centers into one like the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Comparison of Smart-Growth Versus Sprawl: Development for Virginia Beach, Virginia

Sprawl Costs Us All, Sierra Club

I’ve often became frustrated when I asked people what direction Hampton Roads was going in? I was met with the “Things won’t change until somebody dies” – interesting thought. Between Virginia Beach’s ‘No Cursing’ sign and Portsmouth’s Mayor woes, I feel the region’s leadership has missed the point somehow. Many efforts have been made to bring awareness to the issue of Regionalism but some are simply not interested in anything interrupting the status quo. Plagued by a flight of young professionals, stagnant job growth and a lack of diversity in housing has not helped the region break from it’s “slow” title. Norfolk ranked in the bottom ten on Richard Florida’s Creative Index even though Norfolk is seen as the ‘urban’ core of the region and has a downtown that’s revived over the last decade. The region (and state) has been unsuccessful at attracting a professional sports franchise. Before you had the Washington Nationals, they considered at Hampton Roads and before you had the New Orleans Hornets, again, they considered Hampton Roads. Even when it comes to professional sports, there is a lack of vision. Will the leadership wait to build a facility to accommodate a franchise or wait for another opportunity to bid on a team without the property facilities and infrastructure already in place?

Norfolk has the first 7 miles of light rail under construction now. Notice I said Norfolk, not Hampton Roads – I guess it’s a start. Because Virginia Beach can’t be out done, they are now meeting to discuss bringing light rail to their city. This is truly a moment to sigh. Do you think a stronger argument could have been made to build a light rail from to Norfolk to the Virginia Beach oceanfront versus a line to Virginia Beach’s city boundary? Before the line was under construction, I said that I could retire in HR if I could get from Williamsburg to Virginia Beach without getting in a car. At this rate, 7 miles every few years or so, I may be able to make that goal by 62, we’ll see.

Organizations like the Hampton Roads Partnership are doing an incredible job at promoting regionalism and feel they truly understand the issues. The city of Denver serves as a good model to follow. With a regional population of approximately 2,500,000, Denver has been consistently ranked as one of America’s most livable cities. The region’s mayors made a goal of being the America’s most healthy “community”. Not until regions stop the infighting, little progress will made. I’m convinced that the true competition is not our city next door or another region in our part of country (Atlanta, Charlotte etc). Our competition  is in China, India and other developing economies. Why is that so hard to grasp for many people? Tom Friedman speaks to that in his book The World is Flat. I’m cautiously optimistic.