February Presented by: Karin Morris Manager, Office of Smart Growth

Transcription

1 February 2010 Presented by: Karin Morris Manager, Office of Smart Growth

2 Overview Constraints to Regionalism Roles of DVRPC as MPO Recent Studies/Tools Lessons Learned

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4 Title goes here Text here, text here, text here. Text here, text here, text here Bullet text Bullet text

5 Constraints to Regionalism Fragmented Government 2 States, 9 Counties, 353 Municipalities Municipal Home Rule, Weak Counties, Slow Growth DVRPC Influence Through Transportation Funding, no Land Use Powers Carrot vs. Stick: DVRPC must rely on Incentives Show leadership through other roles

6 DVRPC s Roles as MPO Funder Convener Educator Researcher Advocate Leader

7 Role as Funder TIP, TE, Home Town Streets/Safe Routes to School Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI) Efficient Growth for Growing Suburbs (EGGS) Take Me to the River Local Food Grant Program Private Foundation Funding

8 Role as Convener, Educator, Researcher, Advocate Breadth of Smart Growth Studies Environmental Screening Tool for Long-Range Plan Regional Food System Study

9 Smart Growth: Revitalization & TOD

10 Smart Growth: Special Topics

11 Environmental Screening Tool (EST) Broadly To better link environmental and transportation planning in Long-Range Plan (LRP) as per SAFETE-LU, pre- NEPA, pre-ea or EIS LRP lists major regional transportation projects out to 2035 Inclusion means the project has been id ed as a regional funding priority and part of the long-range financial plan Fiscally-constrained, so projects are selected using multiple criteria Project must be in LRP to be on TIP, authorizes it to seek funding New in this LRP Use EST to screen projects for inclusion in the LRP; quantify the potential environmental impacts

12 Environmental Screening Tool (EST) Each new capacity project in LRP is assigned a buffer: Capacity enhancement within existing arterial ROW: mile Capacity enhancement within existing freeway ROW: 1 mile New ROW roadway facility: 2 miles New transit ROW: 1/8 mile Buffers overlaid with 10 key environmental data layers: 2035 Greenspace Network, 2035 Conservation Focus Areas, 2035 Rural Conservation Areas, Wetlands, Woodlands, 100- year Floodplains, Steep Slopes over 10%, Riparian Buffers (300-feet around streams), High-Value Habitat Areas, Significant Natural Areas Data layers are rasterized into grid of 30-meter cells, and the value of the cells within a project s buffer area are summed to produce a cumulative score.

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15 Regional Food System Study What is a regional food system? Set of interconnected activities or sectors that grow, manufacture, sell, prepare and dispose of food Many community food systems, served by a regional system, fits within a global system Foodshed is 100-mile radius - the area in which Greater Philadelphia could hypothetically source local food 30 million people 70 counties

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17 Regional Food System Study Why are we interested in the Food System? MPO Work on Land Use, Economic Development, Transportation, Freight, Natural Resources, Open Space and Farmland Protection Rising Awareness of Issues of Food Security, Local & Organic Foods Receiving Questions from Municipalities re: Ag Zoning, Urban Farming, other tools Connecting Land Use to Production to Distribution

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19 Regional Food System Study Year 1: The Food & Farming Almanac Perceptions & Opinions Food Policy Stakeholders Supply Agricultural Resources Distribution Demand The Food Economy Year 2: The Plan for a More Sustainable Food System

20 Perceptions and Opinions Thorough review of Food Policy Network Interview & Survey Stakeholders, Study Advisory Committee, Inventory their work to date Support businesses Non-profits: Advocacy Groups, Academic Institutions For-profits: Restaurants, Stores Distributors Farmers Government agencies Professional membership organizations

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22 Supply Agricultural Resources Can we feed ourselves within 100-mile foodshed? Answer: No Given development, we have limited ag land Greater Phila s 5.5 million popn would need 6.8 million acres of ag land Foodshed has 4 million acres of ag land, leaving a 2.8 million deficit just for Greater Phila

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24 Demand Supply Supply Supply Supply Supply Demand Supply Supply Supply Demand Supply Supply Demand Supply Supply Demand Supply

25 Threats to Local Agriculture Top competitive advantages: fertile soil, climate, proximity to large markets 37% of land within foodshed is important ag soil, of which 17% is prime farmland Cost of doing business is high; slim profit margins Gross ag sales & production expenses rose at similar rates over the last five years Farmers must find new and creative markets and business models More direct selling to consumers, more niche products (exotic veggies, artisanal cheeses) Experimenting with season extension to grow in colder months

26 Threats to Local Agriculture Losing Farmland: Prime farmland very attractive to develop--level, cleared, well-drained, and suitable for on-site septic 58% of the foodshed s ag land lost between 1910 and 2007 Between alone, DVRPC 9-counties lost 126,000 acres of ag land, and only of undeveloped farmland is preserved Harder to Establish New Farms: Development near farmland makes remaining farmland more valuable, so new or aspiring farmers find it hard to purchase or lease land, while labor costs & property taxes also rise One acre of farmland in the foodshed is worth 342% more than the national average

27 Threats to Local Agriculture Decreasing Farm Size: Growing % of hobby farms 56% of farms in foodshed are less than 50 acres Diversity of farm sizes is better to serve a range of markets Large institutions prefer medium to large farms ( acres) for volume discounts, while small farmers can more easily do farmers markets Need Working Landscapes and Viable Farmers

28 Competition Between Metro Areas: NYC and DC have more aggregate food $; HHs in each metro spend 12% on food Between Ports: Philly ports are competitive in handling perishable fresh food b/c of specialized labor, advanced equipment, US Customs regulatory support, and longer gate hours

29 Competition Between What to Grow: Sod, nursery, and greenhouse products can have higher values than food crops, so more likely to grow on high value land near urban areas Elsewhere more farmers growing crops for biofuel production, keeping land from being used for food

30 Health Avg. American spends less on food than almost any other industrialized nation Also buying more food away from home (49% of all food purchases in 2007) Processed food more available and less expensive Cheap food has benefits, but causes farmers to need higher food prices, as production costs rise

31 Health Healthy food can be costly and unavailable Lack of retail fresh food outlets in rural and lowincome urban areas Eating habit data: higher incomes = more choices Counties in foodshed with lower median HH incomes have higher rates of obesity and diabetes 10% of HHs in Greater Phila are food insecure -- can t afford enough food, let alone fresh food

32 Impact of Food System Stakeholders Still hard to measure local food impact Anecdotal: demand for local food may outweigh local supply, yet direct sales at farmers markets/ CSAs remain a small part of how we purchase food Do not have good data on growth or profitability of farmers markets or community gardens yet Some local food is in mainstream distribution yet not distinguished as local

33 Year 2: The Plan Articulate Region s Values and Goals for an improved food system A competitive advantage will include retaining local agriculture, and embracing our regional food identities Offer recommendations to make the system more equitable, sustainable, and healthier Create indicators to measure the region s progress and then measure it

34 What Can Local Governments Do? Remove zoning & permitting barriers to farmers markets, on-site farm stands, urban ag Incentivize supermarket or food retail development Raise awareness of healthy eating through education, marketing, and demo projects on publicly-owned property Support farmland preservation

35 What Can MPOs Do? Add Goal of Protecting 500,000 Acres of Open Space, Natural Areas and Farmland by 2035 in LRP Add Goal of Increasing Local Food Production and Distribution into LRP, to increase regional food security and the regional economy Incorporate food into economic development policies and funding programs Form partnerships btwn land trusts, public agencies, and future farmers to increase food production on protected lands in the region

36 Lessons Learned MPOs not just an extension of DOT Can do more outreach to munis to implement the LRP & other plans Leverage existing resources & relationships Engage new partners Be the regional voice Set benchmarks & measure progress

37 Role as Leader Great things are done by a series of small things put together. Vincent Van Gogh

38 Thanks! For more info: