Following today’s lecture on the fifth Melbourne Principle, I thought that it would make sense to examine my home town of San Buenaventura, CA and observe its future development plans. This way, I can connect a city that I know and love to the course material and can draw in ideas from today’s CUSP seminar lead by Cole Hendrigan.
To give you an idea of the city of Ventura:
- According to City Data (2015), the population size of the city at the 2010 census was 106,433, which increased from just over 100,000 at the 2000 census.
- The city is situated between the California coastline and rolling hillsides, about an hour north of Los Angeles.
- The main source of transportation is the 101 freeway
- There are two bus services offered, but city people generally do not use them due to their inconsistency and the stigma associated with them
- A new, free trolley service was established in 2013 that leads people from the downtown area to the harbor. This is consistent, and I find it personally pleasant. But, I am personally frustrated that the city has made public transport convenient for visitors and vacationers, but getting around the city is still difficult for those of us who live there.
This is just to paint a picture in your head of our location and how we get around town. I would definitely categorize Ventura as a place that encourages automobile dependence.
Despite its flaws, Ventura looks to be planning some very interesting projects, which include mixed use sites and beautification and maintenance of natural areas (City of Ventura: Community Development, 2015) . If you would like to see them for yourself, go ahead and take a look at the following link: http://www.cityofventura.net/files/file/02-11-15_PendingProjects.pdf.
To sum up this long list, there are a lot of housing developments that are in the works or that are waiting for the approval process. This does not surprise me, because with population growth, the city must find a way to house the influx of people. Additionally, these housing developments are apartments and condominiums, which will help to fit more people per hectare. These plans will make it so that more people can call the beautiful city of Ventura home. Additionally, many mixed use areas are being proposed. On this list, many mixed use proposals combine apartments with commercial developments.
If these developments are to be put in place, I think that something else needs to be done. From above, I am sure you can sense my frustration with the lack of transport in Ventura, especially now that I have seen how easy it is to travel by public transport here in Perth. If more apartments are going to be erected, more people are going to come, and more automobiles are likely to be added to the traffic in my town. Apartments should be connected to the center of town or commercial areas so that, with more people here, there is not an even larger traffic problem during rush hour. I think mixed use site development would be much better, giving people the ability to live close to an area in which office spaces or businesses are right next door.
On the list of pending projects, you will also find a project to develop the waterfront promenade and outdoor recreational space near the Ventura Harbor. This would provide a wonderful outdoor space next to the water that would encourage locals to enjoy the beauty of their town. Also, there are plans to work on the botanical gardens and to create support facilities for Grant Park, which those of us from Ventura know as “the cross”. This is a historical site in Ventura that many of us hold near and dear to our hearts. It is fantastic to see that these areas are being tended to. Ventura’s Grant Park has recently added walking trails and more native flowers to Grant Park. Since then, have seen an increase in the number of visitors walking these paths and enjoying a picnic overlooking the town in the evening. People are surrounded by native flora and are able to look town upon their hometown and feel a sense of ownership and pride. I certainly think that these areas connect people to each other, to the city, and moreover, to nature.
As we move into the future, I wish to continue to see public, natural spaces taken care of. I hope that vertical space is considered when developing new condominiums and apartments, as stressed in the “Towards the Transit Oriented Region” seminar by Mr. (or is it now Dr.?) Hendrigan. I also hope that transportation is implemented in order to more efficiently move people from place to place, because if all of these housing developments are built with no way for the homeowners to get around town, it is seriously going to be a disaster.
References:
Carlos Dominguez via Flickr. (2009). Serra Park [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/daforce812/. on 18 March 2015.
City Data. (2015). Ventura, CA. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/city/Ventura-California.html on 18 March 2015.
City of Ventura: Community Development (2015). Retrieved from http://www.cityofventura.net/files/file/02-11-15_PendingProjects.pdf on 18 March 2015.
Earth & Perth 