Block Planning
Theoretical Block Plan - Before, left; After, right
Note - Oct 2024, this section on Block Planning is being updated.
A picture is worth a thousand words. The graphic illustration above shows a theoretical before and after of Block Planning. Some plans may be less ambitious while others might be even more dramatic. Important, Block Plans must fit within general guidelines set by the city and can not be in conflict with acceptable community and neighborhood values. Critical - A block plan can satisfy rules and regulation in a much more creative and flexible way than conventional zoning allows. Its performance based rather than prescriptive - thats why block planning is so intriguing and useful. The graphic above by Mike Pease. Color enhancement and interpretation by Jan Spencer.
Legend:
Red Orientation, houses on left and right are the same houses
Yellow Pavement "before" no longer in the "after"
Green New trees and open space
Blue New structures
Brown Garages into bungalows
To see examples of what Block Planning can look like, check these foto galleries.
East Blair, Eugene
Maitreya Eco Village, Eugene
N Street Co Housing, Davis, Cal
See further below for another theoretical block plan using a google image based on a block where Jan lives.
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Block Planning - Why?
The following contains content from Mike Pease's Block Planning document along with Jan making reference to "A Primer For Paradigm Shift."
Today's deepening social, economic, political and environmental trends all point to an increasingly destabilized human condition on planet earth. From this perspective, the cause of these deepening trends is a socially engineered economic system commonly referred to as the consumer culture. The consumer culture produces enormous eco logical footprints that require remarkable levels of super sized consumption of resources and energy in regard to food, shelter, transportation, recreation, entertainment, our very way of life. [See The Primer For Paradigm Shift.]
Suburbia is an iconic product of that consumer culture and over consumption. Suburbia's enormous footprint is social, economic, environmental, political and even spiritual. Block planning can mitigate much of the damage caused by suburban land use. Block planning can help transform existing lifestyles, homes and neighborhoods. Widespread use of block planning can increase the scale of social, economic and environmental transformation. Block planning can create many thousands of jobs and can also serve as a core part of a green economy.
A block plan can be a foundational action and element of paradigm shift, the more the better.
A Block plan can empower people to make their own homes, lives, block, neighborhood and community far more resilient, cohesive and healthy. Social and economic benefits are just as important as environmental. A block plan and implementing it would take a great deal of time, effort and commitment by its participants and likely require expert facilitation skills from professionals, unprecedented coordination between home owners, neighborhood associations and the city. A high level of communication skills would be needed from all involved.
The following explanation merges "Block Planning: A Summary of Work to Date" by Mike Pease, Design and Planning Consultant and Jan Spencer's Primer For Paradigm Shift.
A Block Plan is an agreement among residents and non-resident property owners on a city block, with the approval by neighborhood and city, to develop the land within the boundaries of the block in a specific way over a specific period of time. Participating neighbors make a plan how to best use and synchronize their properties. Important, properties do remain private. This is not a commune.
A Block Plan is like a Planned Unit Development [PUD], of which Eugene already has many excellent examples. A BP would include agreements about planning, participation, construction, phasing, funding and maintenance and includes a process for making changes to the original plan. Where a Block Plan is in effect, it replaces the lot-by-lot, zone regulated development process that formerly governed. To the extent that block members wish it to, and City and Neighborhood approve, the Block Plan can revise yard requirements, land use arrangements, height restrictions, parking requirements, minimum lot sizes, traffic, landscaping and more. The plan can stipulate changes in use of rights-of-way and it can establish precisely where building development can occur and what type of building will be acceptable.
A block plan does not make rules and regulations go away but it can make compliance to rules and regulations more creative and beneficial to those involved. Block planning can replace prescriptive compliance with performance compliance.
Important to add, friends and neighbors can take many of the actions and create many of the benefits of a block plan with each other in an informal or ad hoc way, simply by making agreements among themselves with no one else involved. Verily, River Road and elsewhere in Eugene, on can already find examples of neighbors taking down fences and putting into practice small scale ad hoc micro block plans. At some point, the scale of making these changes might call for a more formal process as described in this overview of block planning.
Block planning has been likened to Eugene's "Opportunity Siting" initiative. The two share ideals and desired outcomes but are very different. Opportunity siting is larger in scale with its scope both commercial and residential. Importantly, opportunity siting is oriented towards new development. Both BP and OS place a high value on creating greater residential density. The goals of block planning are broader than opportunity siting,,, with a strong value for social and environmental well being, resilience and community building. Reducing eco logical footprints and building social cohesion are core aspects of block planning. Block planning can be thought of, to varying degrees, as retro fit co housing.
Neighborhood Character Benefits
When people look at various places they might live, one of the priorities is what is the quality of the neighborhood. There are four basic qualities of any neighborhood's character that can be used to judge its character. Safety [crime and traffic], affordability [housing, taxes, insurance and maintenance]. Accessibility [ease of going to work, stores, schools, friends, recreation]. Viability [confidence that the neighborhood will continue to be a good place to live].
Block Planning can be an extraordinary tool, created and controlled at the block level, to help safeguard the neighborhood and more interestingly, IMPROVE many aspects of the neighborhood's livability. Block Planning is proactive, home grown and democratic. It is the people on the block who cooperatively determine how the block will be redeveloped.
Currently
As of Fall, 2024, Block Planning [BP] remains a tremendous but little known potential. It would take a considerable amount of effort and cooperation to actualize a Block Plan, but the potential social, environmental, political and economic benefits of redeveloping in this way are profound. Many city staff would love to see Block Planning, its up to neighborhoods to take the initiative to move BP forward.
Block Planning offers many benefits that can contribute to improved quality of life and paradigm shift. Block Planning can lead to block economics - different ways to take care of human needs. Block Planning can also mitigate climate change along with delivering many social and economic benefits. Imagine many block plans and the changes they can help bring about at a larger scale such as more walkable neighborhoods and taking care of more needs closer to home. See below.
The graphic below is theoretical. It does offer a good idea of what a BP could include.
History of Block Planning
Mike Pease, Eugene architect, artist and smart land use advocate, evolved the concept of Block Planning over the course of his university days, travels and professional career. In the early 1980's the City of Eugene employed Mike, several colleagues and several UO graduate students as consultants and team to facilitate neighborhoods in Eugene to identify several potential locations to make practical application of Block Planning.
Several locations were identified including the Far West Neighborhood centered just north of 13th on Arthur Street. Another area was in Whiteaker on 4th Street just east of Blair Blvd. Another area was in West University on East 16th between Patterson and Ferry Streets. Another, also in West U was on 16th between Hilyard and Alder. Finally in the Westside Neighborhood, based on an alley bounded by West Broadway, West 10th, Jackson and Adams.
In all these areas, neighbors did meet to discuss Block Planning. The traffic calming circles on Ferry street are a result of that block's efforts. Elsewhere, preliminary diagrams were drawn. The area in Westside actually had zoning changes made by the city to accommodate the BP but the Plan was never implemented. The zoning changes are still on the books.
Why did none of the plans manifest? Partly because the process is time consuming. Partly because an economic downturn relieved development pressure on some neighborhoods that some residents felt uneasy about. They had seen Block Planning as a way to protect the character of their neighborhoods. Another short fall was that the city did not have [and still doesn't have] the resources to facilitate the process. Finally, a change in presidents. Carter to Reagan, meant that policies and budgets encouraging green innovation at the grassroots level came to an end.
Nearly 30 years has passed. It was a great idea 25 years ago. Its even far more relevant today.
Today's trends in economics, the environment, climate change, resources, social indicators all say Block Planning is more called for than ever.
Please see links above to see actual sites that show what Block Planning can look like.
Idealized Block Plan
Below, an idealized block plan based on a google image that shows Jan's part of the neighborhood.
A picture is worth a thousand words. The graphic illustration above shows a theoretical before and after of Block Planning. Some plans may be less ambitious while others might be even more dramatic. Important, Block Plans must fit within general guidelines set by the city and can not be in conflict with acceptable community and neighborhood values. Critical - A block plan can satisfy rules and regulation in a much more creative and flexible way than conventional zoning allows. Its performance based rather than prescriptive - thats why block planning is so intriguing and useful. The graphic above by Mike Pease. Color enhancement and interpretation by Jan Spencer.
Legend:
Red Orientation, houses on left and right are the same houses
Yellow Pavement "before" no longer in the "after"
Green New trees and open space
Blue New structures
Brown Garages into bungalows
To see examples of what Block Planning can look like, check these foto galleries.
East Blair, Eugene
Maitreya Eco Village, Eugene
N Street Co Housing, Davis, Cal
See further below for another theoretical block plan using a google image based on a block where Jan lives.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Block Planning - Why?
The following contains content from Mike Pease's Block Planning document along with Jan making reference to "A Primer For Paradigm Shift."
Today's deepening social, economic, political and environmental trends all point to an increasingly destabilized human condition on planet earth. From this perspective, the cause of these deepening trends is a socially engineered economic system commonly referred to as the consumer culture. The consumer culture produces enormous eco logical footprints that require remarkable levels of super sized consumption of resources and energy in regard to food, shelter, transportation, recreation, entertainment, our very way of life. [See The Primer For Paradigm Shift.]
Suburbia is an iconic product of that consumer culture and over consumption. Suburbia's enormous footprint is social, economic, environmental, political and even spiritual. Block planning can mitigate much of the damage caused by suburban land use. Block planning can help transform existing lifestyles, homes and neighborhoods. Widespread use of block planning can increase the scale of social, economic and environmental transformation. Block planning can create many thousands of jobs and can also serve as a core part of a green economy.
A block plan can be a foundational action and element of paradigm shift, the more the better.
A Block plan can empower people to make their own homes, lives, block, neighborhood and community far more resilient, cohesive and healthy. Social and economic benefits are just as important as environmental. A block plan and implementing it would take a great deal of time, effort and commitment by its participants and likely require expert facilitation skills from professionals, unprecedented coordination between home owners, neighborhood associations and the city. A high level of communication skills would be needed from all involved.
The following explanation merges "Block Planning: A Summary of Work to Date" by Mike Pease, Design and Planning Consultant and Jan Spencer's Primer For Paradigm Shift.
A Block Plan is an agreement among residents and non-resident property owners on a city block, with the approval by neighborhood and city, to develop the land within the boundaries of the block in a specific way over a specific period of time. Participating neighbors make a plan how to best use and synchronize their properties. Important, properties do remain private. This is not a commune.
A Block Plan is like a Planned Unit Development [PUD], of which Eugene already has many excellent examples. A BP would include agreements about planning, participation, construction, phasing, funding and maintenance and includes a process for making changes to the original plan. Where a Block Plan is in effect, it replaces the lot-by-lot, zone regulated development process that formerly governed. To the extent that block members wish it to, and City and Neighborhood approve, the Block Plan can revise yard requirements, land use arrangements, height restrictions, parking requirements, minimum lot sizes, traffic, landscaping and more. The plan can stipulate changes in use of rights-of-way and it can establish precisely where building development can occur and what type of building will be acceptable.
A block plan does not make rules and regulations go away but it can make compliance to rules and regulations more creative and beneficial to those involved. Block planning can replace prescriptive compliance with performance compliance.
Important to add, friends and neighbors can take many of the actions and create many of the benefits of a block plan with each other in an informal or ad hoc way, simply by making agreements among themselves with no one else involved. Verily, River Road and elsewhere in Eugene, on can already find examples of neighbors taking down fences and putting into practice small scale ad hoc micro block plans. At some point, the scale of making these changes might call for a more formal process as described in this overview of block planning.
Block planning has been likened to Eugene's "Opportunity Siting" initiative. The two share ideals and desired outcomes but are very different. Opportunity siting is larger in scale with its scope both commercial and residential. Importantly, opportunity siting is oriented towards new development. Both BP and OS place a high value on creating greater residential density. The goals of block planning are broader than opportunity siting,,, with a strong value for social and environmental well being, resilience and community building. Reducing eco logical footprints and building social cohesion are core aspects of block planning. Block planning can be thought of, to varying degrees, as retro fit co housing.
Neighborhood Character Benefits
When people look at various places they might live, one of the priorities is what is the quality of the neighborhood. There are four basic qualities of any neighborhood's character that can be used to judge its character. Safety [crime and traffic], affordability [housing, taxes, insurance and maintenance]. Accessibility [ease of going to work, stores, schools, friends, recreation]. Viability [confidence that the neighborhood will continue to be a good place to live].
Block Planning can be an extraordinary tool, created and controlled at the block level, to help safeguard the neighborhood and more interestingly, IMPROVE many aspects of the neighborhood's livability. Block Planning is proactive, home grown and democratic. It is the people on the block who cooperatively determine how the block will be redeveloped.
Currently
As of Fall, 2024, Block Planning [BP] remains a tremendous but little known potential. It would take a considerable amount of effort and cooperation to actualize a Block Plan, but the potential social, environmental, political and economic benefits of redeveloping in this way are profound. Many city staff would love to see Block Planning, its up to neighborhoods to take the initiative to move BP forward.
Block Planning offers many benefits that can contribute to improved quality of life and paradigm shift. Block Planning can lead to block economics - different ways to take care of human needs. Block Planning can also mitigate climate change along with delivering many social and economic benefits. Imagine many block plans and the changes they can help bring about at a larger scale such as more walkable neighborhoods and taking care of more needs closer to home. See below.
The graphic below is theoretical. It does offer a good idea of what a BP could include.
History of Block Planning
Mike Pease, Eugene architect, artist and smart land use advocate, evolved the concept of Block Planning over the course of his university days, travels and professional career. In the early 1980's the City of Eugene employed Mike, several colleagues and several UO graduate students as consultants and team to facilitate neighborhoods in Eugene to identify several potential locations to make practical application of Block Planning.
Several locations were identified including the Far West Neighborhood centered just north of 13th on Arthur Street. Another area was in Whiteaker on 4th Street just east of Blair Blvd. Another area was in West University on East 16th between Patterson and Ferry Streets. Another, also in West U was on 16th between Hilyard and Alder. Finally in the Westside Neighborhood, based on an alley bounded by West Broadway, West 10th, Jackson and Adams.
In all these areas, neighbors did meet to discuss Block Planning. The traffic calming circles on Ferry street are a result of that block's efforts. Elsewhere, preliminary diagrams were drawn. The area in Westside actually had zoning changes made by the city to accommodate the BP but the Plan was never implemented. The zoning changes are still on the books.
Why did none of the plans manifest? Partly because the process is time consuming. Partly because an economic downturn relieved development pressure on some neighborhoods that some residents felt uneasy about. They had seen Block Planning as a way to protect the character of their neighborhoods. Another short fall was that the city did not have [and still doesn't have] the resources to facilitate the process. Finally, a change in presidents. Carter to Reagan, meant that policies and budgets encouraging green innovation at the grassroots level came to an end.
Nearly 30 years has passed. It was a great idea 25 years ago. Its even far more relevant today.
Today's trends in economics, the environment, climate change, resources, social indicators all say Block Planning is more called for than ever.
Please see links above to see actual sites that show what Block Planning can look like.
Idealized Block Plan
Below, an idealized block plan based on a google image that shows Jan's part of the neighborhood.
This graphic is a fictional view of a real place based on Google maps. Jan's permaculture property is identified in the upper left corner. The names are real people who own properties in this view and are already permaculture friendly. Many of the gardens shown here already exist. Property remains private but a block plan could allow all kinds of design features that would benefit those involved. Highlights of the image show lots of edible landscaping, many small ADUs, small dwellings that would be companion to existing properties. Virtually all fences are gone. Privacy is maintained with vegetation screening. One house has been enlarged to become a community space. The purple line shows a meandering walk from one place to another - Patty goes to visit a friend. Those involved would agree on the design. As mentioned above, many of these changes can be made ad hoc between consenting neighbors with no permits or city involvement.