by Jim Blackburn

(Draft: March 26, 2001. Published: Houston Chronicle, Outlook section, April 1, 2001)

I am tired of hearing the Houston bad rap blues. Houston was nailed on quality of life issues during the Presidential election. The question is: what are we going to do about it? Are we going to whine? Or are we going to roll our sleeves up and make some hard decisions about changes needed in our region.

The 21st century economy will be competitive in ways that the 20th century economy was not. Quality of life is important for businesses that are not tied to geographic requirements such as ports. Houston can compete in this marketplace, but it must do some things differently. Here are some suggestions.

First, Houston must get past denial. The allegations against Houston had and have a factual basis. We must recognize that we have not satisfactorily addressed important issues such as air pollution, land use planning, flooding and transportation. As long as we refuse to see what others are seeing, we will fail to compete effectively.

Second, we need to assess our "quality of life" assets. For example, eight unique ecological systems exist with an hour and half drive of downtown Houston. These ecological systems provide world-class birdwatching, the fastest growing outdoor sport in the U.S. There also is excellent canoeing, kayaking and hiking. The Big Thicket, Wallisville, Bolivar Flats, High Island, Anahuac and Brazoria National Wildlife Refuges, the Columbia Bottomlands, the Katy Prairie, the San Jacinto bottomlands and Jones State Forest all are unappreciated recreational venues.

These places are ecological jewels--"natural capital" that forms the base of quality of life amenities. We must recognize their importance and value. We must plan to protect and set aside these areas. We must design trail systems and opportunities to enjoy our climate. Summer may be a hard sell but our spring and fall are outstanding and winter is mild.

Next, consider air pollution. We have known since 1970 that we had an ozone air pollution problem. Our leadership resisted controlling nitrogen oxides (NOx) until there was precious little time to put a control plan together. Then, the Business Coalition for Clean Air sued the state agency for passing regulations that were too strict. Our leaders should be forcing strict controls, not suing those who promulgate them.

However, another air pollution issue is lurking in Houston's future. Fine particle matter is dangerous to human health. Portions of the Houston area exceed the fine particle standard that was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. A 1999 study by the City of Houston identified that over $3 billion in health benefits would be realized if Houston would clean up both the ozone and small particle problem. Over 435 premature deaths would be avoided if our air were cleaner. Would you consider these facts in determining whether to move your company to Houston?

Why don't we do what Los Angeles did and create a regional air quality agency that has the resources and the power to solve our air pollution problem? We need funding and personnel to address these difficult issues. We should bite the bullet and just do it.

Next, water-based recreation is a key aspect of quality of life concerns. The Houston area is blessed with proximity to the Galveston Bay system, over 370,000 acres of prime recreation. Sailing and fishing are readily available to the Houston region. In fact, there is a wonderful residential quality of life available along the upper Galveston Bay shoreline, from Morgan's Point to Bacliff.

&#However, rather than being protected and celebrated, this bay-area quality of life is being threatened by the Port of Houston Authority. The Bayport container port is proposed to be built in the middle of residential development that will be negatively affected by thousands of trucks, noise and air pollution. These established residential areas will be killed if this new container port is allowed to go forward.

Why do we as a community insist on destroying our assets when that destruction is not necessary to achieve regional economic benefits? Before imposing a death sentence on these residential areas, shouldn't we ask whether or not other sites are available for us to keep up with global container traffic?

In fact, one clearly viable alternative site exists--Shoal Point in Texas City. And, to make this alternative better, the container port at Shoal Point is proposed to be built with private money rather than our tax money. Isn't this a quality of life win-win situation?

Next, consider transportation. Roads are an absolutely essential aspect of Houston development and will have to be maintained and expanded over time. However, roads alone are not the answer.

One study recently found that Houston had the highest per capita commuting cost in the United States and another study found that we had the second highest miles traveled per day per person. And while we will always be wed to cars, plans such as that for IH 10 cause me to cringe. What type of quality of life is implicit in living next to a 20 to 24-lane freeway?

Choice should be an essential element of our transportation policy and it is not. We are forced to use cars, whether we wish to or not. At the least, we should have a transit system that runs out U.S. 90A to Sugarland, north to Bush Intercontinental and the Woodlands and south to the University of Houston and Texas Southern, Hobby Airport and Clear Lake. We should be able to go to a football or basketball or a baseball game on a rail transit system. We should have choice--a key element in quality of life.

We must also squarely face the fact that we often build roads for development rather than transportation purposes. The Grand Parkway was rejected as a toll road because there was insufficient traffic demand projected in certain segments. However, this road continues to be pursued as a transportation priority. Why? The answer is simple. The Grand Parkway is a real estate development concept, not a transportation concept. We are doomed to failure if we continue to develop land with our transportation dollars rather than solve transportation problems.

And while we are on the subject of roads, why are our road systems so ugly? Other communities have addressed billboards and litter. Why don't we? We could have trees along all of our major freeways if we, as a community, demanded it. We should not be surprised when communities that value those amenities attract new economic development and we do not.

And finally, consider flooding. We seem to be mired in an endless process of flood improvements that solve a problem in one place only to cause a problem elsewhere. The most recent example of this "movable flood" is on White Oak Bayou where over a thousand homes that had previously not flooded became retention ponds for upstream development. We cannot continue to flood existing residential areas as we develop upstream. This practice must stop.

The National Wildlife Federation's study "Higher Ground" found that the City of Houston and Harris County were the third and fourth worst offenders in the United States for filing repetitive home flooding claims, with Montgomery County sixth and the City of Friendswood tenth. This too should cease.

We should buy out homes that flood and we should catch the water from new development in detention ponds. Period.

With a coordinated effort, we could beat the Houston bad rap blues. Quality of life can be designed into the Houston region's future but we must change to accomplish this goal. We have assets and options but we must act soon. Otherwise, the opportunities that still exist will be lost, and that would truly be unfortunate, for ourselves and for those who come after us.