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Interesting column in a New England newspaper that fights back against the notion that the American Suburb’s days are numbered:

The death of the American suburbs has been predicted for decades, mostly by people who never liked suburbs to begin with.

That song is being sung again, with new verses based on current events. Housing prices have gone bust. Energy costs will doom auto-dependent communities. Empty-nesters are flocking toward gentrified urban neighborhoods. Young people hate subdivisions.

“The suburban dream of the big house with the big lawn is vanishing,” Time opined in March.

Not so fast, Bob Lang told a suburban audience in Westborough last month. Lang, co-director of the Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute, has written several books on the subject, and is convinced America is a suburban nation and likely to stay that way.

Urban planners have long waxed rhapsodic about the joys of city living, with its diverse neighborhoods and opportunities for social interaction with colorful cabdrivers, interesting vagrants and neighbors you can learn a lot about while fighting over the parking place you just shoveled out. Suburbs are sterile places for white people who hide from social interaction in their cars and cul-de-sacs.

Ordinary Americans have been ignoring this tripe for a half-century, creating a new suburban landscape in the process.

The column goes on to say some surprising things. Did you know there’s not a single enclosed mall being built in America right now? Apparently they’ve fallen out of fashion so completely that in some places, they’re being torn down and redeveloped into denser housing, even in the ‘burbs.

However, there’s one interesting caveat to this guy’s defense of the suburbs. He seems to hint that suburbs may someday look more like cities. Why? Well, the US is on track to have 400 million people by 2039, but in many places, even suburbs are running up against geography and running out of space.

That, he says, may mean we’ll be building up instead of out.

As one SCV blogger to another, I’d like to welcome the new Valencia Auto Center website and blog, which should offer lots of good sales information, a heeping dose of Buy-in-SCV-or-else guilt, and plenty of that new car smell.

Santa Clarita is a "special" place indeed

Unfortunately for me, the Valencia Auto Center has been irrevocably altered since the Hummer dealership closed and started selling Volkswagen.

Without that wanna-be military vehicle/mom taxi being sold in town, who will fill in as the official villain when I mock the SCV’s car culture? I look through the list of dealers above and I find most aren’t nearly as objectinable as the that late 90s/early oughts symbol of excess was. The Hummer was so easy to mock; outside their dealership, they even had a fake mountain obstacle course, as if any of the Hummers sold from the dealership here in town ever saw any surface rougher than the Old Road.

Indeed, the end of Hummer is the end of an era for Santa Clarita. I remember one SCV realtor in particular, Garo I think his name was, who blinged out his H2 and rolled around town symbolizing two industries of excess all in one garish mobile package. Sadly, I don’t see Garo’s Hummer anymore.

I am seeing more and more Escalades (rollin’ with 20″ dubs foo!) around town though, despite the economic doldrums we find ourselves in, so perhaps that will be the new symbol of excess going forward. But, sigh, somehow it’s just not the same as the Hummer.

Browsing through the matrix of SCV auto dealers, you have to wonder how many brands will be around in just a few years? We already know Saturn is getting the ax. Buick is popular only in China and in retirment communities in Santa Clarita. Pontiac, the old GM “Excitement” brand, isn’t so exciting anymore. This new website may have to be revised before it’s a year old.

I’m encouraged by a few of the dealers on the list though.  Barack Obama only permits us lib-ruhl Democrats to drive a few models of cars on our way to organic farmers markets or to escape the Tea Party hordes. These include the Toyota Prius, which is available at Frontier Toyota, the Honda Insight/Civic/Accord (all with hybird I think) available at Power Honda, and anything Volvo, which comes from the socialistic paradise of Sweden (long may she reign, yah?).

Democrats are also allowed to drive Subarus, but unfortunately I can’t get a Subaru anywhere within the Santa Clarita Valley. To get a Subaru, I have to go to one of our hated neighbors: Lancaster, or the SFV, which means I’m not only not Thinking Santa Clarita, I’m practically Thinking Anti-Santa Clarita. So I’m hoping Mayor Dude will work his magic and get a Subaru dealer onto Creekside since he’s so concerned about empty space over there.

It looks like the Auto Dealers are staging a big Independence Day sales party this weekend. I predict it will be a big success, with lots of new cars rolling off the lots and cash registers going ca-ching at the Dealerships and in City Hall. There’s something particularly American about buying a car on the 4th of July in a town where bitching about traffic is the number one passtime. Who knows, maybe even Garo will find a new set of wheels to drive? Then he, along with the rest of Santa Clarita, can park over at the mall and watch the fireworks.

Congressman McKeon, the new big cheese on the House Armed Services Committee, will host a fundraiser tomorrow at the tony but bankrupt Tournament Player’s Club with Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and potential GOP gubernatorial candidate for California.

whew…what a mouthful. From the secret email leaked to your’s truly:

*cough* Photoshop! *cough*

No opening bid, reserve price, or Buy It Now! price for the “Get Acquainted” fundraiser is given, though a disclaimer on the email says McKeon will only be able to accept a maximum of $2,400.

The soiree starts at 6pm at a private West Ridge home and includes an after party plus photo opportunity with Meg Whitman at 7pm at the TPC (no, I guess they haven’t changed the locks there yet).

My email informant asks why McKeon is sending out invitations the night before the big dinner with someone who could be California’s next governor. Is he having trouble finding buyers in these troubling economic times?

Also, the rumor is, if  you use the Buy It Now option, McKeon will arrange a fly by of F-22s over West Ridge. Be sure to leave good feedback! (Have I taken the ebay metaphors far enough yet?)

You heard it here first!

This is the kind of thing I’d like to see installed someday in Santa Clarita, perhaps in Newhall or Valencia or any street that isn’t just designed to allow cars to travel at 50+ mph:

The concept behind these painted “Sharrow” lanes is simple: they serve as a distinct marker beyond mere painted lines where cyclists can ride outside of the door zone (the place where a cyclist might be hit by an opening car door). Cars can also use them to some extent.

Long Beach is the first city in LA County to do this; Portland has similar arrows.

I can’t think of many places in the SCV where this would work, save for perhaps Main Street in and around Old Town Newhall.

Of course for many bike riders, a separated Class 1 bike path is superior to this, but if you actually want to go to places on your bike (rather than just ride around recreationally), a sharrow lane could increase your safety and comfort while riding with cars.

A few months ago, you’d be excused if you were a Santa Clarita resident (or blogger) and couldn’t name the governmental authority charged with managing your sewage and waste water.

That’s not the case now though.

Following a decision to delay a $250 million assessment on SCV homeowners over that whole chloride-in-the-water-Ventura-farmers-hate-us thing, the Sanitation District, comprised of two of our own City Councilmembers, has voted to raise taxes fees rates money from us, and, in the process, exposed somewhat the nexus between local government, development, tax revenue and…poo.

KHTS has the best report:

With a full contingent of voters, the Board of the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District met Wednesday and unanimously approved a 14 percent increase in service charges for residents, resulting in a monthly fee bump of $1.67, starting in January 2010.

The proposal included the $1.67 increase, which was nearly half of what had been proposed during the May meeting, as well as commensurate hikes for industrial water surcharge rates and an increase in connection fees for new users to $4,500.

So what’s with this Sanitation district business? Don’t look at me, I’ve been lazy lately, look at the KHTS article which includes some rather startling and brutally honest quotes from Mayor Dude on the state of the SCV economy and the reason our rates are going up:

Weste expressed concern that the new connection fees be held off until January to accommodate business owners ready to open within the next few months.

“What will this do to those restaurants who have already calculated their opening costs on the original fees?” she asked.

Both she and Ferry said that their priorities were to support new and expanded commerce in the area, mentioning those in the Golden Valley and Westfield shopping centers.

“Our concern is to keep sites full, that’s what pays for public service,” Ferry said. “Mervyn’s is shut down and there’s a mall with no tenants. Look at Creekside Road now, there are four car dealerships closed down, so I have to make sure we can bring people in. I have to bring those people in to fill all this empty leased space because that’s what going to end up generating sales tax which pays for everything we pay for in the council purview.”

Wow! Here we have concern from Councilmembers/Sanitation District board-sitters about the mall expansion, which is set to open this fall. Back when they broke ground on The Patios, the economy was, if not hot, somewhat decent. But less than two years later and there are retail vacancies all around town, even at the mall and Town Center drive, and some 300,000 sq. ft. more retail space is coming online later this year.

And now it’s going to cost those businesses that the mall area is desperate for even more money to open up shop ($4,500 water hookup, according to the article).

And, as Ferry admits, sales tax revenue is the City’s bread and butter. There’s really no fall-back; the City depends on you and I consuming ourselves into delirium, and right now, we’re not consuming and stores are going under.

But that’s not all. Here’s Ferry on why the District had to raise rates (the brutally honest part):

“The reality is that he (Maguin) doesn’t make the decision whether homes are built. We decide that. Let’s say that 3,000 homes will be built. He has to be prepared for all those stores, restaurants and homes that will flush into the system,” he said. “We’ve always taken the position that if you have lived in Santa Clarita for 25 years, your quality of life shouldn’t change because of the 3,000 new homes.”

He’s not saying it, but he’s saying it: there is a cost to all the growth Santa Clarita has had for the last 15 years, and he’s saying that we can credit/blame the City Council for it. Growth is good, Ferry says, but growth needs infrastructure and the bill is past due (OMG he sounds like a Democrat, let’s get him!)

Former Councilmember TimBen Boydston, a possible candidate for City Council next year and a thorn in Mayor Dude’s side, immediately invoked the tried-and-true Republican meme of “it’s a tax increase during an economic downturn!”

“I’m very disappointed because we’re in the biggest recession since World War II and our Mayor and Councilwoman have voted to raise our taxes,” he said. “Everybody is cutting back on every level of government and as individuals, we’re having to cut back with our families and nonprofits are cutting back, but they can’t say no to higher taxes. The fact is that this is a different kind of year and instead of asking the sanitation district to do more with less, they have taken the easy way out and raised our taxes.”

Yowza! That’s going right into Boydston’s mailer, me thinks, and it should hit our mailboxes in late March or early April next year as Boydston takes on Scott Wilk’s trio of candidates.

A group calling itself the Fair Budget Coalition has gone on the offensive against Assemblyman Cameron Smyth and two other California GOP assemblyman as the budget situation in California continues to worsen.

I received this mailer in my box yesterday:

The mailer claims “Cameron Smyth’s cuts are hurting Californians,” and claims that “drastic cuts to healthcare, education and other vital services have already been implemented this year.” The inside of the mailer shows an elderly woman receiving care from a home medical worker and says that such workers have had their pay cut to $9.50 an hour.

It also shows a black and white picture of a smiling Smyth at the bottom.

The group behind the mailer is made up of teacher and state worker unions, according to the Fresno Bee. The Bee says that the Coalition only targeted three California GOP Assemblymambers with the mailers. Along with Smyth, mailers were sent to homes in the districts of Assemblyman Steve Knight (Lancaster), and Danny Gilmore (30th Assembly District).

Meanwhile, the Signal reports that a dozen or so protesters gathered outside Smyth’s office yesterday to protest budget cuts. The protesters included Carole Lutness, the local Democrat who ran unsuccessfully against Smyth in 2008. Lutness said she had figured out how to balance the state budget by using that LA Times toy the paper had posted a few weeks ago. Check out Cameron Smyth’s response:

Lutness waved a sheet of paper, declaring she had single-handedly solved the budget crisis using a calculator on a newspaper Web site.

“I was able to balance the budget,” Lutness said. “I would like Cameron Smyth to take the test and tell me how he balanced the budget.”

During a break from the Assembly floor Thursday afternoon, Smyth retorted: “I don’t need to get onto (a Web) site to draft a plan. I’m up here voting and doing it for real.”

Lutness’ plan called for more than $19 billion in tax hikes primarily targeting the wealthy and corporations, and raising taxes on gas, alcohol and cigarettes.

Smyth said it wasn’t realistic.

“Tough decisions are going to have to be made - decisions that nobody wants to have to make,” Smyth said. “And while the unions and Democrats are outside my office trying to score cheap political points, I’m here at the Capitol working with Republican and Democratic colleagues to try and solve this crisis.”

Wow. A little testy there? It sounds like he’s not denying the substance of the mailers or what the protesters were claiming. We know raising taxes isn’t an option for Republicans so the only thing left for them is to make cuts.

Why are these liberal groups targeting Smyth when there are 25 other GOP Assembly members?

Maybe it’s because voter registration data suggests Cameron Smyth might be vulnerable in next year’s elections. The Total Capitol.com website, for instance, says Democratic registrations in the 38th Assembly District have come within three points of Republican registrations.

Smyth won in 2008 with 55 percent of the vote, a lower margin than in 2006. And the fact that a liberal union-backed group chose to spend money and resources targeting him with this mailer in an off-election year means someone thinks he might be vulnerable.

But I wouldn’t bet against Smyth, especially since no credible Democratic challenger in Santa Clarita really exists. That doesn’t rule out someone from another part of the District, however.

That infamous “Fear God” bulletin board along bulletin-board heavy San Fernando Road Railroad Avenue has finally been replaced. It went from this:

to this:

Verily I say unto you, capitalism and the Outdoor Messaging Industry is truly no respecter of religion. Those moneychangers will advertise anything, even if one message contradicts the other.

In this case it was the very evangelical Christian message of “FEAR GOD” being replaced with the neo-pagan idolatry (and very enjoyable fiction) of Mr. Harry Potter.*

Someone call Bob Kellar. Clearly that whole “In God We Trust” thing isn’t working out like we planned. Meanwhile I’ll be waiting in line for tickets for Potter!

*  For consistency’s sake, I wish they had done up the bulletin board in a large blocky font that said, FEAR VOLDERMORT!

The City Council will take up and likely approve an ordinance tonight that will allow cyclists to ride on sidewalks.

Sound familiar? This same ordinance got shelved after a few cyclists showed up earlier this year to protest a portion of the ordinance that would have required cyclists to dismount their bikes and walk through crosswalks.

To its credit, the City took the ordinance back, revised it, and tonight it should become law.

On May 14, 2009, the City Attorney and staff met with the bicycling community and came to an agreement on a revised ordinance that addresses all three areas of concern for bicyclists, still keeps the intent of the original ordinance (to provide a policy that complements the Non-Motorized Plan), and does not add any additional liability to the City.

I support this ordinance but I hope it’s not used as an excuse to retard development of further bike lanes. At the last City Council meeting, I asked the city council to reconsider extending a third-lane on east-bound Lyons Avenue because it would take away room for cyclists on that major east-west route. Lyons Avenue is used by scores of bike commuters everyday who ride to employment centers on the west side of the freeway; adding a third lane of traffic to the road would discourage more people from riding their bikes to work. And unfortunately for us, there really is no other east-west route in Newhall; even the Paseos end at Wiley Canyon.

The blogger over at CyclingSantaClarita agreed with me and noted:

Why am I bringing this up?  Because the city council is at it again.  A reader of this blog forwarded me notes from the May 26^th meeting of the council, and they apparently want to add more lanes without making any accommodations for cyclists……again.  I ask that whoever has the plaque or ribbon that the city received for being bike friendly to please burn it immediately.  You do not deserve it.  Send it to Portland at least they are making an effort.

In response, the City’s Traffic Engineer, Andrew Yi, noted that Lyons had been inherited from the county and thus there wasn’t much extra room on the road for a bike lane. He said that was the reason the city was proposing the sidewalk cycling ordinance -to close the gap on places like Lyons Avenue.

Only problem is that on portions of Lyons Avenue, there is no sidewalk. The same is true on Orchard Village Road, sections of McBean, Newhall Avenue south of Main Street etc. What’s more, the City’s non-motorized traffic plan proposes no bike paths or lanes for Lyons or Newhall.

Even when built-out, the OVOV bikeway plan has no east-west routes in Newhall

Laurene Weste was the only councilmember who took the time to understand my complaint and she’s invited me to call her about it, so I may do that.

In any event, this ordinance will make me feel a little better about using the sidewalks to “close the gap” on major roads like Valencia Blvd where there is zero room for cyclists. For riders like me, cycling on the sidewalk sucks, but sometimes it’s the only option. For kids and recreational riders, I think this ordinance will encourage more riding (even though it’s highly debatable whether sidewalk riding is actually safer).

So I was driving down Valencia Blvd Sunday near City Hall when I spotted yet another banner posted on one of those paseo bridges (side note: it’s amazing how paseo bridge banners are such a mainstay of communication in this town.)

This time the banner wasn’t promoting the latest charity golf tournament or a new church play or even THiNK SCV. Nope, this banner said the Santa Clarita Valley was in a drought and it warned us to conserve, lest we, I guess, run out of water. It looked something like this:

The lake, the lake, the lake is on empty. We don't need no homes let the motherf....

Nothing groundbreaking here, right? Just a friendly reminder to use water wisely, to recognize that hey, we live in a desert, and that it’s going to take all of us pitching in to help conserve water.

Yet, as I drove under the bridge, I experienced something I’m feeling more and more lately in SCVLand. Namely, an “uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.” Yes, I was experiencing an acute case of cognitive dissonance, brought on by this banner and an article I read in the Signal just a week or so ago, an article titled, “Newhall Ranch Opts out of Water Wars.”

Just reading the title should cause an episode of cognitive dissonance in your own mind. How can Newhall Land “opt out” of a water crisis like you and I opt out of annoying telemarketer phone calls? It’s not like they can manufacture water, right? It’s a zero sum game after all, water is a finite resource, you can’t just except yourself from the laws of physics, nature, the Department of Water Resources, weather patterns, and climate, even if you are the most powerful developer ever. Right?

Well according to this article, Newhall Land can:

With the statewide political battle over water from the Sacramento Delta raging, Newhall Land and Farming decided to opt of the water fight when it designed its Newhall Ranch project, according to a Newhall Land and Farming official.

“We’re building a water reclamation plant capable of recycling 6.8-million gallons per day,” said Marlee Lauffer, Newhall Land and Farming spokeswoman.

I love how The Signal portrays this decision. The scene: Worried Newhall Land executives sit in their board room, arguing about the Governor’s declaration of drought, reviewing CLWA’s water numbers, and pouring over press reports about water shortages and then, out of nowhere, one of the executives throws a bunch of  press clippings onto the big Heritage Oak boardroom table and booms in a Texas drawl: “Enough! I motion that we opt out of all this.” He asks for a second, and gets it, and that is how Newhall Land “decided” to be immune to water supply pressures.

Cue the quote from Marlee Lauffer about recycling an impressive 6.8 million gallons of water every day. Sounds like a lot, right? Only problem is that 6.8 million gallons of water is equal to about 20 acre-feet of water. In other words, Newhall Land will recycle enough water to cover 20 acres of land in one foot of water, every day. Put another way,  20 acre-feet of water is enough water to supply about 40 families of water for about one year. Newhall Ranch will eventually be home to 70,000 people.

But let’s be fair. Newhall Land says it has figured out the math. It’s pretty basic. The 21,000 home development will need 17,000 acre feet of water per year, and here’s how Newhall Land says they’ll get it, according to the article:

So I guess this is how Newhall Land has “opted out” of the water wars: by promising to use existing stocks of water and recycle the rest. Nevermind that ten years ago they were saying they would use Castaic Lake and state water to feed the project; they’ve found a better way apparently.

I’m working my way through some of the sections of the Newhall Ranch EIR documents on the state’s website, and the sections on water supply appear to confirm what the Signal story says. That still doesn’t erase my sense of cognitive dissonance however. All around us, those in the know are telling us to conserve water, yet, just over the horizon, planners are busy working on a new city for 70,000 people.

Help me out. Is there enough water for this or isn’t there? Why am I being told to conserve water when there’s apparently enough of it right here in our area to supply a new city of 70,000 people?

A distressing story in the Signal today on hate crimes in the SCV:

Hate crimes in the Santa Clarita Valley are on track to reach the highest levels since 2006, according to sheriff’s statistics.

So far this year, 13 hate crimes have been reported in the Santa Clarita Valley. In comparison, 16 hate crimes were reported in all of 2008 and 15 in all of 2007 - 2006 saw 29 hate crimes in the SCV.

While most of the hate crimes targeted victims because of race, crimes against people based on sexual orientation have risen steadily in the SCV since 2006.

Property crimes like vandalism and arson dominated the numbers. Only a few of the crimes involved physical violence - an average of about four a year since 2006.

Growing up in the SCV, I’ve come into contact with this element on more than one occasion. The purveyors of hate in this town are often young, unemployed losers with little to offer the rest of humanity.

One senses that they live lives with little meaning and sort of drift toward racial or white supremacist views because no other philosophy or outlook makes them feel empowered. Eventually they all commit crimes, property first, then violence second, because such philosophies don’t inspire acts of kindness or selflessness.

But that’s the easy stuff. Such lowlifes are easy to identify, categorize, and imprison.

Much more difficult to detect and eradicate is the subtle racism in Santa Clarita. The kind of racism that leads west side residents to refer to dark skinned residents of Newhall as “those people” or that makes Old Orchard 1 residents fearful about a Mexican grocer moving to their neighborhood. The kind of racism that lead to violence at Hart High school a few years ago. Or the kind of subtle racism disguising itself as outrage over “illegal aliens,” like that fellow who got all upset about an American flag hung in his Latino neighbor’s window a few months ago.

The Signal report also mentions increasing violence against gays in the SCV. I’m surprised by this, though I suppose I shouldn’t be. I never saw the activist, militant part of mainstream Santa Clarita until Proposition 8 erupted on the local scene last year.

Proponents of that initiative brought out every tired stereotype about gays in their letters to the editor, their blogs, and into the streets of Santa Clarita. Proposition 8 almost made it okay to be biased against gays and lesbians. They waved signs that said their were merely ‘defending’ traditional marriage, which meant that they believed the inverse was true as well: gays were attacking their marriage. They marched out of their churches, young and old, onto street corners throughout the SCV for weeks on end. Oh they were friendly enough about it, they didn’t ‘hate’ gays or anything, they just didn’t want their marriage to be attacked or their children to be taught that gay people exist.

To gays and lesbians in the SCV, it must have felt like a pretty hostile place, even if no violence was committed.