Kitty Klitze: Working to improve policy, attitudes

In a recent interview in the Inlander, Spokane Mayor Mary Verner touted Spokane’s aggressive marketing of its environmental reputation, and the possibility of that paying off when federal stimulus funds are parceled out to communities who have “shovel ready” projects that not only create jobs, but improve environmental sustainability and secure a greener future. Local organizer Kitty Klitzke of Futurewise sees smarter, more effective transit as a perfect example of said project, and she is determined to not only see it succeed, but to make sure Spokane has plans ready to take advantage of stimulus dollars. Transit-Oriented Communities, House Bill 1490 / Senate Bill 5687, “would revise the state’s transportation and land-use planning framework to assist local jurisdictions to plan for growth in a sustainable and climate-friendly way.” Co-sponsored by Senator Chris Marr of Spokane, this is exactly the sort of reputation Mayor Verner mentioned in her interview, and is exactly the sort of catalyst for change Spokane needs for sustainable growth. I recently interviewed Kitty Klitzke to understand more about Transit Oriented Communities, and the significance of it for Spokane. Tell me about how important it is to have Chris Marr as a co-sponsor on this bill, and what that means for Spokane? As a Spokane native one of my top priorities as an organizer in a statewide organization is to make sure Spokane’s and Eastern Washington’s interests brought to the table in any statewide effort. Futurewise is one of very few statewide groups that has a staff person here. So for me personally, it is very exciting to have someone from Spokane championing Transit Oriented Communities, and to have the support of the Spokane delegation (Timm Ormsby was also a very early sponsor in the House). But the important thing is that Senator Marr has shown leadership on sustainability and transportation before he was elected. He was a leader in the local business community on issues like Clean Cars, and continues to represent Spokane’s business interests by recognizing that building compact, transit-oriented communities is consistent with the goals of the Downtown and Centers and Corridors plans and will create healthier, safer, affordable, and vibrant communities, while reducing congestion, combating climate change and strengthening our economy. Being a notoriously hard worker in the Senate, we are also lucky that to have someone with Senator Marr’s tenacity representing Spokane. And so we can appease our monthly quota on talking about the light rail, will Transit Oriented Communities breathe life into the light rail project? It could, since it will require local governments to consider all transportation modes in their planning (not just cars and buses). It also changes the forecasting language from “traffic” to “travel demand” to open up the strategic possibility of planning and investing in other modes. Since Spokane already owns the right of way, a high capacity transit system, even a rail fixed guideway system, could be a more economical and prudent option for us than for communities who don’t own right of ways. This gives us a competitive advantage for grants. I think we can safely say that rail is vastly hipper than buses. Not only are people in suits more apt to ride it, it is more attractive to businesses that consider moving here. It’s just a more desirable class of transit for rides longer than 15 minutes. It is becoming clear to most Americans that our country needs to start moving toward a world class transit system now. I think cities who make early investments will be vastly rewarded. Would you say this bill is more of an energy-saving bill, a community-building bill, or an alternative transportation bill? And while I know it is and can be a hybrid of all of these, I can see that distinction being important depending on the financial climate. I think most importantly right now, it is a community-building bill. And what I mean by community building is, making our community more economical, efficient, and attractive. This bill would greatly support Fast Forward Spokane, phase two of the Downtown Revitalization Plan, support the development of our centers and corridors. Transit Oriented Communities provides for incentives and funding mechanisms that are not currently available to Spokane to help us reach our goals for economic vitality and community sustainability. Transit Oriented Communities will also help us keep workforce housing in where it needs to be, avoiding phenomenon of pushing the workforce outside our employment centers that has happened to so many other cities. I was at the annual meeting of the Downtown Spokane Partnership recently and there was a spirit of cautious optimism and definite determination to build on our past successes. That’s why we need this legislation now, we are on a roll and we need to keep the momentum going toward a sustainable future. Land use and transportation patterns are the No. 1 thing we have to change in order to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in Washington State. This bill will help us make those changes that greatly help us address the challenge of global warming all while doing the right thing for our economy. Why is it “that” much harder in Spokane to talk about alternative transportation, smarter transportation, and effective transit? I don’t know, I’m trying to find out, because nobody has been difficult with me about it. When I talk to people on neighborhood councils they seem to be clamoring for it. When I talk to average people who prefer driving, they still seem open to it. It gets most interesting when I talk to folks involved in our local transit bureaucracy. So far they have seemed very supportive of effective transit and very happy to point the finger to another bureaucracy, other people on their board or staff, or the public as a reason they don’t improve. I have followed these leads and not been able to discover who this mysterious and powerful person is that it stopping us from making great strides on transit. Literally everyone involved says it is not them. What I am seeing are clear signs that public sentiment supports smarter transportation systems. The only other excuse I hear is funding and there are federal economic stimulus funds being created for exactly such project—if we get plans ready to take advantage of them. I really hope we don’t miss the boat. What are our options here in Spokane for a more sustainable transit future and does our smart transit future prominently feature a bicycle-friendly feel? In Spokane our options are wide open. We built out too far, so we’re not nearly built up to our full potential. We have a huge opportunity improve upon what we already have of green infrastructure-which is a lot. We really could have it all here - locally grown food, walkable densities, pedestrian safety, bike routes, a world class regional transit system, and a well connected system of parks and recreation accessible by all of these modes of transportation. Transit becomes conspicuous by its absence. As soon as you decide you want to try not driving to an activity and find out you don’t have the option of transit, suddenly your lack of choice closes in on you and you see clearly the yawning gaps in our community that a great transit system could fill. I think more and more people have been through this exercise and are starting to imagine a better future. Compared to other communities of our size, we are practically a blank slate with very few major barriers to improvements in transit. Our attitudes have been the biggest challenge. And I think those have come a long way. Pioneering volunteer efforts like Bike to Work Week, Spokefest, and Smart Routes are only the beginning. I think the pedestrians will come on board soon, look to see walking school buses, street closures downtown for special pedestrian days, and more. And now, how do you play into all of this? Well, it’s my job. I work for a really awesome organization. This is the best job I have ever had and I am so lucky that our Spokane board member Bart Haggin, and the previous person with this job pushed me in this direction. I suppose this is not what you meant though. That is really hard to answer. I really can’t see myself—probably a sign that I need to do some reflection. I could say that I walked away from my old lifestyle and decided to abandon some of my previous plans and dreams for advocacy work, that I gave up driving in 2003, and was a bicycle commuter when I owned a home on the north side before that—so I know the issues first hand. Or I could talk about my life-long connection to nature, but that hardly seems to matter. I’m living that, and many other people are too. Living the lifestyle of the future today is the right thing to do for me personally. I used to think that me doing it might make it less scary for others too. But as successful as I have been with my lifestyle changes, I gladly endure what would be huge challenges for others. I have begun to re-think that theory. Lifestyle is so deeply personal that I don’t think mine will influence another’s. This is why I do policy work. We have to create the infrastructure and the policy framework to make it easier and more practical for people.