Strong Towns Happy Valley

Hello STHV Members and Newletter Followers,

State College is in need of positive, local change. Despite our advocation and conversations with local leaders, we have not seen progress. This newsletter is an open letter discussing my concerns with the State College borough. Here what we’re examining today:

Borough Clarity and Misleading Statements
Getting Involved
Resources, Evidence, and More

State College Borough is getting away with it
Summary: Despite proclaiming a move towards transit, inclusivity, affordable housing, strong local businesses and diverse, accessible communities, the borough council and staff have continuously made decisions that stall these goals. While making progressive-sounding statements that feign acknowledgement of our concerns, they continue to hide behind the status quo and ignore the impacts of their complacent policies.
The Borough’s (In)Actions : Transportation and Ignoring the Literature

Council and staff have not bee honest about how much parking costs and how much revenue there is and how much demand. According data from Borough Manager Tom fountaine, sent to council and ready by Councilman Matt Hernden (link below), the numbers contradict the need for heavy investment in parking. While the council claims that revenue covers the cost of building the garage, maintenance costs increase garage expenses in data presented in council this week. We have reached out over the past month to obtain this data, and it has not been provided to us, but it has been summarized in the borough agenda below (page 132). Parking garage replacement costs an exorbitant amount of money and is the top expenditure making up a majority of the boroughs Capital Improvement Plan funding (Search item PF152). This funding could fund the entire local Centre region’s contribution of the CATA budget for over 100 (700k per year). A common argument from the borough staff when asked why they are spending funds this way, is that since the parking garage is paid for in debt, they don't need cash on hand for construction, and make the money back through fees. However, the garage takes up lands itself which could be used in other development styles, like housing or businesses, to pay for the transit operations the borough claims they do not have money for. By ignoring alternatives to the parking garage in the capital improvement plan, the borough staff has limited downtown to continue being car-centered rather than expanding the city for businesses, housing and alternative transit infrastructure.
-One reason why progress is slow in the Centre region is that State College does not work with PennDOT, so they claim. This is apparently improvements on streets like on Park Ave. cannot be done. For over a year, we have discussed the benefits a road diet on Park Ave. would create with the council. However, when a road diet was proposed on Atherton, multiple council members made arguments against replanning the street based on false premises about increased traffic, known to not be the case based on the literature describing traffic generation. Again, the council knows about traffic generation and induced demand as they have been we have presented these during public hour and via email. Even though council can claim progress is blocked by PennDOT, there have been a few times where PennDOT has offered to collaborate, and when this happens, council members still argue against change.

These are just two of the largest, but they do not mention the opposition that the council has stated to upzoning beyond the minimalist position. It has come to a point where it is unacceptable. Simply put, a council like this will hurt and its inaction, is an action in the wrong direction. No decision, is a decision towards inaction.

As constituents we demand better- we demand to be listened to. I have seen many people show up to council meeting and provide evidence, only to be ignored by the borough. Saying one thing and doing another, is something used across the board to hide true intentions, as in this Strong Towns article.

Call to action, don't be afraid to voice your concerns, it takes a lot of people and a movement in a constituency for council to act and not be fearful of community backlash. Continue to talk to your neighbors and see how what you are experiencing is a symptom of design, be it traffic quantiy or fatalities. Lastly, do not give the council slack when they can do more. Holding accountability and using your vote as best you can is crutial, some coucil members are keeping to promises of evidence and community based approaches, to which they should be commended.

To view sources click the embedded links and see the resources below. If you would like more, please reach out to strongtownshappyvalley@gmail.com
How to Get Involved
Upcoming Events and Meetings to Attend and Meet STHV Memebers:

- State College Connector Public Meeting: Thursday August 15th, see image above
- Climate Conversation: Wednesday September 4th, see image above
- STHV Meeting: Tuesday August 20th @6pm in the borough Municipal Building
- Borough Council Meeting 1st and 3rd Monday at 7pm, check schedule here: https://statecollegepa.us/603/Borough-Council-Mayor
- Join us at lionbash August 29th: https://statecollegepa.civilspace.io/en/projects/lion-bash
Primary Sources

If you want to do digging into how easy it is to find the information they neglect to read, check out these sources below.

Meeting where the Road Diet was Discussed: https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4822/media/854826#
Meeting Where the Capital Improvement plan was pushed: https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4822/media/892058
Capital Improvement Budget: https://borough-state-college-pa-budget-book.cleargov.com/16410/introduction/transmittal-letter Pay close attention to the item PF152 and total parking
CATA Budget: https://catabus.com/about-cata/cata-overview/budget-annual-report-strategic-plan/ Compare this buget to parking. Specifically, pay attention to the local funding, this is what townships pay. You will see here how much more we are spending on parking, to an unbelievable degree.
Resources to understand why building more roads and parking is bad for cities people and budgets
https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traffic-induced-demand/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/widen-highways-traffic.html
https://www.vtpi.org/gentraf.pdf
Learn about how cities say one thing and do another: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/8/9/talk-is-cheap-how-one-city-hid-its-true-intentions-in-the-fine-print?apcid=00630262626fb0177df7a901&utm_source=transparentaccounting
Full Borough Agenda Packet: https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/221c6e5e-f663-4cd7-9cb1-fc6368467b1f

Thank you for reading and continuing to be active in our community,

-Ethan