Davis Myths
Davis is governed by many shared beliefs, some of which are historically true, like our affection for the university and shaded streets. Others have become established politically, like our liberal persuasion on the environment and energy conservation. But some of the sayings which have become prominent in our political rhetoric have lost their connection to what our city has become as we have outgrown our small town-ness.
A myth is a shared belief that may be disconnected from actual social behavior. We have locked some myths into our general plan, and the incongruencies have produced different unintended consequences. These myths are labeled “good planning principles” in an attempt to manipulate the general plan. Some of the myths are:
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“The 1987 General Plan works”: when most of the commercial projects projected in the plan have not happened, while most of the costs of residential development and infrastructure have. The city has no economic development strategy, and the 1987 plan continues to be an inhibitor to economic development.
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“Davis controls its growth”: UCD is a perpetual growth machine. No matter what the forces are at the regional and the state level, each year the UC campus will attract new residents who want to stay. UCD is expanding which exerts further growth pressures.
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“City tax structure is fair”: when new homeowners pay much more. The 1987 General Plan put enormous financial burdens on the quarter of our population that has arrived in the last decade. This divides the city into two distinct voting groups with very different concerns.
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“Beautiful Downtown Davis is the only place for retail”: there isn’t room. Some downtown advocates think everything should be downtown because it is the heart of the city and must be nourished exclusively. This vision creates a conflict between added commercial space, more car traffic, added parking, and simultaneously greater expectation of protecting pedestrian ambiance, leading to increased crowding which I call the Manhattanization of downtown Davis. We need economic activity in other places besides the downtown, partly to divert traffic.
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“Neighborhood shopping”: what most of Davis doesn’t have. What the advocates wish is many small stores scattered around the city, as though most people walk or bike to do their grocery shopping. But if a shopper buys more than one bag full of groceries, or has other errands to run on the way home, most people will use their car.
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“25,000 square feet grocery store”: as opposed to at least 40,000 sq. ft. For Davis growth control advocates, this is the symbol for the maximum size of a grocery store in a shopping center. It was in the 1987 general plan, and then increased to 40,000 sq. ft. in 1990, when it was clear the industry had moved to bigger stores. The owners of Nugget are proposing to put a 40,000 square foot store in the Oak Tree Plaza in northeastern Davis. “25,000 square feet” will be the major battle cry, even though 40,000 is now considered the low end of the industry standard. The objection is that size brings sterility and Davis deserves better. The store owner argues he needs the extra space to enhance the ambiance and selection so that it is a store that Davis residents will feel comfortable shopping in.
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“Davis likes planning”: most are not involved. We deserved a national reputation in the late 1970s for the 1974 General Plan which anticipated energy conservation. But the 1987 General Plan rested on the laurels of the 1974 plan. It overprotected the downtown, made false expectations about economic development and fees revenue, and accelerated residential development in South Davis, Mace Ranch to the east, Northstar, and Aspen to the west – what we now think of as Davis’ uncontrolled growth. Worst of all, the 1987 plan had virtually no citizen input as it was put together by the liberal majority which had the three votes to do whatever they wanted. So a vast majority of our citizens have not had anything to do with the general plan. Over the past five years, the city has struggled over revising the 1987 plan, as a small group of a dozen people on the Growth Management/Neighborhood Preservation majority have made every effort to dominate the general plan process, the city staff, the planning commission and the city council. Most Davis citizens have no idea what good planning would look like, because most of what they have seen has been chaos and obstruction of economic development in the name of stopping residential growth.
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“The Davis City Council works”: only as a national joke. Sutter Place and the Dark Sky ordinance have brought us into the national spotlight. Our council has become a running sit com. No one can predict what the council will fumble next.
1.”Davis is a bicycle town”: We are a car city, even though we have more bicyclists than most places. For every resident who rides their bike to campus or their job, there are several who mostly use their cars. Look at the parking lot at a grocery store or farmers market on Saturday. Estimate the low percentage of people who walked or rode their bicycles, compared to the overwhelming majority who drove their cars. It is a consequence of Davis having grown into a city. People running errands don’t have time to cover the distance with a bike.
Jon Li usually gets around Davis by bicycle. Jon can be reached at jli@davis.com.
