Environmental Impact Study Verses Highest and Best Use.

According to Wikipedia "The economic concepts of utility and substitution drive the highest and best use analysis. The highest and best use of a property determines its utility to a potential purchaser. The purchaser of such a property would pay no more than a competing property with the same utility while a seller would accept no less that a seller of a comparable property. That is true to the neighborhood."

There is a good bit of other information on the site that details examples about how to have potential dollar value maximized in arriving at "highest and best use" for any given piece of real estate.

But, to me, highest and best use should not only be concerned with maximizing profit. Highest and best use might just be defined as "that use of a particular piece of land which maximizes the sense of well-being in the community surrounding the property in question." The last couple of years should give us all pause to think about the consequences of going all out for the most and easiest profit. GM could sell big cars easily but lost money on their lines of compacts...but now they are in bankruptcy.  AIG made a lot of money selling derivatives...and now we taxpayers have given them $170,000,000,000 to stay afloat.  Major banks have been given billions of dollars of our money to "save" our financial system...but they were making loans that made them a lot of money. Apparently they made some bad choices. Where did it all go. Let's not make a bad choice at the community level.

This discussion is, in fact about the proposed development of the Hugh Sisley Properties. You can see a half hour TV program about it here: http://www.seattlechannel.org/CityInsideOut/ .

In particular, I'd like to promote a discussion of ideas of the Roosevelt location known as "The Fruit Stand Block." I would like to recommend to the public in general, that the fruit stand block be condemned by the City of Seattle, purchased by the Seattle School District and used by Roosevelt High School as a long range development/study  project in how to serve the community in other ways than highest dollar profit.

It's conceivable that the school would design a walk through gateway park which the communities to the east and south could walk though without fear as residents approach or depart from the new transit station. It's possible that they would come up with an idea of creating an open space venue for community events, such as the Bull Moose Festival. It would be refreshing to imagine that the students would be excited about a school/community pea patch to grow quality, local, edible products.

It's inconceivable to me that 'surrounding the school with hundreds of apartments will satisfy any of the needs of the community. The City of Seattle should see its way through the condemnation process easily enough. The incidence of crime on this owner's properties has been consistently outrageous. His concern for the condition of the properties has been consistently low. The assessed value of the properties is now only in the value of the land. So pay the landowner the assessed value of the land and send him packing.

Rise up, Ravenna and Roosevelt neighbors. Come to the EIS scoping meeting on June 9, 2009 at Calvary Christian Assembly and voice your opinion (everyone will have 2 minutes of time). Join with me in asking that one topic the EIS should consider in its study is the idea that something good can be done for the environment, that is, a new significant green space in our ever-denser village, rather than only choices that have a purpose of finding was to mitigate the denigrating effects of growth bigger and higher buildings.  

I have recently done a study of Seattle's 10 major High Schools  and found that 9 of the high schools are surrounded by a much larger amount of green space that our Roosevelt High School. The study will be available at the meeting on Tuesday.

I look forward to seeing you there.