Dr. Nick Bergfeld Discusses Preservation of and Smart Growth in “Old Lubbock”
Thursday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, Dr. Nicholas Bergfeld joined Matt Martin and Matt Crow to talk about his group Lubbock Compact with a plan for smart growth in Lubbock, impact fees in the southwest parts of the city, the North Overton area, the separation of neighborhoods by major streets, paying the Lubbock mayor and elected officials a full time salary, gentrification in Lubbock, and more.
Dr. Nicholas Bergfeld is part of a group called Lubbock Compact, and described the groups goals as saving what he calls "Old Lubbock", being the area of Lubbock inside the Loop as opposed to the growing area to the south and southwest, by going after the special interest groups and people who Bergfeld's group believe have created the unfortunate situations that Lubbock finds itself in. Dr. Bergfeld wrote a report that addresses several things that he believes need to happen in order for "Old Lubbock" to thrive.
Dr. Bergfeld started the discussion by talking about smart growth in Lubbock, which he describes as understanding what we already have, and focusing on investments that are synergistic with our current infrastructure. One such idea utilizes impact fees on both the new areas of Lubbock, as well as within the Loop. Berfeld believes that we should place high impact fees on the southwest parts of town, and none on "Old Lubbock". He expanded on impact fees by saying,
They are one of many tools that Lubbock needs to start using, in the context of smart roads, to make sure that we're encouraging development back inside the loop, which is where we can afford to do it, versus this continuous Dallas-like suburban sprawl that we've been doing to the south and southwest.
Another topic that was discussed was the idea of paying the Lubbock mayor and elected officials a full time salary. Dr. Bergfeld explained that cities reach a certain size where different things become so important to development that it starts to get involved in politics. Matt and Bergfeld discussed the fact that certain city council members already have full time jobs, and that their city council jobs are just part time. The idea is that a full time salary as a city council member would change the outlook on the job and how it would work going forward.
You can find out more info at the website lubbockcompact.com, where you can read the full report, as well as a synopsis of the report.
Watch the full interview with Dr. Nicholas Bergfeld in the video above.
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