May 09, 2000


Rodney Slater Offers Vision Of 21st Century Transportation

By Abigail Beshkin

U.S. Transporation Secretary Rodney Slater

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater opened a day-long SIPA forum May 8 on community building and the environmental movement, stressing the importance of making transportation decisions only after listening to community concerns and evaluating environmental risks.

The forum, "Livable Urban Communities: The Environmental Movement and Community Building," was part of the sixth annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum. Hosted by the Center for Urban Research and Policy, the forum brought together experts from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to discuss the role the environmental movement plays in fostering community building.

In his keynote speech, Slater noted that building viable transportation systems has been a major component of the Clinton administration's livability initiative, and that the administration has proposed a record-high $55 billion investment in transportation for 2001. But, Slater stressed, Federal transportation initiatives are not just about building airports, bridges and train systems, but about "how we invest transportation dollars so as to enhance the environment and make our communities stronger."

"At the dawn of this new century and new millennium, we have a unique opportunity to weave an environmental perspective into the very fabric of our vision for the future of America's cities and towns," he said.

Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins

Lisa Anderson, dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, and Ester R. Fuchs, director of the Center for Urban Research and Policy, opened the morning session, and David N. Dinkins, former New York City mayor and senior fellow at Columbia's Center for Urban Research and Policy, introduced Slater.

"How do you make a city work? You gather the perspectives of scholars and activists, and create a partnership of community groups, private and not-for-profit organizations," Dinkins said. "But the most critical partners," he added, "are the people who live in our neighborhoods."

Throughout the day, panels explored such topics as community partnerships in urban development; the clean-up and development of Brownfields; environmental issues in transit and land-use planning; and urban sprawl and models of environmentally sound urban development.

On one morning panel, "Community Transformation Through the Environmental Movement," participants talked about a range of environmental and health issues facing urban communities, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. Eddie Bautista, director of community planning for the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, discussed the prevalence of waste transfer stations in low-income neighborhoods. Others, including Mary Northridge, professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, talked about public health issues, like asthma, which consistently face poor communities.

"The environment is right here," said Alicia Culver, senior research associate for environmental research organization INFORM. "It's not something that's out there-- it's all around us."

Other panelists throughout the day included Kathleen Callahan, director, Environmental Planning, U.S. EPA Region II; Richard Kassel, senior attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council; and Hillary Brown, assistant commissioner, New York City Department of Design and Construction.

Yesterday's forum was the sixth annual conference hosted by Columbia University in honor of former New York City mayor David N. Dinkins. Other recent conference topics have included labor, tourism, welfare to work and Empowerment Zones.