Chester Sustainability Indicator Project

Chester Citizens for Sustainable Prosperity

"There is evidence that in the United States growth now makes us poorer by increasing costs faster than it increases benefits. In other words, we appear to have grown beyond the optimal scale." -Herman Daley

"Cows don't go to school." -American Farmland Trust

"We only notice what we measure." -Maureen Hart

The single most important issue of the next century is going to be sustainability. Communities that make the jump to sustainability, economically and philosophically, will prosper, while those that cling dogmatically to the conventional wisdom of the 20th century will suffer the harsh, unpredictable consequences of a deepening oil and natural gas crisis, global climate change and the ensuing political, economic chaos of a post-9/11, post-Katrina world. There’s fundamental change occurring, something both frightening but also deeply hopeful. Right now, forward thinking communities are figuring out how to grow their economies without sacrificing the long-term health of their natural environment, the integrity of their social networks or the distinctive characteristics of their neighborhoods. Even more amazing, hard-thinking communities are discovering that their local economies can actually be strengthened and enhanced by incorporating these very goals into their long-term planning objectives and zoning laws. Sustainability is about making money by doing the work of preserving and enhancing local social and natural health. To take one example, towns and municipalities will soon be able to make money through the sale of carbon credits earned by preserving their forests as natural carbon sinks.

The word ‘sustainability’ is really just a new term for the old fashioned idea of stewardship: the careful, long-term management of community, land and resources. So what should we understand to be the goal of sustainable development? According to the widely-accepted definition adopted by the United Nations Brundtland Commission, sustainable development is development which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” and it can only be pursued if “population size and growth are in harmony with the changing productive potential of the ecosystem.” By this standard, many of the economic processes and systems upon which our daily life depends in Chester are clearly very far from being sustainable. Generally, moving in the direction of sustainability means reducing our impact or ‘ecological footprint’ on the environment, by producing less waste, using less toxic substances, consuming less of everything, especially energy and water, and developing more wholesome relationships to the land and all of its living beings, especially when it comes to the production of basic necessities like food.

Now from a long-term planning perspective, the difficulty with becoming a genuinely sustainable community lies not in how you define sustainability, but in how you measure it. If sustainability is about enhancing social and natural health, then how do you measure that? How do you quantify social and natural health? A group of Chester citizens are working to think up ways to do precisely that. The Chester Sustainability Indicator Project is a collaborative project, open to any and all interested individuals, which hopes to find useful ways for us as a community to measure the town’s progress of towards a genuinely sustainable future. Such ways are called ‘sustainability indicators.’

In May of this year, SolarClarity in conjunction with the Chester Conservation Commission organized a planning workshop hosted by Maureen Hart, a world-expert on sustainability indicators and president of Sustainable Measures (http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/), an internationally-respected environmental consulting firm. According to Hart,

"An indicator is something that helps you understand where you are, which way you are going and how far you are from where you want to be. A good indicator alerts you to a problem before it gets too bad and helps you recognize what needs to be done to fix the problem. Indicators of a sustainable community point to areas where the links between the economy, environment and society are weak. They allow you to see where the problem areas are and help show the way to fix those problems."

The problem with conventional economic indicators is that they measure changes in one part of a community as if they were entirely independent of the other parts. For example, GDP or Gross Domestic Product, the amount of money spent in a country, is conventionally used as a reliable indicator of that country’s economic well-being. But GDP doesn’t measure the overall effect of that economic activity on that community’s social and environmental health. So depending on what indicator you are using, your measurement of economic health will be different.

"For example, when there is a ten-car pileup on the highway, the GDP goes up because of the money spent on medical fees and repair costs. On the other hand, if ten people decide not to buy cars and instead walk to work, their health and wealth may increase but the GDP goes down."

This is why it is so important to be sure that in our town planning efforts, we choose good indicators of our wealth, so that we can know whether or not our efforts to improve our town are actually working or whether they are simply compounding problems created by worn-out habits and old-fashioned ideas which are no longer useful, indeed which may be downright dangerous.

Chester Citizens for Sustainable Prosperity, the informal group of individuals working on the project, hope to have a working set of sustainability indicators by this fall to include as a sustainability addendum to the new Plan of Conservation and Development currently being revised and updated by Chester’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Below are the results from the May workshop. Please email any contributions, suggestions, criticisms, or partially-baked ideas to solarclarityct@aol.com!

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Results from Maureen Hart’s green infrastructure and sustainability indicator workshop, May 8th 2007.

# = number, % = percentage, Q = qualitative sense (requires quantification)

1. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

# US$$ spent locally.
# Businesses which are locally owned and operated.
# Jobs available within community per capita.
# Skill sets of local labor pool.
# Businesses that contribute to the health and welfare of the community.
# Businesses that contribute to the tax base.
# Lbs. hazardous waste produced in town per capita.
Ratio Tax revenue from commercial vs. residential.
# US$$ value – tax forgiveness for development per year.
# Businesses which are ‘sustainable.’
# Times a US$ is exchanged within town before leaving.
% Economic transactions in town are barter transactions.

Do we have a sustainable economic base?
Is our economy based on all assets of Chester?
What are the local roots of the economy, and is it open to ‘others’?
How have taxes changed?

2. TRANSPORTATION

# Secure bicycle parking lockers.
# Miles bicycle trails.
# Bicycles per capita.
Q Availability of busses for commuting.
# Busses using renewable fuels.
Q Mass Transporation intermodality.
# Light rail trains.
# Carpool lots.
# Car sharing schemes and community-sponsored hitchhiking.
# Activities within walking distance.
Q Sense Local accessibility for various needs and activities (food, health, business, recreation).
Q Livable/walkable streets.
Q Mix of uses for access without too much driving. (multiple use zones
– live/work space).
% US$$ used for conventional roads/travel ways.
% US$$ used for public/shared transit.
Q Traffic calming effectiveness.
# Average commuting distance.

3. EDUCATION

Q Curriculum innovation – adapability to change.
% Students who say they enjoy school.
Q Community outreach and involvement with schools.
% Students who are content with their educational experience and feel well-prepared by their schooling.
# Smiles.
Ratio Graduation rate.
Ratio Employment rates
# Salaries of post-graduates.
# Adult education opportunities.
Q Flexibility in the use of facilities.
Q Skill sets to meet labor needs.
Q Availability of nature-related classes.
# Sustainability courses.
# US$$ available for farm-school programs.
% Students who graduate from college.
# Applied ecology/gardening curriculum at elementary school.

4. ENERGY RESOURCES

% Buildings public/private which have had an energy audit.
Ratio Energy consumed hydrocarbon vs. clean and renewable.
% Transportation using green fuels.
% Living expenses used for home energy needs.
# Lbs waste recycled and used for biofuels.
Ratio Energy used per capita / per year and change from year to year.
% Residences in Chester purchasing clean energy from CL&P or other provider. (this might be the first sustainability indicator officially being used in town!)
Q Access to funding for renewable onsite energy generation projects.
% Residences powered by renewable onsite sources.

5. PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY

Q Traffic calming measures.
# Flu shots per capita.
Q Health education.
# Cars using local roads.
Q Clean water.
Q Clear air.
% Meals created from local food.
# Hybrid vehicles registered.
# Miles safe walking and biking trails.
Q Emergency notification.
# Average blood pressure / age.
Q Green cemetery options.
# Local doctors/nurses and alternative health practitioners.
Q Local ambulance service.
# Public green spaces to picnic, practice yoga, play, etc.
% Individuals who are physically and mentally healthy.
% US$$ spent on health-related issues.
# Flu cases per capita.
Q Children’s health and diet education.
# Average longevity.

6. CULTURAL RESOURCES

Q The Library: hours of operation, no. books / other media loaned / internet
hours / magazines.
# Places and opportunities for cultural exchanges.
Q Amount and quality of information published about such opportunities.
# Historic designations of structures and landmarks.
Q Protection of sanctuaries.
# Amount of public space, indoor and outdoor.
Q Use of public spaces per capita.
# intertown civic events.
Q Diversity of methods for cultural exhange.
# Cultural events that are free or cheap.
# Weekends with town events.
# Significant friendships/acquaintances between younger and older
generations.
# Different professions, interests, ethnic groups, religious groups.
Q Amount of community outreach / participation.
Q How much we share our talents / gifts / knowledge with each other.
Q How much we respect each other.
Q How much we love / hate each other.

7. RECREATION

Q Heavy use parks. Active and organized recreation.
# Hours/week spent recreating per capita.
# Acreage of parks.
# Organized games / activities.
# Hours children / adults exercise per day.
Q River accessibility for boats.
# Miles of bicycle paths.
% People improving their health.
# Family-friendly recreation events.
% Population who experience the joy play on a daily basis.

8. HOUSING

# Houses with wells and septic systems.
% Housing cost as a percentage of income.
% Population homeless.
# Sq. ft. living space / person.
Q Compatibility of mixed uses.
% Income used for basic essential goods / services.
# Household energy use costs per capita.
Ratio Single family dwellings to all dwellings.
# Distribution of housing units with income level.
Q Reasonability of mill rate.
Q Tax discounts for needy seniors.
# Bedrooms per dwelling.
# Multi-use buildings.
% Affordable housing.
Q Zoning for co-housing.

9. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

% Land committed to open space.
Ratio Safe walkways to roadways.
# Acres of connected/contiguous open space / area-perimeter ratio
# Acres of streamside buffers.
% Tree canopy.
# Endangered species.
Q Habitat diversity.
# Rain gardens.
% Pervious built surfaces.
% Impervious surfaces near watersheds.
Ratio Open / vacant / developed lands.
# Farms.
# Parks.
# Green cemeteries.
# Acreage of public open spaces.
# Organic/green lawns and golf courses.
% Open space dedicated to sustainable organic farming other businesses.

10. COMMUNITY FACILITIES

# Green spaces.
# Swimming pools.
# Playgrounds and playing fields.
# Libraries.
# Churches.
# Farmer’s market.
% People shopping at farmer’s market.
# Bus stops located in places accessible for local merchants.
# Schools.
Q Police / Fire / Ambulance.
Q Day Care.
Q Elderly Care.
# Rest homes proximate to other residents.
# Hospitals within emergency distance.
# Town Hall / Meeting House / Community Center.
# Sanctuaries.
# Multi-use, multi-generational facilities.
% Population who use community facilities.
Q Happiness and Use.