By Giancarlo Rodríguez, Sunrise Movement Orlando
The metro Orlando area is one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. By 2050, Orange County is projected to grow by nearly 700,000 people, exceeding 2 million residents.
Most city and county officials have not taken the necessary steps to ensure that Orlando’s growth benefits everyone in the long term. Instead, longtime residents are facing the cost of short-term thinking: worsening traffic, increasing commute times, rising cost of living (especially rent) and increasing homelessness. Growth does not have to be this way.
These issues are all connected to Orlando and Orange County policies on transportation and housing, held back by outdated laws and ideas. Current Orlando policies such as parking minimums, lot size requirements and exclusionary zoning make it increasingly difficult to build affordable housing, create walkable communities and foster mass transit.
Unfortunately, the current story of Orlando is not unique. Infamously, the city of Los Angeles built a city focused heavily on only cars, neglecting all other forms of transportation. This is reflected in how they built housing as well, spread out and sparse. When the demand to live in Los Angeles surpassed the supply and the transportation infrastructure, prices went up, traffic got worse, and many problems the city faced were exacerbated.
We cannot make the same mistakes of the past. We need policies that encourage building more affordable, dense and missing middle housing to help bring housing prices down for everyone. We need policies that create comprehensive train, bus and bike networks in Orlando, which will give people options, lower traffic, lower commute times and prevent urban sprawl.
Additionally, these same policies will also help Orlando fight against and prepare for the impacts of climate change. This is through mitigating flooding by preventing building in sensitive natural areas, lowering temperatures in Orlando by up to 10 degrees through combating the urban heat island effect and fighting against noise and air pollution.
Today in Orlando, we have a political landscape where many local politicians are influenced by powerful corporations and developers who support car-dependency. With a prime example being politicians voting in support of building a highway through conservation land that Orange County voters voted more than 90% to protect.
But tomorrow, if we fight hard, the Orlando we know is possible can come true. An Orlando where it’s easy to get around, be connected to your community, all while keeping costs low. Where SunRail becomes a full-fledged electrified metro, goes east to west as well as north and south and runs on the weekends. Where Lynx buses are reliable, frequent, and fast through bus rapid transit. Where family and friends are close by, parks and plazas are abundant, and it’s safe to walk outside.
That is exactly the Orlando we are fighting for at Sunrise Movement Orlando. We are a youth-led climate advocacy group fighting to change the priorities of Orlando to put people over profits. Working with other organizations in coalition, we are fighting for policies that will bring about the walkable, transit-oriented Orlando we need.
Our People Over Parking coalition is demanding the county end parking mandates, a move Minneapolis took that saw a $200 decrease in monthly rent and an increase in transit-oriented development. We are demanding that if Orange County puts a transportation sales tax initiative on the ballot a majority of the money raised is used to fund mass transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects.
Now is a crucial moment in Orlando’s history, with the transportation sales tax and Orange Code — Orange County’s land-use policy plan for the next 27 years — both currently being debated. They are set to be finalized as early as the end of April. If we want to get across the finish line, we are going to need your help.
We as a coalition intend on ending parking mandates and securing more investment toward public transportation.
Giancarlo Rodríguez is a student at the University of Florida and co-founder of Sunrise Movement Orlando, a youth-led community and climate advocacy group fighting for bold economic and environmental change in Orlando. The group plans a rally called Wider Won’t Work on April 9 at 8 a.m. at the Orange County administrative building. This opinion piece was originally published by the Orlando Sentinel, which is a media partner of The Invading Sea.
If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
