Shedding Light on Houston's LED Streetlights

For the longest time, those familiar orange-ish looking street lights have been a fixture in our cities. Fly into a city like Detroit or Chicago on a clear night and you can see the golden glow of the city's street grid. But as many have pointed out and many have experienced themselves, that is beginning to change. We're beginning to see our cities in a different light (and that's not just a euphemism).

Cities around the country (or, maybe more accurately, their electric providers) have been transitioning to LED lights in great frequency, not only to save money, but also because of the increased safety that residents feel with more visible light in their neighborhoods. Make no mistake, the LED lights do a much better job in providing visibility. Cities including New York, Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, Boston, Phoenix, Detroit and San Francisco have already transitioned to LED street lights. Some cities, like Detroit, have embraced the lights. Others have found them irritating, and others have already moved on to alternative LED lights.

CenterPoint Energy

Here in Houston the talk about LEDs started in 2009. The City of Houston partnered with CenterPoint Energy to test LED street lights in south Houston's Bridgegate Subdivision through an LED pilot program. The city agreed to convert its lights to LEDs in 2014, but it wasn't until late in 2015 that CenterPoint Energy actually began installing the LED lights throughout the rest of the city. It was something that I hadn't heard about until the streetlight near our former apartment in Houston Heights was changed. For a few days I thought that there were oncoming vehicles (with LED headlights) as we pulled out of our driveway. No, it was just new streetlight.

Now, let's pause here for a local lesson in civics. Not many people may know that the City of Houston City Council hosts a weekly session on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM, where residents can approach the mayor and council with any sort of concern. With a new City Council (now serving a four-year term) and a newly-elected mayor, it is a great time for residents to begin mounting their concerns, and seeing whether new council members (and incumbent members too), will take up their cause.

(As a side note: I've put together the Houston Urbanist and Civics Calendar which is a collection of meeting times for government and quasi governmental agencies in Houston. It includes City Council, Harris County Commissioner's Court, various management districts, TIRZs, and special events related to urban planning and architecture. Please use it as a way to be more informed on opportunities to engage in dialogue with respect to your neighborhood. Promotion over, back to lighting!)

A high-pressure sodium light (left), and a new LED light (right) on North Main Street at East 24th Street

There are always a wide range of topics at City Council, including the always entertaining excessive utility charge, or various complaints about city services. At times, things might seem off topic, or even a bit uncomfortable. But, if you have public comment, that can be expected. A few weeks ago there was an interesting discussion that seemed to create a buzz at City Council: Houston's new LED street lights. A buzz may be an overstatement, but the topic seemed to demand more attention than I had expected.

Jonathan C.C. Day in the Woodland Heights is leading the charge against the LED lights currently being installed. There is now even a petition making the circuit, asking the City of Houston (and ultimately, CenterPoint) to reconsider the blue-ish LED bulb currently used, advocating for a warmer LED bulb, much like those that were installed in Davis, California. Other Houstonians have complained about the lights but admit that they'd rather have a light as opposed to no lights.

Now, before jumping on the bandwagon and signing that petition, there are some benefits to the LED lights. First, they'll certainly brighten up your neighborhood. For those that aren't directly underneath one of these lights, they're of great benefit. You can see much more, and with greater detail. Especially in areas that are prone to crime, this is a welcomed change. The LED lights also save a great deal of energy, as up to 80% of the electrical energy is used in producing light, as opposed to around 10% for normal bulbs. The lights last longer also, resulting in lower maintenance costs. While the fixture itself may cost more, the operation and maintenance of each light is much lower over a longer period of time.

But sure, not all is good in the hood when it feels like your street has been turned into a car dealer's lot. Many have complained about the intensity of these new lights. Gone is the familiar orange glow, replaced with a sterile-like light. There hasn't been an immediate health risk presented with the new LED lights, but opponents suggest that we are using more light than is necessary, which can affect sleep cycles.

Los Angeles Skyline Comparison, CenterPoint Energy Presentation

While the LED technology seems to be the correct path, it may be worth looking at whether an alternative is possible. Proponents of the change here in Houston are not asking the City and CenterPoint to simply overthrow the idea of LED lighting, but are asking for a change in color temperature. The current 4000k may be too cool of a color, while suggestions seem to settle on a light in the 3000k range, which could look similar to the glow we've been accustomed to in high-pressure sodium lights. Admittedly, this may be a tough switch given the amount of resources already committed to the project. Day does provide a compelling financial breakdown of the potential cost savings in switching to a lower-temperature and lower-wattage light, but doesn't account for the cost of installing the lights.

Sure, Davis, California made the switch, but it cost them. It actually cost the city $350,000 to replace just 650 lights. That's $538 a light! Houston has almost 200,000 street lights maintained in public rights of way. At a time when city budgets are already crunched, would this be a wise investment? Would CenterPoint foot this bill for the city? Would the perceived safety improvements from the brighter LED lights be something residents are willing to compromise for the replacement cost? At this point, I would expect not. There seem to be more questions than answers.

But, it can never be too late to learn from our analyses and better plan for future lighting needs. At this point, Houston seems to be sitting where Davis, California sat. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the project may make it too difficult to completely stop at this point. Houston may not have the luxury of paying the upgrade costs up front, like Davis did. Yes, Houston began a pilot program in one neighborhood in 2009, but is only now seeing resistance to the program, 7 years later. This may be a case where public input was not as widely solicited as possible, coupled with the tension of the introduction of new technology after agreements like this are made. (Were LED lights with lower color temperatures available in 2009? Likely not. But if they were, they were likely much more expensive than they are now.)

This case reiterates the importance of the public input process in decisions that are made within cities, especially a city like Houston, the 4th largest city in the country.  In an analysis of the Davis, California LED situation, a thought was offered that rings true for any city; "For any survey of public preferences to be effective, an organized program to solicit input from a broad cross-section of the public must be undertaken prior to implementation." Could the public input process have been more robust? Probably. Were there people that did not speak out against the lights at the time? Again, likely. Will everyone be happy with a final decision? In a city of over 2 million people, where some are worried about increased security, while others are worried about their sleep cycles being affected, most certainly not.

Recently Astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted a picture of Washington, DC viewed from space. It's unmistakable that certain parts of the city appear to be a brighter white, instead of that orange-ish glow we're accustomed to seeing in aerial imagery or from higher elevations. No doubt, our cities look different.

Had a great view of #WashingtonDC yesterday morning! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/oxtuOHYfaW

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) January 29, 2016

So, wherever you are on the street lighting spectrum, we must take note that changing technologies will change the way we see our cities. Cities that have been installing LED lights have seen their light pollution decreased and darker streets illuminated. Those are great things. LED lighting also changes the way our cities are photographed and captured in film, as spelled out in this article. Hollywood will likely never see our cities the same, and neither will we. That old orange glow is seemingly gone for now.

Houston Mayoral Candidates and Campaign Photography; Sabine Street Bridge

As the Houston mayoral race starts to collect momentum, it is interesting to note each candidate's choice of Houston imagery. Political campaigns normally employ iconic photographs, scenes that everyone can identify with, or neighborhood scenes where candidates might be captured lending a hand to neighborhood projects. So far, most mayoral candidates have chosen campaign photographs with Downtown Houston's skyline as a background. Let's take a look at the candidates so far and their campaign photography selections as they relate to Houston's built environment.

Cities and Twitter; Accounts and Followers for the 50 Most Populous US Cities

Twitter has solidified itself not only as a social media platform for personal communication, but as a way to communicate news quickly and effectively. Most municipalities across the United States have followed suit, creating their own Twitter handles to disseminate information. Most cities use Twitter to communicate official press releases, city services, special events, or items passed by each city's council or governing body.

Twitter gives residents the ability to interact with their city officials easier than before. Unfortunately, there is a veil of secrecy that can still exist with Twitter accounts. It's certainly not the same as calling or actually visiting an official or department within a local government. But Twitter can provide another way for cities and residents to join in on conversations about what is happening within city limits. Given the limited characters in Twitter's platform, conversation between cities or officials and residents is normally informal and more approachable than conversation that might take place at a council meeting.

Some have even suggested that we may be able to use data from social media, specifically Twitter, to better plan our cities. Justin Hollander, director of Tufts University Urban Attitudes Lab, says that social media provides us "key words and sentiments about civic issues, in order to learn more about what people think about their cities, and how policy can respond."

Using the City of San Francisco's 311 department as an example, a blog from the World Bank website (written by Tanya Gupta and Dr. Abir Qasem) lists five reasons why Twitter has advantages over phone calls or written citizen inquiries:

1. City services can become more transparent.
2. Information is instant: You don't have to go to a website, you don't have to call, you don't have to wait in line; if you have a comment to make you can do it right away.
3. Creation of virtual communities can improve governance.
4. Transparency can lead to improved accountability of public officials and departments .
5. Participation can improve governance; when you have a chance to be a participant in the governance process, it makes a difference in how you view the city.

Lowering Houston's Speed Limit; Pedestrian Safety in Houston

Does anyone really know the speed limit in Downtown Houston? Probably not. I don't believe there are any posted speed limit signs. But there is a speed limit. And no, it's not "however fast you can drive between lights." With any non-scientific observation, one can see that speeds in Downtown Houston normally range anywhere from gridlock to Gran Prix.

Speed limits in Downtown Houston are not posted, so, as found in Section 45-91 of the City of Houston Code of Ordinances, the speed limit is actually 30 miles per hour, just like any other local street in our city. 30 miles per hour had also been the local speed limit in New York City until a few weeks ago. On November 7th, New York City's speed limits became 25 miles per hour, unless posted otherwise. This was part of the city's Vision Zero initiative, aimed at reducing pedestrian deaths and injuries. Of course, there were skeptics.

As included in a recent Vox article, researchers have shown that reducing the speed of a car involved in an accident reduces the risk of death in an accident. Researchers found that:

For drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, casualties (a category that includes both deaths and injuries) dropped by 41.9 percent in the new speed zones compared to other areas, with all the new zones leading to 203 fewer annually in total. Deaths declined by 35.1 percent, with 27 fewer annually.

City Council in Houston; 50 Most Populous U.S. Cities

In the midst of the City of Toronto mayoral fiasco involving embattled Mayor Rob Ford, I started to watch clips of Toronto's City Council meetings. They were a highlight reel of laughs and distractions, yet there was still valuable work that got done. There seemed to be a palpable amount of tension and spirited debate, making things much more exciting than typical U.S. council meetings, and especially those here in Houston. I'm pretty sure that nothing like this would ever happen here in Houston (although sometimes I think that all cities would benefit from a little fun at their city council meetings):

Nonetheless, as I continued to watch Toronto's city council meetings, I started to compare Houston and Toronto in terms of their councils, then began to expand my comparison to other major cities. It led me to abandoning Toronto as a comparison city, focusing instead on comparing the councils of the 50 most-populous cities in the United States. See How Houston compares at the bottom of the page.

(DISCLAIMER: When I started this venture, I was unaware of the existing 2011 study of city councils by Pew Charitable Trusts, City Councils in Philadelphia and Other Major Cities. I did not use any of the data contained in this document, but some of the data comparisons are similar.)



Curiosity arose regarding the number of council members of other cities, the number of people they serve and the amount of area that their districts cover. I also wondered about each city's term limits, whether there were council members that served at large, or whether they solely elected members for given districts. Another small curiosity was whether or not the council members faced the public or faced an officiant during their hearings. At this point throughout my municipal experience I feel that when elected officials and public servants face those that they serve, they foster a more engaging environment for public involvement and input. (New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Nashville each have councils that face a council president or speaker, not the public they serve. I understand this is most likely due to the local form of government.) It's quirky, but nonetheless, a dynamic of civic involvement and trust.



As I looked at councils around the country, I documented the number of city council members, excluding mayors. A judgement was made that most mayors do not serve a particular district (any corrections to this data are welcomed), even when having voting power within their city council. The number of districts within a city were documented, as well as the number of any at large council members. It was also important to know the population and physical area of each city, which allowed for a few different comparisons to be made. (Austin, Texas is approaching elections in 2014 that will expand the number of council members to 10, each serving one district; statistics already reflect this change.)

When you think of these data sets and how they may relate to Houston, or any city for that matter, it creates many questions, and should beg comparison to other cities. Houston should not be in a position to be afraid to adopt practices from other cities, or be close-handed regarding changes to how its council functions in order to give its citizens the best representation possible and its council members an appropriate amount of time to complete projects without worry of running for reelection. You see a similar climate in collegiate athletics, where alumni, fans and administration demand instant results on the field or court without coaching staffs being afforded the ability to recruit their own players. The same holds true for local elected officials. They need to know who they're working with, and how to best achieve their preferred outcomes. Yes, terrific coaches can win games, and terrific chefs can prepare culinary masterpieces with what they are presented with (think Iron Chef), but for continued success, there must be an intimate understanding of how your team or entity matches against other competitors.

Should Houston institute a four-year term for its elected officials?

2014, Kinder Institute

Before a council member is elected, they have spent nearly a year campaigning, and by the time they learn how the city bureaucracy functions, they are back on the campaign trail to ensure they will be re-elected that next year! It is an undue burden for all of our political leaders, even if you disagree with their political position and motivations. Two years is not enough time to complete quality projects in Houston, as by the time council members develop a project or ordinance amendments, they begin to approach reelection, and must devote their time to other endeavors. At this point, a city council member must wait until their second council term to garner major support for any project. This seems like a large amount of time that could be spent on constituent relations within the second year of the council member's first term. Because of this continual election cycle projects or proposals can sit in the balance because of a lack of time to gain support or political backing.

During the annual Kinder Institute Houston Area Survey, Dr. Stephen L. Klineberg and his staff compile responses to various questions regarding the political, physical, social, and educational aspects of the Houston region. One question that continues to reveal support for longer local office terms explores "Attitudes Toward Term Limits On City Of Houston Elected Officials." 73 percent of those surveyed were in favor of continuing term limits, while the support for two 4-year terms rose to 49 percent in 2014 (page 16). Houstonians are clearly realizing the importance of longer terms. Only six of the 50 most populous U.S. cities have council terms of two years. Austin, Texas has council terms of three years, leaving only seven cities to have terms less than four years. Out of those seven, four are Texas cities; Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth.

Should Cities Redraw City Council Boundaries?

Houston City Council Districts

Fans of the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks might remember what happened with the redistricting of District 5 in the Minnesota Youth Hockey League. District 5, which was the team's name at the time, acquired Adam Banks, won a few games, and made the playoffs for the first time in years. That's a stretch of an example, but there may be many positives that come from modifying district boundaries in a city, or having additional districts created for residents. The feasibility of this happening in Houston is riddled with political and demographic considerations and elaborate requirements for district characteristics. But, council districts with a more manageable number of residents can allow council members to dedicate a greater amount of time and energy in creating more intimate relationships with residents. A more manageable geography alone should be persuasive enough to considering changing council boundaries. In looking at Houston's districts, they act as a "pinwheel" of sorts, with downtown Houston acting as a vertex of sorts, with districts reaching out from Downtown.

In Houston's Council District E, Councilman Dave Martin, or one of his staff members, could spend nearly an hour and drive over 50 miles to get from one side of the district from NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for a morning meeting to Kingwood's Hidden Hollow Elementary School to speak about civics to elementary school students. Aside from being inconvenient for city representatives to drive regularly, it is also far too long a distance for residents at one end of the district to have similar concerns as those 50 miles away.





Austin, Texas recently changed its city charter to allow for ten council districts, represented by one member, as well as a city-wide election for mayor. This is very similar to Houston's council election procedure, however,  council members in Austin will serve approximately half of the number of citizens compared to council members in Houston. The City of Austin constructed a website to address the council boundary and redistricting process. The City of Houston conducted a similar process in 2011, creating two additional districts, giving the city 11 districts. The City of Houston has a set of criteria and rules for drawing districts, spelled out on the city's Planning and Development Department's website.





As Houston and other cities continue to grow, there will need to be continued consideration given to adding council districts and councilors. That is the only way to ensure that services are rendered properly to residents and that the voices of residents are heard by the rest of council.

When Houston added additional council districts in 2011, the population of the city was 2,126,196 residents. 2014 population estimates for the City of Houston reach 2,201,027 residents. This equates to a gain of 74,831 residents in a three-year span. If we can assume Houston continues its grown at the same rate, the city would need to add another council member to achieve the same level of current representation by 2016. There is nothing in the city's charter requiring any additional council members as the population grows. Houston would end up much like Los Angeles in the size and population of their council districts. (There are currently 131,266 residents represented per council member in Houston).

How Does Houston Compare in Council District and Council Member Population?

Compared to cities of similar population size, Houston sits behind only the City of Los Angeles for the number of people that are represented per council district, and ranks sixth in the number of people per council member, taking into account Houston's five at-large council members. As these numbers indicate, Houston's council members have a large constituent population to attend to. Often, a city's population will forget that at-large council members function in the same capacity as those representing districts, and are most likely underutilized by residents with district-specific concerns.

City Councilor Salaries

Would cities and their councils be able to attract a more diverse, higher skilled, and better prepared set of councilors if the office of city councilor paid a greater sum of money in most cities? Without a doubt, some cities offer more than a fair compensation for the office of city councilor. However, many major cities have continued to offer a seemingly measly compensation for positions that continuously demand more and more accountability and responsibility, especially as our urban areas grow in population and physical size.

Why have cities made it a de facto requirement that city councilors must be retired or have flexible, full-time, high-paying jobs to accommodate the workload required of a councilor? By the nature of the position it may be very difficult for an educated, fairly common civic leader to even ponder serving as a councilor, as opposed to those who have a greater economic independence, or who are popular among specific populations, such as local celebrities or influential citizens, but may not have the educational background that is demanded of many city councilors today.

What can be done? Offer more money for councilor positions. the City of San Diego recently attempted to raise city council salaries, hoping to attract a greater range of leadership talent. (Their council ultimately voted against the salary increases.) With a plan like San Diego's there is an increased consideration of the character of council members due to their higher salaries. This creates a greater incentive for those who would then be able to support a family with a city council salary, and a greater incentive for citizens to elect representatives who may truly hold the office of councilor with esteem, as opposed to those who may be competing in a popularity contest. Right now the job of city councilor is so demanding that you'd need another full time job to better support a family with it, given that most salaries are so slow, and some positions are considered part time. The idea of increasing council salaries is becoming more accepted in cities, and is currently being considered in Honolulu, as councilor work is full-time, but their pay is thought of as part-time.

There seems to be a slight correlation between the salaries of council members and the quality of life, travel opportunities, leisure amenities and business climate ranking. Using the Bloomberg and Businessweek 2012 rankings of the best American cities to compare against council salaries, there are obvious outliers. Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago are getting a poor value for their expense on leadership compared to their  ranking, while cities like Nashville, Oklahoma City and Raleigh get a greater return on their council salaries compared to their ranking.



At the very least, it is interesting to consider the geographic and demographic characteristics that make up city council districts within Houston, and see how Houston's council compares to other U.S. and North American cities. Houston is a melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds, willing to adopt other people's point of view. It should be no different in our public administration, and determining what will best serve the city's citizens.

Houston City Council - How Does It Compare to Other U.S. Cities?

BEST OF CITY COUNCIL VIDEOS: (As a side: If you'd like some best-of city council highlights, I recommend watching a few clips from Detroit City Council as well. Former Detroit city council member Monica Conyers was known to provide some highlights, calling Ken Cockrel "Shrek", and then debating about it with 8th graders. Also, notable city council highlights include Steve Jobs' last television appearance before his death, as he presented Apple's campus plan to the City of Cupertino, California. And, what could make city council meetings any more appealing than dramatic music, paired with slow-motion close-up action shots of council members? Give this Whitehorse, Canada city council commercial a view.)