Tag: new urbanism
Well, Bless Their Hearts: Now can we move on?
Next week, the 19th annual gathering of New Urbanism cultists takes place in Madison, Wisconsin. I’m one of them, and I’m sorry not to be making the Congress this year. This has the feel of one of those turning-point moments.
First, the good part. A lot more folks have bought into the New Urbanist perspective for... Continue Reading
Category Architecture, Planning and Design
New Urban Development: Too risky, too costly. Not.
I just heard from a colleague who had a developer tell him something along the lines of: "New Urbanism is too risky and too expensive because, you know, Kentlands failed." That’s not an uncommon belief. What is uncommon, however, for anyone on the receiving end of such broad brush generalizations, is an easy response... Continue Reading
Category Development, Sales and Marketing
Redevelop this, California!
How California will redevelop its existing communities in the future is up for debate. And, it's about time.
The role of redevelopment in shaping our built environment came to its crescendo in the halcyon days of 2005 over Kelo vs. New London. Today, Susette Kelo's home sits as a vacant scar on business-as-usual redevelopment... Continue Reading
The Revolution Will Not be Organized (But the food and drink will be pretty good)
It’s officially over.
The flush era for planners and designers, when utopian villages and new towns could grow from dreams and piles of private sector cash? Long gone. Now comes the revolution.
What the revolt will look like is under debate. And not surprisingly, the most intense discussions are joined by those... Continue Reading
Category Development, Planning and Design
Unplug! Accommodating Our Need to Escape Each Other
Sense of community. It’s been a rallying cry of New Urbanists since the beginning and for good reason. For years leading up to the birth of the neo-traditionalists, it didn’t take much effort to realize that our surroundings had changed—a lot—and not for the better.
Our neighborhoods—subdivisions, really—were... Continue Reading
Dhiru’s Encyclopedia of City-Shaping: Reassurance in Uncertain Times
Just about anybody remotely interested in how the world’s most admired places earned their adulation is going to love Dhiru Thadani’s new book: The Language of Towns and Cities. In it, Dhiru subtitles the book “A Visual Dictionary,” but as L.J. Aurbach points out in his blog review, it’s really an encyclopedia. Continue Reading
Category Architecture, Planning and Design
My Sleuthing Adventure: Where are Western Canada’s Form-Based Codes?
Western Canada’s form-based codes are missing.
This is no small problem. Those of us working in the region are continuously grilled by municipalities with the same question, often delivered with a suspicious, cocked eyebrow: “Where are they? Where in Canada have they, or any other alternative zoning regulation,... Continue Reading
Category Planning and Design, Public Policy
Today’s “Eco-Warriors”: Giving Them Something Worth Fighting For
This week I’d like to share a few thoughts on infill and sustainability that coalesced while preparing this week for another Pecha Kucha presentation on Retrofitting Suburbia.
I’ll begin with a little background. My daughter came home from her International Baccalaureate Elementary School with a new sticker in her... Continue Reading
Retail Redemption: Skivvies Uncovered, then Promptly Covered
A couple months ago I rambled on here about my inability to purchase a particularly critical item of men’s apparel during an extended tour of new urban projects throughout the southeast. Modesty was not my problem. Rather, despite healthy commercial activity most everywhere I went, I could find no walkable stores catering... Continue Reading
Category Development, Planning and Design
Fat-tastic! Can Small Thinking Solve Our Super-Sized Problems?
According to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- more commonly known for crunching global budget and employment numbers -- the United States is on track to be 75% obese by 2020.
3 out of every 4. And if you check with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, they’ll... Continue Reading