Posted on 12/02/2004 4:30:12 PM PST by Lorianne
Christopher B. Leinberger is a man on a mission - a real estate developer who is building to reclaim the past.
When not spearheading an ambitious redevelopment of downtown Albuquerque, N.M., he crisscrosses the country, trying to sell builders, planners and the public on converting the nation's sprawling, car-addicted suburbs into more compact, walkable communities - like the neighborhood he grew up in outside Philadelphia.
At stake, contends the silver-haired, Santa Fe, N.M.-based developer, is nothing less than our personal health, and that of the planet.
"The way we're building our suburbs presents such difficult problems," Leinberger said yesterday, as he prepared to speak in Towson to a group of area developers, bankers and local officials.
"Our kids walk about one-tenth of what we used to, and that explains a lot of our obesity," he said, recalling that he must have trudged 3,000 miles to and from school while growing up in Drexel Hill, just west of Philadelphia.
"This is like turning a supertanker," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
"Whatdaya mean you're not gonna float anymore bonds, and I gotta build roads, sewers, and fund an expansion to the water treatment plant if I want to build another suburban tract development? Fagitaboudit, I'll build city condos instead."
I must be the only person in the US who doesn't know how I should live.
Just another limosine liberal trying to tell us what's good for us.
Seems to me that the reason they're not walking, playing, exercising like "we" used to is they're vulnerable to evil that our system of "justice" winks at, or at least does not deal with appropriately.
Nowadays, most good parents watch their kids like hawks. Didn't used to have to be thataway.
If their development effort can clean up downtown Albukirk, I say more power to him.
Look as an experienced government manager many have the wrong view of new urban style development. I believe in the free market an dstudies show that 30-40 percent of people would like to live in newly constructed higher density neighborhoods with good schools and low crime. But guess what - It is illegal in amlost any community to build it becuase of antiquated zoning and development ordinances. In other words the free market cannot work because most local governments will not allow it to.
I dont like sprawl myself,
but I dont know how they can build something denser and walkable and nice in of all places albequerque.
why not build house with big backyards to play in instead?
Drexel Hill is a bedroom community of rowhomes, twins and small-lot singles with little in the way of parks and open space.
Fellow wants to turn Albuquerque into Drexel Hill.
Sprawl is a product of government zoning, fire, and engineering codes. Prior to the start of government control over development, development took place in a compact manner in traditional towns and suburbs.
Sprawl is a key plank of the Communist Manifesto (it calls for an equalization of the population by moving people out of cities and into rural areas), and was brought into modern life by the French Socialist Le Corbusier.
Now, remind me again why as a redblooded American conservative, I should be for an ideal of Marxist Socialism midwifed into modernity by a French Socialist that is a product of government control over private property?
Local governments are totally at the mercy of small groups of militant agitators and their overly agressive litigators who get paid by the taxpayers for filing enviro/nogrowth litigation against the taxpayer's local government, whether they win, lose, or settle!
If you'd run for local office and serve just one term you would be shocked, stunned and flabergasted. Most of all, you would be very, very discouraged in most jurisdictions! I know. I've been there, done that!!!
BTTT!!!!!!!!
Or because of updated zoning that restricts subdividing undeveloped land. Here in Vermont we have "act 250" that makes it damn near impossible to build on less than 5 acres. This is supposed to keep developers from building on what used to be farmland (i.e. sprawl) The result, however, is that people have to push further and further away from the city (ok town, in Vermont)centers meaning sprawl is more widespread.
The law of unintended consequences.
Drexel Hill does have a fabulous, huge, baseball field complex off of Township Line Rd. :-)
They have one of the best youth baseball (and football) programs in the area. Whenever we beat UDHL or Upper Darby we're happy.
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