Posted on 06/03/2006 12:48:28 PM PDT by Lorianne
PROVIDENCE -- New Urbanism isn't for everyone.
Andres Duany, one of the founders of the movement, admitted that the Congress of New Urbanism attracts about 1,150 new members each year and loses about 1,000.
"Are we worried?" Duany asked.
No.
New Urbanism is celebrating one of its most successful years. New Urbanists were called on to help rebuild the communities in Mississippi and Louisiana that were devastated by last season's hurricanes, and the movement emerged from the outskirts of architecture and urban planning into the mainstream.
New Urbanism is an anti-sprawl, pro-city way of thinking about real-estate development. Its members include architects, planners, developers, politicians, transit professionals and educators. The primary goal of New Urbanism is to build densely populated, walkable neighborhoods that blend all types of uses from residential and office space to retail stores, schools and public transportation.
Critics of the movement say it promotes Disney-style neighborhoods that cater to the middle class.
Duany spoke to several hundred conference attendees (the group has 3,000 members) yesterday evening at the Rhode Island Convention Center. He warned the audience that New Urbanism requires high-level thinking.
"There's a tendency in American public discourse to oversimplify, to dumb it down," he said.
He pointed to the national problem of obesity. The popular line of thinking blames obesity on junk food, and the solution put forth, Duany said, is bigger nutrition labels on food packages.
New Urbanism thinks bigger. Its principles attempt to reduce the nation's reliance on automobiles, to create friendlier neighborhoods, preserve open space and build successful transit systems.
"The discourse is so intelligent in this congress," Duany said. "We don't oversimplify the issues."
Apparently, some people can't quite keep up.
"I say fine, you need to join another organization like Rails to Trials that does one thing," Duany said.
New Urbanists ability to "sustain complexity" and debate the issues makes the organization strong.
"We will be healthy so long as those who leave [the congress] are the ones we would prefer left," he said. "We will begin to die when those who leave are the best, the most intelligent and energetic among us."
Duany and his concepts have been embraced by Providence. Duany has led several neighborhood planning sessions, called charrettes, in the city. New Urbanism has driven much of Arnold "Buff" Chace's development in downtown Providence, and Mayor David N. Cicilline proposed redevelopment of LaSalle Square and the bridges over Route 95 was largely based on Duany's ideas.
Duany attributed New Urbanisms success to the failure of the suburbs and the attractiveness of the urban life.
Suburbs promised a back-to-nature lifestyle and mobility. Instead, suburbanites have a plat with a patch of grass and gridlock.
City neighborhoods, as envisioned by New Urbanists, offer everything you need in walking distance, a chance to meet your neighbors and a sense of place.
"New Urbanism," Duany said, "is marketable."
I wonder why people are so threatened by New Urbanist projects. They're just another option for buyers, and apparently a popular one because they're priced way out of their league for what you get in terms of square footage and convenience.
I suspect that some people who live in traditional suburbs are a little jealous that their towns lack this kind of charm and have awful traffic to boot.
The students give money to those people, so they hang around and beg. I think most of the bums are harmless. There are career criminals and packs of teenagers roaming around after dark looking for targets of opportunity. The only thing you count on the cops to do is fill out the crime report.
"New Urbanism" isn't about cities vs. suburbs. It's more like a new way to build in large suburban tracts. Instead of the most recent model of residential cul-de-sacs leading to a major thoroughfare, and commercial building (if at all) at the edges, it's laid out as a grid of streets. There's a downtown area, with shops - often with apartments above; a park or town square; and houses on small lots on the side streets. They look like small towns.
There are 4 near me. The first isn't quite as nice, because community pressure made them put all of the commercial buildings at the end of the development, and that looks more like a shopping mall.
The other 3 are better, because the commercial area is more like a town center.
The schools are good; the crime rate is non-existent; and people can walk to shopping and even work. Public transportation is better, because there's a large number of people within walking distance of a transit stop.
For those of us who favor it, it's the best of both worlds - the walkability and neighborhood feel of a city, and the safety and cleanliness of the suburbs.
There will be some folks who will like living in areas like this. I would prefer a lot that is larger than the largest ones being offered at Traditions; the Manor House with about a 1/3 acre. The lot is 100x120, which is 1/3 of what we have right now in MA.
When I was a kid we had to walk 15 miles to and from school every day, uphill both ways, in the snow all year round.
These New Urbanist neighborhoods being suggested are NOT what you are experiencing. They are homes on individual lots with parking on the property. It is not apartment blocks, though some of those are usually included in the planning of the communities so as to meet the needs of all types of folks.
When I was growing up, we lived one block from our Church and school, and about 5 blocks from downtown. It was great!
They are threatened by the laws that mandate such zoning idiocy because they lose their property rights. Or as it was put in an earlier thread on this subject:
New Urbanism is just another facet the Eco-Fascists. No simple, little "New Urbanist" community is capable of being self-sufficient or of keeping the influences of the rest of the world outside their nighborhood. And just where exactly do all the jobs come from inside this little community for all those who wish to walk to work (or do they all take turns running the Quik-E mart and cafe next door)? And do they intend to have everything within walking distance, say their own little local government buildings, a public school, an electricity company, a waste management company? How about separate water and sewer system on every little New Urbanist block? HA! What a joke!The entire concept is utter BS without the financial support and infrastructure of a large nearby metropolitan area and draconian zoning restrictions over a large regional area to restrict the peoples choice of housing and lifestyle options forcing those with the fewest options into the New Urbanist utopias.
As far as I know, few sane people prefer to have the draconian New Urbanist restrictions on the size of their house, yard, or garages; to have restrictions on their ability to park and/or drive their own cars; to have to rely on small scale shops mostly within walking distance (and what kind of businessman thinks operating such a "convenience" store in this kind of off-the-beaten-track location is so profitable anyway?).
It's almost laughable that New Urbanists seem to think the businesses in these little enclaves will somehow stock almost everything you buy now in supermarkets and specialty shops or that the prices in them will not be exorbitant. That businesses like bakeries, cafes, and small convenience stores will stock a variety of staple as well as fresh fruit and vegetables (another big HA!), and that these little businesses will thrive on the limited commerce of everyone within walking distance (which, from observation, is about one block).
And, finally, what happens when every little New Urbanist enclave looks just like every other prettied-up urban city block that people have moved away from for the last 50 years?
New Urbanist developments are going up in areas where there is plenty of traditional suburban housing to be had. It's like a homeowner's association. You don't want those limits on your housing, don't move in. People seem to love this type of zoning, because these developments are much more expensive than they should be.
There's no threat to anyone who doesn't choose to live in one.
When these kinds of neighborhoods grew organically, most people worked in a fairly generic job, often in a factory.
I don't know how realistic it is to imagine that people will be able to work, shop and live in one relatively small area, given the level of job specialization we have today.
I'm not opposed to them doing it, as long as they don't try to force me to join in. I'm not a fan of urban or suburban lifestyles.
Getting rid of a lot of zoning regulations is the way to make this as realistic as possible. Zoning creates long commutes and traffic congestion.
So you've never heard of Portland and their "Metro" regional government? Then why are you even blithering on about this topic?
I'm very familiar with them. Tell me what it has to do with developers putting up communities like this elsewhere, or stop blithering yourself.
Are people living in Portland seeing their homes razed against their will now? That would be news.
All zoning is loss of property rights. A land owner cannot just build whatever he/she wants on their own property.
The problem is, some people have a vested interest is limiting other people's property rights in one way instead of another.
If I ever get around to buying a house it will have to be out in the country where there are no zoning rules. If I want a deck I’ll be able to build it without drawing up plans, submitting to the board and begging for permission.
Once the Smart Code is adopted, the whole city becomes a new urbanist zone. Developers can do what they want, which is high density.Google Smart Code and get a look at how it wants to densify areas.
This opens the door to Eminent Domain big time.
I work in a factory. We are, to put it politely, rather stinky and we require a LOT of room.
I would guess that we would not fit in the New Urbanism.
Obviously you've never been on a NYC subway in August. Very stinky indeed...
If we were next door to you it would be.
When we run the pumps a delightful aroma that resembles the bouquet given off by 300 kids who have needed a diaper change for 24 hours on a hot August day wafts through the neighborhood.
It has to be smelled to be believed.
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