Why do we have sprawl?
Simply put, sprawl represents raw agnostic capitalism in its most expedient form.
Sprawl is easy for the developer as long as there are no rules, no oversight, and no planning. Scroll down to the January 23rd post - Strip Tease - to find the formula.
A laissez-faire attitude about the value of planning gives sprawl free reign, and we are paying the price in America with traffic jams, obesity, and an increasingly divided culture.
But what about the inhabitants? Shouldn't the people who live and work and learn and play in this country have a say? Why must we accept that sprawl as the only option? The whole thing seems out of balance, some how.
Is there a more humane way to grow?
The answer is a resounding yes! But it takes coordination and planning by all stakeholders on a city-wide, even region-wide basis with a conscious goal of creating livable environments. "Regulation" has been the boogie man of development for eternity and a day, but without thoughtful vision, we are destined to forever more have sprawl.
Developers will adapt - they always do - to targeted growth. Developers are not the culprits here, they're only doing what the system we've imposed requires them to do.
I've put together a matrix of Livable Community design. Comments?
LIVABLE CITY MATRIX
L I V A B L E vs U N B E A R A B L E
"We're All In This Together" vs "Every Man For Himself"
the Village vs the Strip
Centralized Plan vs Linear by Default
Connected vs Disconnected
Green vs Gray
Stimulating vs Exhausted
Empathetic vs Apathetic
Logical vs Manic
Transportation Options vs Traffic Jams
Abundance vs Raw Capitalism
Nature is Beautiful vs Clear-Cut and Flatten
Considered Acquisitions vs Conspicuous Consumption
Right Size vs Bigger is Better
Respectful vs In Your Face
Know Your Neighbor vs Who's Your Neighbor?
Connected Green Space vs Asphalt Jungles
Three Dimensional vs Two Dimensional
Unique vs Pretentious
Communicate vs "I Don't Want To Hear It!"
Community vs Isolation
Culture vs Ignorance
A Connected Series of Villages vs Sprawl
In an effort to equitably and fairly address issues affecting the whole of a local population, some metropolitan areas have opted for a city/county combined government. This approach is a proactive attempt to bring all parties together to make decisions affecting everyone.
Combining city and county evens out tax receipt discrepancies between affluent suburbs and poverty stricken inner city neighborhoods, allowing for infrastructure improvements and comprehensive planning that mitigates blight and sprawl.
Some examples of city/county governments are:
Athens - Clarke County, Georgia
Louisville - Jefferson County, Kentucky
Nashville - Davidson County, Tennessee
Butte - Silver Bow County, Montana
Indianapolis - Marion County, Indiana
Anyone have an opinion on this? Some examples of comprehensive planning successes?
Showing posts with label village. Show all posts
Showing posts with label village. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
You Can't Get There From Here
Round round get around
I get around
Yeah!
Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys
In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the Greyhound Bus station sits way out on the edge of the city, near the Interstate. Presumably, its more convenient for the bus company. Fair enough.
One problem.
You can only get there by car.
But wait a minute! If you're taking the bus, you just might not have a.!.!.!, (long exasperated sigh.) Moving on.
The bus stop's remote location makes it impractical to walk there from anywhere even if there were any sidewalks around. And of course, no sidewalks in sight.
This is a perfect example of how sprawl fails us as a practical layout for living.
In contrast, the village structure - a dense centralized node of commercial and public space surrounded by housing - lends itself to a number of transportation options.
With denser development in the center village (including multi-level apartments/condos) and surrounding single family homes within walking distance, sidewalks make sense.
Walking immediately becomes a convenient and viable way of getting around.
Biking becomes an option as well.
A bus stop within walking distance of most of the population makes taking the bus a realistic proposition.
Same applies with trains.
Segways, golf carts, roller blades - the options are many.
Ergo, Freedom!
In the New American Village, owning a car disappears as the "price of admission." Healthy and convenient ways to get around abound.
And traffic jams are a thing of the past.
I get around
Yeah!
Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys
In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the Greyhound Bus station sits way out on the edge of the city, near the Interstate. Presumably, its more convenient for the bus company. Fair enough.
One problem.
You can only get there by car.
But wait a minute! If you're taking the bus, you just might not have a.!.!.!, (long exasperated sigh.) Moving on.
The bus stop's remote location makes it impractical to walk there from anywhere even if there were any sidewalks around. And of course, no sidewalks in sight.
This is a perfect example of how sprawl fails us as a practical layout for living.
In contrast, the village structure - a dense centralized node of commercial and public space surrounded by housing - lends itself to a number of transportation options.
With denser development in the center village (including multi-level apartments/condos) and surrounding single family homes within walking distance, sidewalks make sense.
Walking immediately becomes a convenient and viable way of getting around.
Biking becomes an option as well.
A bus stop within walking distance of most of the population makes taking the bus a realistic proposition.
Same applies with trains.
Segways, golf carts, roller blades - the options are many.
Ergo, Freedom!
In the New American Village, owning a car disappears as the "price of admission." Healthy and convenient ways to get around abound.
And traffic jams are a thing of the past.
Monday, February 4, 2008
The Walkable Neighborhood
Walkability is fundamental to the well-being of a community.
The walkable neighborhood, by nature, has a certain geometry. In contrast to the linear layout of sprawl, the walkable neighborhood is centralized.
Services and work opportunities group closely in the center of the New American Village, and housing surrounds this nexus in more or less a concentric ring. Residences are all within walking distance, with denser housing closest to the center.
You may say "this sounds like nostalgia."
Not at all.
The walkable neighborhood is not the property of "tradition" - it is an eternal concept that works historically, currently, and will continue to work in the future.
Why?
Because the walkable neighborhood is not a style, it is an organizing system, and this system is most responsive to the human condition.
The benefits:
Health. Studies show people who live in walkable communities weigh less. America's obesity problem is in part due to how suburbs have developed over the past 50 years. The automobile made it possible to develop homogeneous swaths of housing with no services nearby. With no place to walk, and no sidewalks, walking fell out of fashion. Heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes have increased dramatically in these no-walk neighborhoods.
The bottom line. The walkable community gives you back your commuting time. And with gas at $3.00 a gallon, its easy to realize a substantial savings in travel costs. Instead of driving 30 minutes across town for one task then 30 minutes around town for another, walk 5 to 10 minutes to work, to the grocery store, to the library, to school. In the village center, everything is easily accessible to pedestrians.
Cultural enrichment. The walkable neighborhood creates infinite opportunities to meet and communicate with your neighbors in the normal course of the day. (There is a fundamental difference between running into your neighbor in a car and running into your neighbor on foot!) Conversations and familiarity with neighbors resulting from chance and certain encounters fosters cultural enrichment and naturally supports a strong sense of community.
Does this mean we must give up our cars?
No. We love our cars. Cars give us absolute freedom of movement and are very much a part of our way of life. In the New American Village, pedestrians and automobiles co-exist. Every walker is a car NOT on the road. Traffic snarls become non-existent, thus bringing about a balance that affords safety to the citizen on the street.
So why is strip development so popular? We'll talk about that later in the week.
The walkable neighborhood, by nature, has a certain geometry. In contrast to the linear layout of sprawl, the walkable neighborhood is centralized.
Services and work opportunities group closely in the center of the New American Village, and housing surrounds this nexus in more or less a concentric ring. Residences are all within walking distance, with denser housing closest to the center.
You may say "this sounds like nostalgia."
Not at all.
The walkable neighborhood is not the property of "tradition" - it is an eternal concept that works historically, currently, and will continue to work in the future.
Why?
Because the walkable neighborhood is not a style, it is an organizing system, and this system is most responsive to the human condition.
The benefits:
Health. Studies show people who live in walkable communities weigh less. America's obesity problem is in part due to how suburbs have developed over the past 50 years. The automobile made it possible to develop homogeneous swaths of housing with no services nearby. With no place to walk, and no sidewalks, walking fell out of fashion. Heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes have increased dramatically in these no-walk neighborhoods.
The bottom line. The walkable community gives you back your commuting time. And with gas at $3.00 a gallon, its easy to realize a substantial savings in travel costs. Instead of driving 30 minutes across town for one task then 30 minutes around town for another, walk 5 to 10 minutes to work, to the grocery store, to the library, to school. In the village center, everything is easily accessible to pedestrians.
Cultural enrichment. The walkable neighborhood creates infinite opportunities to meet and communicate with your neighbors in the normal course of the day. (There is a fundamental difference between running into your neighbor in a car and running into your neighbor on foot!) Conversations and familiarity with neighbors resulting from chance and certain encounters fosters cultural enrichment and naturally supports a strong sense of community.
Does this mean we must give up our cars?
No. We love our cars. Cars give us absolute freedom of movement and are very much a part of our way of life. In the New American Village, pedestrians and automobiles co-exist. Every walker is a car NOT on the road. Traffic snarls become non-existent, thus bringing about a balance that affords safety to the citizen on the street.
So why is strip development so popular? We'll talk about that later in the week.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Strip Tease
Strip malls are the pornography of real estate development.
Ohhh, they're so titillating, so tantalizing, so immediate. Not much forethought is required. Just show up, pull the curtains, do the deed, and move on. No time or desire to get to know or understand complexities - that might take dinner and a movie.
With a strip mall, a developer needs not cultivate a relationship with the community. In the strip mall paradigm no commitment is necessary.
The formula is simple. Find some property on a busy road, rape the site, lay down a sea of asphalt, throw up a super-cheap building with a pretentious (preferably also cheap) front facade and you're done.
But what about the morning after?
Strip development end to end translates into sprawl, and sprawl gnaws away at the soul of our culture, divides society, and diminishes the health of the citizenry.
In strip mall world, everybody is required to travel by car, regardless of the price of gas, adding to traffic congestion. Owning a car (or 5 if you have two adults and three teenagers in the household) is the ante for getting in the game. It is impossible to walk or bike from anywhere. How could you? There are no sidewalks or crosswalks, only a multitude of zooming automobiles. In fact, you even have to get in your car and drive from one strip mall to another when the two are side by side.
Exploitation of the natural landscape with no regard for the well-being of the environment is pervasive with strip development. Natural beauty, enjoyed by the whole community, is treated with contempt.
In a village setting, where homes closely surround clustered commercial space, you have the option to walk to the store, walk to school, walk to work. A variety of opportunities abound to run into neighbors and have nuanced conversations about life and home and family. Centralized big-box strip development deprives us of the very thing that fosters strong communities - familiarity with, and thus a greater understanding of our neighbors.
Where is the warmth in sprawl? Where is the humanity? Why shouldn't we have a deep sense of affection and, yes, love for the buildings we inhabit?
Strip malls may be salacious for the developer, but everybody else is left with a very empty feeling.
Ohhh, they're so titillating, so tantalizing, so immediate. Not much forethought is required. Just show up, pull the curtains, do the deed, and move on. No time or desire to get to know or understand complexities - that might take dinner and a movie.
With a strip mall, a developer needs not cultivate a relationship with the community. In the strip mall paradigm no commitment is necessary.
The formula is simple. Find some property on a busy road, rape the site, lay down a sea of asphalt, throw up a super-cheap building with a pretentious (preferably also cheap) front facade and you're done.
But what about the morning after?
Strip development end to end translates into sprawl, and sprawl gnaws away at the soul of our culture, divides society, and diminishes the health of the citizenry.
In strip mall world, everybody is required to travel by car, regardless of the price of gas, adding to traffic congestion. Owning a car (or 5 if you have two adults and three teenagers in the household) is the ante for getting in the game. It is impossible to walk or bike from anywhere. How could you? There are no sidewalks or crosswalks, only a multitude of zooming automobiles. In fact, you even have to get in your car and drive from one strip mall to another when the two are side by side.
Exploitation of the natural landscape with no regard for the well-being of the environment is pervasive with strip development. Natural beauty, enjoyed by the whole community, is treated with contempt.
In a village setting, where homes closely surround clustered commercial space, you have the option to walk to the store, walk to school, walk to work. A variety of opportunities abound to run into neighbors and have nuanced conversations about life and home and family. Centralized big-box strip development deprives us of the very thing that fosters strong communities - familiarity with, and thus a greater understanding of our neighbors.
Where is the warmth in sprawl? Where is the humanity? Why shouldn't we have a deep sense of affection and, yes, love for the buildings we inhabit?
Strip malls may be salacious for the developer, but everybody else is left with a very empty feeling.
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