awakening: new urbanismRecently, I took a trip to Memphis and met a young architect/community planner who told me about a trend called New Urbanism. Be sure to take a look at the "Pedestrian" link on that site as well. It may be called New Urbanism, but it's not really new at all; it's a return to designing cities and communities the way they used to be. Compact, pedestrian-minded and sustainable. Enough of this sprawling, toxic, paved reality.
Something new (to me at least) to think about.
11 comments:
Brian, et al...
There's a pretty good book by a guy named Eric Jacobsen that expores New Urbanism with an eye toward "being the church." It's called *Sidewalks of the Kingdom.* My family and I are soon moving back to the Dallas metroplex from just outside of Chicago, but reading this stuff makes it really hard to think about returning to North Texas Suburbia. At least it's nice to know that there are a handful of folks back at IBC who are reading Thoreau and Wendell Berry and trying to make sense of it in suburbia too.
Also, if you've never seen the PBS documentary on New York City, go to the library and rent the last episode. It provides great context for thinking about New Urbanism as it documents the battle between the automobile and the human being that took place in NYC in the decades after WWII. It's got heros and villans and all the stuff of a good movie packed into a documentary. Quite interesting and thought provoking.
Barry,
Thanks for the recommendation! I put it in my Netflix queue and I look forward to watching it. If there are any DFW readers out there who want to join me in watching it let me know.
Hey guys,
Just checking out the blog before I head off to bed. Your post reminded me of a roommate of mine from college who went and got a Masters in City Planning from UT. Now he's out in California at a non-profit called Reconnecting America which is actually more focused on transit related materials, but related to your post. His blog has links to New Urbanism material and he has plenty to say on the subject of transit and city planning. Might make for interesting reads. He's pretty passionate about the subject.
http://transitnerd.blogspot.com/
Thanks Nate - great link to your friend & other thoughts on NewUrbanism. In Austin last year, I remember just picking up some random flyer that described really cool efforts to be most efficient with store-fronts, walkway, etc.. The hipness of Austin is nothing new, but once again, it's neat that we currently live so close to a place that might be more willing to try valuable, out of the box changes ... maybe.
Barry - I've been thinking of your comment about "reading Thoreau and Wendell Berry and trying to make sense of it in suburbia." While it is a good exercise, I continue to wonder if it will be the best ...
I still wonder how much sense will ultimately be made of their writing in our suburbs. It may require a move to gain more sense (see Brian's Jan. 8th post - The Thought of Something Else).
BUT, more people in on the discussion will be more fun, interesting, and rightfully challenging.
Thanks!
-s.o
You're right, Shaun, how much sense can be made of their writings here? The juxtaposition of reading Berry or Thoreau in these suburbs seems only to highlight the truth they speak even further.
But, we did get something of a clue earlier this week. We read a Wendell Berry essay that we'll be posting about shortly, he ends with this:
"In our time it is useless and probably wrong to suppose that a great many urban people ought to go out into the countryside and become homesteaders or farmers. But it is not useless or wrong to suppose that urban people have agricultural responsibilities that they should try to meet. And in fact this is happening. The agrarian population among us is growing, and by no means is it made up merely of some farmers and some country people. It includes urban gardeners, urban consumers who are buying food from local farmers, consumers who have grown doubtful of the healthfulness, the trustworthiness, and the dependability of the corporate food system -- people, in other words, who understand what it means to be landless."
More to come.
Nate, thanks for the link! Among some of the interesting links on the transitnerd blog is the Congress for the New Urbanism. Everyone should be sure to check out the fantastic Flash Tour under "About New Urbanism".
wow. Okay, the Congress for New Urbanism demo is great! This idea does have some weight. It was very encouraging to watch/read.
I agree on the demo. I liked it. A friend of mine at work and I spoke about this New Urbanism. His comment was that he didn't think we could do something like that to Dallas (he lives "downtown"). Dallas is too spread out (more of a region than a city), not enough business downtown that needs to be downtown (look at JC Penny, EDS, Frito-Lay...). Etc.
I would hope any city, large or small, could be renovated.
Some areas will definitely offer more of a challenge than others, and I share your hope that any city could be renovated. Although, I don't think it's a matter of "could", but rather "must".
Hey guys, its been a while since I was active around here, but thats about to change. I have to admit, after I went to the New Urbanism web site that you referenced, Brian, I got pretty excited. Just the ideas that the site was putting forth resonated with me. It seemed especially relevant after reading Shaun's great review of "Linked." Then I read Nate's friend's comment about Dallas possibly being to spread out to ever be reconciled with the idea of New Urbanism. And this made me wonder: why are we so spread out? The other weekend I drove somewhere between 200 and 300 miles. No kidding, and this was over a sat and sun. You who are reading are probably nodding and thinking, yeah, I know what that's like. It all makes me think of what I call, "The rise of the Individual." That is, a view of the autonomous individual that has driven a wedge between us. I could elaborate more on this, but I don't really want to because I am mesmerized by the idea that I could one day live in a community like the kind that New Urbanism is publishing. But I will be thinking about this for a time. Thanks guys for waking me to this.
Have you eaver read a book called Ekistiks by Constantinos Doxiadis?
It's about human and inhuman settlements, and was published a generation ago.
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