PCAgenda_96Feb26 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The New Urbanism's Call to Arms From October 8 through 11 in Alexandria, Vuginia, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) held the first of four conferences planned through 1994. The 200 participants included architects, planners, and academics from the United States and Canada, as well as real estate developers, lenders, civil engi- neer, and public officials, including Milwau- kee Mayor John Norquist. In day-long sessions running from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the Congress set forth an ambitious national agenda: a sweeping reformation in the development of Ameri- can cities to change American urban and suburban life for the better. Joel Schwam, an architect, builder, and • real estate developer in New Jersey, believes r~ Lace parking lots occupy- ing astrategic position in the city's it>riverg down- town. Last November, that "typical suburban land planning and de- velopment don't work any more and need to be fixed." He recalls, "When I was making a speech recently, I asked the audience to name a New Jersey community built in the past 50 years that is a really good place. You know what? Nobody could name a single location. "But development patterns aren't going to change for the better just because people want more aesthetic, more satisfying communiries. Americans are profoundly conservative about choosing a place to live, and they base many of their decisions on economics. As more people realize that the rnst of rnnstrucdng and main- tainingtypical suburbia has gotten out of hand, they are starting to thinl.• about innova- tive ways to plan and build new communiries and retrofit existing ones.° The Congress for the New Urbanism is a response to the failures of America's built environment. "The movement to reform American ur- banism is prevailing," claim the CNU's six coordinators-Peter Calthorpe, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Moule, Elizabeth Plater- Zyberk, Stefanos Polyzoides, and Daniel Solomon. "The evidence is everywhere. At least 100,000 acres have been designed ac- cording to new principles by several speaal- ized firms. Even the established planning firms most responsible for suburban sprawl now offer this type of urbanism as an option.° According to its rnordinators, the CNU is not just another visionary think tank. Plater-Zyberk describes the organization as "a multidisciplinary way to address the future of our sties, proactively rather than reactively, with a prescription for change rather than a mere reflection of existing disorder.° The New Urbanism's planning and development principles are quite straight- forward: The built environment must be the city council approved unanimousy a plan by ROMA Design Group to redevelop the site in accordance with marry principles of the New Urbanism. Incorporating an expansion by RAND, 350 residential units, new catboat facilities, parking sbuchrres, and open space, the new civic carder Hell repair this hole in Santa Motrica's urban fabric, encourage walking and bicycling in the down- town,and open access to ocean beaches. Traffic calming elemertts like wide sidewalks, roundabouts, a town square that, among other functions, witl serve as an interchange poird for cdy buses and local shuttle services, and a new east vest sfreetlpromenade are a major focus of the plan.