I thought I would make a spot to hold book, movie, and video suggestions related to new urbanism. If you recommend anything try to give a brief description.
Let me start with this video. This is a presentation by Enrique Penalosa to the Portland State University Urban Planning Club. Enrique is the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. While the video is about an hour and half only the first hour is the presentation. The last 30 minutes are a Q&A session. He talks pretty extensively about how Bogotá successfully created a large scale bus rapid transit system and invested in sidewalks and bicycle boulevards.
"Planning Cities for People: An International Perspective"
This is presentation by Enrique Penalosa to the Parks Forum's 5th International Biennial Conference, Parks Beyond Boundaries, in Adelaide, Australia in May 2012. The main idea of the presentation is that parks should not be restricted to just physical park boundaries but should spread to the sidewalk as it weave through the urban fabric and into the daily lives of citizens. There were lots of really good quotes in this presentation (the next time I watch it I'll have to write them down). The first 20 minutes or so was a repeat of many of his normal talking points but once he got into the park specific discussion it really got interesting.
One of my favorite quotes was "a childs' favorite thing to play with is another child". I think both my kids and Sid's kids can attest to that.
As an early reminder - the New Urbanism program at the University of Miami will open for enrollment on Feb 12.
Course and Exam Registration: February 12 - March 5, 2013
Course begins: March 7, 2013
Exam access begins: May 23, 2013
Course and exam access concludes: June 10, 2013
The cost is about $400 plus books which you can buy at a discount through the University of Miami. Anyone can take this on-line course. Students who complete the course and pass the exam receive a certificate from the University of Miami School of Architecture.
I was hoping to take this program last year but the timing didn't work out so this year it is my Christmas present to myself.
The Option of Urbanism: Back to the Future for Metro Vancouver
Christopher B. Leinberger, Metropolitan Land Strategist and Developer, The Brookings Institution, Washington DC
April 25, 2008
Was urban sprawl an accident?
Why do the Europeans (and nearly every other country) value land more than the US?
Were railroad suburbs the first urban sprawl?
Are TV sitcoms a reflection of reality?
Will rapidly changing demographics render suburbia obsolete in the next 20 years?
Why did NW OKC grow at such a fast pace while NE OKC didn't grow at all?
Who will buy my suburban house when I am ready to move again?
Why is your Zip Code the most important demographic data point?
Why is every strip shopping center exactly the same?
How many walkable urban districts should OKC have?
All these questions are answered in this video. Although it is nearly 2 hours long the main presentation is only 54 minutes. The remainder is a panel discussion.
Here is the same basic presentation as above but it was done for Kansas City as part of their public awareness campaign for their new downtown streetcar. This was filmed at the Kansas City Public Library. It differs slightly from the Vancouver presentation because he get a little more into the future of America and how urban sprawl played a major role in 2 of the 3 major recessions and why we aren’t seeing a significant suburban real-estate rebound now.
The Option of Urbanism: Back to the Future for Metro Vancouver
Christopher B. Leinberger, Metropolitan Land Strategist and Developer, The Brookings Institution, Washington DC
April 25, 2008
Was urban sprawl an accident?
Why do the Europeans (and nearly every other country) value land more than the US?
Were railroad suburbs the first urban sprawl?
Are TV sitcoms a reflection of reality?
Will rapidly changing demographics render suburbia obsolete in the next 20 years?
Why did NW OKC grow at such a fast pace while NE OKC didn't grow at all?
Who will buy my suburban house when I am ready to move again?
Why is your Zip Code the most important demographic data point?
Why is every strip shopping center exactly the same?
How many walkable urban districts should OKC have?
All these questions are answered in this video. Although it is nearly 2 hours long the main presentation is only 54 minutes. The remainder is a panel discussion.
Not directly no, but in pretty specific terms of urban and suburban development that directly tie in to OKC. Watch the video and you will easily see it.
Not directly no, but in pretty specific terms of urban and suburban development that directly tie in to OKC. Watch the video and you will easily see it.
Kerry, while I'm sure there are some good points made in the video, I just don't have the time to watch all of the ones you post. It might be helpful if you could provide a synopsis of the major points.
Kerry, while I'm sure there are some good points made in the video, I just don't have the time to watch all of the ones you post. It might be helpful if you could provide a synopsis of the major points.
I am traveling this week but when I get home I'll see what I can put together. I watch them on TV so it makes it seem more like watching a tv program instead of a YouTube video.
Seaside, Florida doesn't claim to be first but does claim to be one of the first cities. It's a neat place but antithetical to New Urbanism IMO in that it's a playground with a huge investment of resources for part time use rather than a real 24/7 community.
Good question. According to Leinberger it was Country Club Plaza in KC. It was the first greenfield walkable development built from scratch.
Didn't he say that was built before the depression and managed not to be destroyed before it was gentrified, so not really new urbanism but the kind of neighborhood they were looking for as a template.
There isn't much difference between NEW urbanism and OLD urbanism other than old urbanism grew organically out of necessity because cars didn't exist. New urbanism is a choice (where legally allowed) because cars do exist.
Charles Marohn (Strong Towns) at the National Conference of State Legislatures 2012 .
Most of this presentation is related to the growth Ponzi schemes that most cities use to fund expansion. Everything works great until A) A city runs out of room, B) Growth stops, or C) Infrastructure exceeds its lifespan. He also spends a fair amount of time comparing property taxes and employment rates between various levels of density.
Ed Glaeser, interviewed on the Feb 17, 2001 episode of Freakonomics Radio's podcast Freakonomics » Why Cities Rock calls cities our greatest invention and states that they will save the earth.
Ed Glaeser, interviewed on the Feb 17, 2001 episode of Freakonomics Radio's podcast Freakonomics » Why Cities Rock calls cities our greatest invention and states that they will save the earth.
No way that guy is a Harvard professor. He must be the most hated guy on campus. For those that want to listen it is only 17 minutes long. There is a 'Listen Now' button in the middle column just above Ed Glasser's picture.
Here is a 2 part series done by one of the local Atlanta news stations on the new 22 mile Beltline around central Atlanta. This is one big project that will encircle central Atlanta with light rail, major urban parks, and 30+ miles of bike highways and jogging paths. One place they looked at for inspiration was Charlotte and they do a segment on the building boom created by Charlotte's rail system.
Oh good. They're finally doing the Beltline. My daughter owns a house on it that plummeted in value in 2008. Maybe it will finally get some of its value back.
I have seen the movie listed on Netflix for a while now but just couldn't muster up the desire to watch it but tonight I had an hour to kill so I turned it on - thinking I would probably turn it off in 10 minutes. This was a really good movie. It is the story of a small parking lot in Charlottesville, VA and the people who work at it. They have some very interesting opinions of the people who park there and the mentality of the average parker.
I will probably end up watching this movie 2 or 3 more times because there were so many good quotes and ah-ah moments that it took me a while to process them. For example, the simple phrase "What if Rosa Parks drove a car" sent me on a mental tangent for a good 2 minutes. Another one was about people who pay $40,000 for a car, $70 to fill the tank, and then cry that they have to pay $5 to park it, as if they assume it comes from the dealership with a parking space included and they are finding out for the first time that it doesn't. If you have 70 minutes to kill this isn't a bad way to kill it.
New Urbanism Library
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Originally Posted by Just the facts
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