Everybody wants more open space in urban design. But how to provide enough open public space in a renovation where land is really expensive?
Governments just don’t have enough money to provide the level of green and open spaces most people have come to expect, particularly in an area moving from a suburban to an urban level of development, like White Flint.…
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Say what you want about the demise of “old media,” but once in a while newspapers remind us of their former glory as treasure troves spilling forth wisdom and piquing interest. Today’s Washington Post has a column by architecture critic Philip Kennicott that prompts some reflection into a pillar of New Urbanism philosophy.…
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The following is a great article in The Atlantic by Chris Leinberger discussing the increasing preference for dense walkable communities surrounding transit. It also describes the past and present success of funding transit infrastructure through private structures. Sounds a lot (even exactly) like our efforts in White Flint:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/06/here-comes-the-neighborhood/8093
Greg Trimmer…
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“Traffic calming” sometimes seems like a misnomer; it just makes people mad, like drivers who honk when they go over speed bumps. But I just spent two days sitting at the feet of a traffic calming master, Ian Lockwood of Glatting Jackson, and learned that I was wrong. Or at least sadly out-of-date (which doesn’t surprise my kids).…
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I’ve done lots and lots of citizens meeting on the White Flint Plan over the last four years. And after every one, someone asks, “When?” I usually respond, “it’ll take a while.” But finally I can say: “Today. The new White Flint starts taking shape today.”
Last October we told you about the new building for the U.S.…
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From the May issue of the Harvard Business Review:
“Recent studies by Frank and others show that as a neighborhood’s overall walkability increases, so does the amount of walking and biking—while, per capita, air pollution and body mass index decrease.”
Not news to anyone who’s followed the discussions here on New Urbanism: If you isolate people in cul-de-sacs, they’ll drive; they have no choice.…
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Seth Morgan, a graduate student in urban planning at Florida State University who grew up in Montgomery County, delivered a paper on White Flint at last week’s national conference of the American Planning Association. The Abstract of Morgan’s paper says:
Read MoreIn an era of increasing emphasis on transportation sustainability, one community has taken a longstanding tradition of transportation oriented development and applied it towards a highly auto-centric suburb.
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Pictures from the May 13-14, 2010, White Flint Town Hall are now available on “Recap” page of the Town Hall web site:
http://www.townhall.whiteflint.org/Photos.html
Many thanks to all of those who participated, and especially to our presenter, Ian Lockwood.
Barnaby Zall…
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Ian Lockwood, an expert in traffic calming and mobility design, with the firm of AEcom, formerly known as Glatting Jackson, is the presenter at the 2010 White Flint Town Hall. Live-blogging from his presentation.
Quick summary: old traffic calming methods focussed on physical barriers, which had many problems. Newer methods look at influencing drivers’ behavior through psychology.…
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Just a reminder: the 2010 White Flint Town Hall will be held tomorrow night, Thursday, May 13, at 7:30PM at 1626 E. Jefferson in Rockville.
The topic will be “Neighborhood Mobility Balance,” which is the balance between access for surrounding neighborhoods to the amenities of the new White Flint and protecting those neighborhoods against congestion and cut-through traffic.…
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