I found this wonderful gem of a video while reading a thread dedicated to the subject of "New Urbanism" which is something I was quite interested in, but had no idea it actually had a specific name. The video below is actually an hour long, but really worth your time. Something wonderful about movies like this from the 70's.
http://vimeo.com/5298850
I am amazed that so many of the problems with urban/suburban development were studied and researched to such a degree as far back as the 1970's. Yet we still see such incredibly backwards spaces being built. Maybe my view is skewed since I think of my home town of Shreveport and the rapid development there in the past decade.
I just can't fathom that still in the year 2011, cars are given more consideration during planning for developing spaces than the people who ride in them. It isn't a new idea that I'm talking about here. The streets of London were so wonderful to get around in. Not just because of the easy Tube access either.
I don't think that suburbia will be going away anytime soon, but I hope that some of the city starts leaking into the suburbs. It might do it some good. Or if you prefer a angrier look at things, have a TED talk.
And now I know the word for it. It seems the only places that are pedestrian friendly are the places that were heavily populated before the invention of combustion engines. New York, Boston, San Francisco, DC, etc in the US. It's mind boggling to most Europeans that there are places where you have no choice but to own a car.
ReplyDeleteIn the TED talk, one of the things I was interested to see was that there are some pretty good looking ideas on how to use the vast empty spaces that are consumed by our malls to promote good urban design in the suburban areas. I think that would be fantastic to see. Especially in the south, most every larger town has at least one mall that isn't doing so well.
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