tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140359640502106156.post5553934392563798017..comments2023-10-07T04:13:13.019-04:00Comments on The Walter Duranty Report: Mass Transit Gains in DCUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140359640502106156.post-78196162858984334592009-01-11T16:49:00.000-05:002009-01-11T16:49:00.000-05:00I would have to agree with KirbyFur about the real...I would have to agree with KirbyFur about the reality of a lot of New Urbanism projects. Atlanta's Atlantic Station is also worth investigating - while they may somewhat encourage making communities more walkable, integrating them into the surrounding environment can be difficult, as they often become a sort of gated community. Worth checking out is Doug Rae's "City," which uses the history of New Haven to unpack much of the mythology that New Urbanism is based on. And while walking to the grocery store may have been great, let's not forget that many people living in large cities before WWII walked from their cramped and dangerous tenement.The Legionnairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08452075448107219964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140359640502106156.post-87266191467109075332009-01-11T12:27:00.000-05:002009-01-11T12:27:00.000-05:00I always end up seeing new urbanist projects and b...I always end up seeing new urbanist projects and being disappointed though. New Urbanism has some good ideas, but how these projects unfold on the ground has serious limits to their goal of building community. Most of the New Urbanist projects I've seen (Kentlands, Maryland and Blue Back Square, West Hartford, CT most recently) are basically shopping malls flipped inside out with some high-end lofts stuck to the top. The developers building them seek out larger corporate chain stores to fill their spaces, mostly to minimize risk. And while there are usually good-looking public spaces in the design, there is little or no room for civic institutions (churches, community centers, non-profits, etc.). While there is an integration of housing and commerce, there is a lack of community glue. In the case of Blue Back Square, the biggest issue has been parking, since everyone drives there. It would be interesting to see a new urbanist project that fulfills the ideals of the movement.KirbyFurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02951552067584041091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140359640502106156.post-29631903660965737362009-01-09T01:46:00.000-05:002009-01-09T01:46:00.000-05:00Man, I could've used both of those DC improvements...Man, I could've used both of those DC improvements when I lived there, I tell you what. Dulles was a pain in the ass to get to, every time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com