tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957894027687826063.post4018325107441793387..comments2023-07-02T08:51:27.725-04:00Comments on Technology and the City: New Urbanism - Worse than Strip MallsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957894027687826063.post-57637627559053699372009-07-15T10:58:09.852-04:002009-07-15T10:58:09.852-04:00I agree in principle with your notion that corpora...I agree in principle with your notion that corporate NU development undermines the emergent properties that make cities healthy in the long run, but I don't think that it's the worst possible thing insofar as these suburban developments reduce the hydrocarbon footprint of suburbanites themselves. Demonstrating that sustainability is even possible annoys the f*ck out of people like James Howard Kunstler, which is a good enough reason in my book.<br /><br />This said, I have my own aesthetic reservations about NU - watching Leon Krier et al. recoil hysterically from modern and postmodern architectural conceits would be funny if he didn't want so badly to ensconce people in his lily-white Truman Show nostalgia projects.J.D. Hammondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02140366778731511022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957894027687826063.post-37683528882754847942009-07-14T16:51:54.820-04:002009-07-14T16:51:54.820-04:00Daniel, appreciate the comment.
Building more str...Daniel, appreciate the comment.<br /><br />Building more strip malls might not be the answer, but neither are more Cheescake Factory-anchored TODs. It's hard to let the new mingle with the old without local capital. Financing one 10,000 sq ft restaurant with the owner personally guaranteeing the loan is going to produce a very different result than financing a 500,000 Sq ft megaproject through distant bankers. The latter will require large, well-known chains to underwrite anything. This is why good development has to occur slowly, one unit at a time, not with a big bang.Blog Adminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16479105659197407008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957894027687826063.post-9311596139681755192009-07-14T09:58:23.198-04:002009-07-14T09:58:23.198-04:00I agree with some of these points, but I think you...I agree with some of these points, but I think you are combining two things that are not necessarily logically related. The trouble you are identifying is associated with mega-projects in general, not just New Urbanist ones. Take any huge new subdivision, or retirement golf center, or big box strip mall. All of these are as lifeless as anything you've described. Essentially, they violate Jacob's principle to let the new mingle with the old. Affordable space attracts innovation and excitement. There is nothing about NU that is inherently oriented toward megaprojects; those are just the ones that get the headlines, and the financial structure sometimes pushes in that direction. Even places like Reston or Kentlands, in time, will settle in, become customized, and grow there own affordable experimentation.<br /><br />Another way of putting this is that the cool international restaurants are not coming <i>because</i> of the crappy Kmart parking lot. They are there in spite of it. Building more crappy strip mall parking lots is not the answer.Daniel Nairnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14127732825472374125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957894027687826063.post-65053630623807466382009-07-13T17:10:01.024-04:002009-07-13T17:10:01.024-04:00Reston Town Center is pushing 20, and there are no...Reston Town Center is pushing 20, and there are no local merchants in site. Don't know what you're seeing at Kentlands, but I still see Subway, Whole Foods, Chipotle, etc.<br /><br />More impressive than both of these overhyped developments is the store-by-store redevelopment happening right now in Falls Church. You don't read about The State Theatre, Stacy's, Lazy Sundae, or Clare N'Dons in architecture magazines, but they're coming in one-by-one, into an redeveloping area pock marked with dated 1970s shopping centers. This is how good development usually begins - one at a time in borderline areas, not through a national developer's big bang.Blog Adminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16479105659197407008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957894027687826063.post-50872543226244164252009-07-13T16:29:20.019-04:002009-07-13T16:29:20.019-04:00Unfair criticism. Gallery Place and DC USA are fil...Unfair criticism. Gallery Place and DC USA are filled with chains too, but like Kentlands and Reston, they'll get their share of local joints as they age. That's how development always works. The highest renters pay for the newest spaces.<br /><br />This can be readily seen in Kentlands, which as it ages (it's now over 20) is beginning to be infiltrated by locally owned shops.BeyondDChttp://beyonddc.comnoreply@blogger.com