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[Jason Tower <jason AT cerient.net>]

maybe you should just move to germany.

i lived in a small town near stuttgart a few years ago, and it had EVERY ONE 
of the features listed below.  every little town was a little self-contained 
unit, with a grocery store, drink store, bakery, bank, etc.  people walked 
everywhere, or rode bikes.  public transporation was a way of life, most 
families had only one car.  wanderwegs (walking/bike paths) connected the 
towns together.  i lived 5 km from my office and rode my bike to/from work 
almost every day (and then put in another 50-60 km riding through the 
countryside after work).  hit the grocery store four or five times a week (on 
foot, you bring your own bags, no waste) and buy whatever you need for that 
night's supper, everything is fresh.  best bread in the world (but the brits 
win the award for best beer, hands down).  everything comes in recycleable 
bottles: milk, water, beer, wine, juice, soda.  no sugar free, low fat, or 
reduced sodium items to be found, yet very few people are overweight.  
everything is built to last (houses, cars, furniture, appliances, clothes), 
the word "disposable" is virtually never used and has a negative connotation. 
 
it really is a different way of life.

jason

On Monday 06 January 2003 22:07, Michael Winslow Czeiszperger wrote:
> On Monday, January 6, 2003, at 04:37 PM, K. Jo Garner wrote:
> > On Mon, 6 Jan 2003, Michael Czeiszperger wrote:
> > ->I was happy to stand on a soapbox regarding the area's growth
> > policies.
> >
> > So, just out of curiousity, why do you live in Southern Village?
> > there was nothing but land there when I first started coming to CH.
>
> Thanks for asking! This subject could go on and on so I'll try to be
> succinct.
>
> I'm a proponent of New Urbanism, and I live in Southern Village because
> its the best example of this type of development in the Triangle. The
> neighborhood is within the city limits of Chapel Hill, and only a few
> minutes drive from Carrboro, where I do most of the shopping outside of
> Market Street. We would have liked to live in a pre-WWII older
> neighborhood which New Urbanism seeks to reproduce, but the high demand
> has driven the prices higher than we can afford, which in itself is a
> big indication there's a marked unmet demand for this type of living
> environment.
>
> The best book I've found on New Urbanism so far is:
>
> Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American
> Dream
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0865475571/103-4363544-2833441
>
> The emphasis of this book is that all of the reasons that people site
> for wanting a suburban tract home are in fact not met with that growth
> pattern, but could be met with growth along a New Urbanism model.
>
> I could ramble at this point, but perhaps its better to simply list the
> basic principles:
>
> THE PRINCIPLES OF NEW URBANISM (Stolen from newurbanism.org)
>
> 1. WALKABILITY
> -Most things within a 10-minute walk of home and work
> -Pedestrian friendly street design (buildings close to street; porches,
> windows & doors; tree-lined streets; on street parking; hidden parking
> lots; garages in rear lane; narrow, slow speed streets)
> -Pedestrian streets free of cars in special cases
>
> 2. CONNECTIVITY
> -Interconnected street grid network disperses traffic & eases walking
> -High quality pedestrian network and public realm makes walking
> pleasurable
>
> 3. MIXED-USE & DIVERSITY
> -A mix of shops, offices, apartments, and homes on site. Mixed-use
> within neighborhoods, within blocks, and within buildings
> -Diversity of people - of ages, classes, cultures, and races
>
> 4. MIXED HOUSING
> A range of types, sizes and prices in closer proximity
>
> 5. QUALITY ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN
> Emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, human comfort, and creating a sense of
> place; Special placement of civic uses and sites within community.
> Human scale architecture & beautiful surroundings nourish the human
> spirit
>
> 6. TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD STRUCTURE
> -Discernable center and edge
> -Public space at center
> -Importance of quality public realm; public open space designed as
> civic art
> -Contains a range of uses and densities within 10-minute walk
> -Transect planning: Highest densities at town center; progressively
> less dense towards the edge. The transect is an analytical system that
> conceptualizes mutually reinforcing elements, creating a series of
> specific natural habitats and/or urban lifestyle settings. The Transect
> integrates environmental methodology for habitat assessment with zoning
> methodology for community design. The professional boundary between the
> natural and man-made disappears, enabling environmentalists to asses
> the design of the human habitat and the urbanists to support the
> viability of nature. This urban-to-rural transect hierarchy has
> appropriate building and street types for each area along the continuum.
>
> 7. INCREASED DENSITY
> -More buildings, residences, shops, and services closer together for
> ease of walking, to enable a more efficient use of services and
> resources, and to create a more convenient, enjoyable place to live.
> -New Urbanism design principles are applied at the full range of
> densities from small towns, to large cities
>
> 8. SMART TRANSPORTATION
> -A network of high-quality trains connecting cities, towns, and
> neighborhoods together
> -Pedestrian-friendly design that encourages a greater use of bicycles,
> rollerblades, scooters, and walking as daily transportation
>
> 9. SUSTAINABILITY
> -Minimal environmental impact of development and its operations
> -Eco-friendly technologies, respect for ecology and value of natural
> systems
> -Energy efficiency
> -Less use of finite fuels
> -More local production
> -More walking, less driving
>
> 10. QUALITY OF LIFE
> Taken together these add up to a high quality of life well worth
> living, and create places that enrich, uplift, and inspire the human
> spirit.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> No place better demonstrates the worst aspects of both the American
> character and public policy than the nation's highways.
>          -- michael at czeiszperger dot org, Chapel Hill, NC
>
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