Roadside Wire
Highways and the degradation of our cities
- Published on Friday, 09 March 2012 01:25
In this video, John Norquist from the Congress of New Urbanism explains what the urban interstates have done to our cities and offers solutions on how to repair the damage. Video appears after the break.
Put a porch on your house… and celebrate!
- Published on Tuesday, 04 October 2011 22:48
Tactical culture: Porchfest
by Robert Steuteville
A festival with minimal organization and almost no budget has helped to put our neighborhood on the map.
Last Sunday, thousands of people wandered the streets of my neighborhood in Ithaca, New York, to see and hear 97 musical acts on porches, stoops, and front yards throughout a perfect afternoon.
This ad-hoc event, largely self-organizing, has grown into a big thing — drawing visitors from around the region. When they come, they see the best of the 40-block Fall Creek neighborhood and part of adjacent Northside.
Read more here…
Walkable communities: Showing the cost of banality
- Published on Monday, 16 May 2011 18:18
The debate over the value and relevance of walkable communitie continues to rage back and forth, but I’m happy to carry this article in my back pocket. Even if you love to drive and would never think to give up your car, what is the harm in having a little choice about how you get there?
Walkability and the new urbanism
Urban expert Christopher Leinberger has witnessed a revolution in his Washington, D.C. neighbourhood.
Ten years ago, his Dupont Circle townhouse in the historic district of the nation’s capital was worth 25 per cent less per square foot than a house in suburban Maryland or Virginia 30 minutes away. That same townhouse is worth 70 per cent more per square foot today.
Leinberger says demand for homes in urban, walkable neighbourhoods is outstripping supply in most United States cities and that for the first time since the suburbs became king in the 1960s, housing values there have fallen below those of their urban counterparts.
Cogent summation of the sprawl problem
- Published on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 17:15
I wish I could publish this letter in its entirety, because it beautifully sums up the many points made here and in the pages of Roadside Magazine about the destructive nature of sprawl. I have, however enclosed a vide0 presentation of the same letter as well as the link to the letter. I have removed the name of the metro area the writer refers to in the excerpt below, however I think you could easily fill in any number of cities, large and small, and his observations would still apply perfectly.
There’s a simple reason why many people don’t want to live here: it’s an unpleasant place because most of it is visually unattractive and because it is lacking in quality living options other than tract suburbia. Some might call this poor “quality of life.” A better term might be poor “quality of place.” In [name that metro area], we have built a very bad physical place. We don’t have charming, vibrant cities and we don’t have open space.
Get happy. Walk to stuff.
- Published on Saturday, 11 December 2010 01:00
This may bolster our decade long contention about at least one of the benefits of living where you can actually walk to stuff. The less you have to worry about your car and where to park it certainly benefits the psyche in my experience. Why do you think all the big theme parks are walkable?
Study: Walkable neighborhoods have happier people
People who live in walkable communities are more socially engaged and trusting than those who live in less walkable areas, says a new study from the University of New Hampshire.
The study buttresses other research that has linked a neighborhood’s walkability to its residents’ quality of life, notably improved physical and mental health.
The researchers scored 700 residents of three communities in New Hampshire on measures of “social capital” such as socializing with friends, civic engagement and trust in their community. They found those in neighborhoods with higher Walk Score ratings reported being happier and healthier and more apt to volunteer, work on community projects or simply entertain friends at home.
Read more about walkable happiness here…