"Suburban nation" - good book

[billvon 2,380]

Just finished a good book on suburban sprawl - what causes it, how it causes transportation problems, and how to solve it. It was written by three urban planners who have accumulated a lot of experience designing communities, including some remarkable successes (like Seaside, FL and Kentlands, KY.) Full title is "Suburban Nation - The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream."


Most of the book is just plain common sense. Land use should be mixed; corner stores and integrated housing/retail/commercial are critical to reducing traffic and congestion. That helps reduce the need for cars, parking lots, feeder roads, and extra lanes to begin with.


One interesting section looked at expanding roads as a way to decrease congestion. They looked at several examples (notably Atlanta and LA) and noticed that no highway widening project has ever reduced congestion in the long term. Indeed, in one case (West Side Highway in NYC) a major artery within a city was closed - and congestion did _not_ increase in the long run. Counterintuitive, but they go into the reasons behind that phenomenon.

There was another good section on street design. More and more often you see new developments with 36-40 foot wide roads. These roads are so wide and safe for cars, and so unsafe for pedestrians that you see people speeding on them constantly because a) you CAN safely drive fast on such roads and b) the pedestrians have been scared away. This leads people to put in traffic calming measures like speed bumps to slow them down. Why not just start with a 20 or 26 foot wide street that's more pedestrian friendly and slows down vehicular traffic inherently? Leaves more room for people, parking and things like trees and hedges.


Some conclusions the book comes to:


Growth cannot be stopped; it never has been. The only hope is to shape it into a more benevolent form, the neighborhood.


The profit motive is not the problem with development. The best neighborhoods in America were built for profit.


Most issues are interrelated. Traffic, housing, schools, crime, and the environment can be successfully addressed only if taken together, within the context of the neighborhood.


Planners, developers and other professionals are specialists who, when left to themselves, tend to distort the issues. Only generalists can be trusted to offer reasonable high-level advice.


The role of the generalist must be played by citizens of the communities in question - but citizens can forfeit that role by becoming 'specialists of their own back yard.' A NIMBY is nothing more than a specialist who lacks formal training.

[ImGunnaJump 0]

I have to say I found this genuinely interesting because I fret over the sprawl, specifically the over-commercialzied sprawl. My friends laugh at me...I guess this is one thing they don't worry about.

But I came from a smallish town in Indiana and moved just 1 hour and 15mts. away to just outside Chicago, and the differences between the two use to be obvious. It use to be I'd go home and get a chance to "breathe" (not talking about air quality, but stress level). There were open farm fields and corner stores. Sure, you could get to a mall but you had to drive some distance.

I use to be annoyed by that until I didn't have to anymore because it all sprouted up in my old back yard.

Now, when I go home to see my parents it's worse than where I live now. There was no planning there. Every available farmer's field has been turned into either a new residential development or a Target, Walmart, Walgreen's and/or a strip mall with the obligatory TGI Friday's, Starbuck's, Payless Shoes, and Marshall's. I do love Starbucks caramel macchiato but....c'mon.

There's a stoplight every half block, it takes forever to get nowwhere fast. When you hear honking behind you, more times than not, when you look in the rearview mirror you see someone giving you the finger because you didn't block an intersection with your car to ensure they'd get through the light on this cycle. I'm getting a headache thinking about it.

Don't even get me started on the increase in crime. There use to be none, now the attractive new banks and stores are robbed with some regularity, along with the neighborhoods by them.

It just disturbs me that we've not only lost land to the strip malls, but also our collective community souls.

O.K. rant over.

You just hit a nerve with this thread -I'm going to be driving out by my parents tomorrow for business, and am dreading it already.

Edited to add: Since you made a note about Seaside and Kentlands in Kentucky, I looked them up.

They seem like ideal places - it would be interesting to know if any our DZ.comers have any personal experience with these communities.

"...I've learned that while the "needs" in life are important (food, water, shelter), it's the "wants" in life (ice cream, chocolate, sex) that make it worth the effort." Kbordson

[misskriss 0]

http://www.baldwinparkfl.com/web/community.asp

I'm wondering if this is the same type of community? We're possibly looking to buy here because it seems to really offer everything. The benefit of living in a suburban type neighborhood with the convenience of walking to grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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The benefit of living in a suburban type neighborhood with the convenience of walking to grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc.

That's key. There's a place called Kentlands in Maryland, near Gaithersburg, where they built these town homes and made a pedestrian-friendly downtown area right next to it with shops, movie theater, etc.

I've always said that stupid zoning laws (in which the residences are far away from shops etc) has caused obesity, air pollution, and increased gasoline consumption.

Speed Racer
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[DJL 232]

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http://www.baldwinparkfl.com/web/community.asp

I'm wondering if this is the same type of community? We're possibly looking to buy here because it seems to really offer everything. The benefit of living in a suburban type neighborhood with the convenience of walking to grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc.

That's a planned community. I must now stop writing or else I'll launch into a rant that ends in the conclusion that the only thing missing is huge rocket engines to launch the entire thing into outer space since its inhabitants obviously have no desire for anything that is real or natural. Don't buy there. You'll think it's good at first, then you'll realize that you're in the twilight zone.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[billvon 2,380]

>I'm wondering if this is the same type of community?

Yep. Much of the planning the book discusses is oriented around "traditional neighborhood development" principles. It follows many of the principles the authors describe - pedestrian-oriented layout, mixed zoning etc. You'd have to look a bit closer to see if they follow the remainder of the guidelines, like street sizing, eyes-out design etc.

One of the pluses of such design (beyond the obvious 'livability' aspects') is that property in communities like these sells for 25-40% more than similar properties in nearby sprawl communities. So it can be a good investment if done early in the process.