Generational Building
September 26th, 02007 by Kevin Kelly
Lisa Chamberblain writing in the New York Times in an article Planned City Rises Within a City in the Southwest reports on the work of Peter Calthorpe, an urban architect who has long advocated mixed use, green sensibilities, and a long-now perspective. (I used to rent the lower half of Peter’s houseboat in Sausalito when I first moved to California.) Calthorpe has been designing a new city, Mesa del Sol, to be developed organically over time. The plans include functions to create jobs and develop civic infrastructure. Picture above is one of six sound studios which are among the first buildings to be built — for jobs. One of the directors of the emerging city has a nice quote;
“There should be a different word for this model of development,” said Mark Lautman, director of economic development for Mesa del Sol. “Developers with a five-year timeline come in, throw up some buildings, then get out. This is like building a city from scratch. We call this generational development.”
October 4th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
This and similar community building projects are very exciting. One of my first thoughts, however, is about just how diversified these communities can really be. I have seen other New Urbanist communities here in Colorado, like Stapleton (http://www.stapletondenver.com/) and Prospect (http://www.prospectnewtown.com/), and they really are gorgeous and innovative places; but the hard truth is, they are veeeerrrry WHITE (if not exactly in color, in culture). Part of what I love about REAL urban living is the diversity. I love the fact that I can walk around in downtown Denver or ride the buses in San Francisco and know that I am going to be in very close proximity with people who are very different from me. I can see so many more manifestations of human nature in these places than I ever did when I lived in sheltered communities like Boulder.
I believe that part of the reason so many people love these new communities is the fact that they know they can live in places where there are more people like them, and that makes people feel safe and more open to being close with their neighbors. But is that real community, or is it just creating another microcosm, separate unto itself?
The overall concept of these places is truly laudable. I can stand behind a lot of what’s being created here, but what I could REALLY stand behind is some think tanking about creating real community that can bridge a wider span of culture. It’s a complicated problem, I know, and I don’t have any ready solutions, but come on.. let’s all start thinking about it!