I was looking at his plans for the five neighborhoods that sought his help, and I was struck by how he and his team incorporated Beltline infrastructure (which is to say, proposed Beltline infrastructure) into the plans as if it were a done deal.

(In particular, I’m referring to plans for Boulevard Crossing in southeast Atlanta, below Grant Park. You can see Duany’s proposal on the Web site of the Atlanta Regional Commission, which invited him to Atlanta).

My point isn’t to drag down the Beltline. I live about three blocks from the Beltline and sometimes I fantasize about boarding the streetcar proposed for my section.

What I’m saying is, have we reached the point where we can really take it for granted that the Beltline is going to happen?

Or is it that the nine-day charrette Duany presided over in February, and the plans he produced for Boulevard Crossing, Toco Hills and three other neighborhoods are all so theoretical in nature that we might as well heap the Beltline on top?

In a previous post, I mentioned the $300,000 the developers spent to bring Duany to the ARC event. I really hope he didn’t come as part of some theoretical exercise.

But most people in Atlanta, myself included, have little first-hand knowledge of the Beltline. It’s right beneath our noses but access is restricted or available via a bus tour (for the weekly Beltline tours).

Folks like Angel Poventud are trying to make people more aware of the Beltline. But I’m guessing in most people’s minds, not to mention in just plain reality, it’s a remote possibility. So can we really include it in other development plans as though it’s a done deal?

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Photo credit: /\/\ichael Patric|{ via Flickr

In an effort to reduce traffic and improve connectivity, Virginia earlier this year said it would only maintain “new subdivision streets that meet its connectivity, road and sidewalk requirements,” according to a story in the Washington Post.

The story continues, “That’s a big stick, because unlike in Maryland and most other states, the Transportation Department maintains and plows almost all of Virginia’s roads, including streets with as few as three homes.”

New urbanists such as Duany, who was quoted in the WaPo article, say cul-de-sacs increase traffic on so-called “collector” roads because there’s no other exit for people who live in such developments. No backroads. Duany mentioned the law during a workshop Thursday sponsored by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Virginia says homes arranged around cul-de-sacs are de facto private developments that the state should not have to maintain.

Oh we are living in interesting times!

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As I mentioned, Duany was back in Atlanta today to wrap up an Atlanta Regional Commission project on lifelong communities.

He led a nine-day charrette in February at the request of officials in Conyers, Toco Hills and other neighborhoods in the metro area to help the communities adjust to the demands of an aging population. The towns that participated in the Lifelong Communities charrette have found that their existing housing for senior citizens, existing transportation systems and the current orientation of commercial amenities are no longer a good fit.

I will have more to say about Duany’s visit to the Atlanta Regional Commission today but I want to quickly throw a few thoughts out there.

Duany’s not the only one who has said the recession is an opportunity to take a break from the type of development that has dominated, and give careful thought to re-making our communities so they actually serve all of their residents – not just all of their cars.

But he drove the point home today to a group of people who may have to listen: planners and officials from area communities who know their residents are aging and know that they cannot serve these constituents properly anymore.

In introducing Duany, Kathryn Lawler of the ARC said, “We have to re-invent what it means to get older. While this unprecedented longevity [of life] has occurred, we’ve continued to build. We’ve done all of this investment, every bit of it, without thinking about growing older. So most of us have to move.”

Picking up on the theme of unchecked growth, Duany said Atlanta has had a reputation for being progressive, and by progressive he meant not hesitating to dive head-first into any kind of development, constantly moving out, building things that don’t go together, etc.

“Plans don’t stay on the shelf here,” he told an audience of about 75 people. “Many of the plans you’ve been implementing have not been very good ones. “

He continued, “You could argue that Charleston – where all plans stay on the shelf – has had a better outcome, a more walkable downtown.”

One of my concerns is that Duany’s suggestions – which include ways to retrofit Gwinnett Place Mall and decrease congestion in Toco Hills – will themselves stay on the shelf.

I mean, that he spent nine days with area officials in February and returned again this week doesn’t mean all that much. People spend lots of time doing many things, only to change their minds and abandon ship.

But he was paid to be here. And who paid him? The developers involved with projects in the five communities in question – Boulevard Crossing at the Beltline; Mableton in Cobb County; Conyers; Toco Hills; and Fayetteville – contributed a total of $300,000 to pay for the charrette, said Grace Trimble, a spokeswoman for the ARC.

That means while they are not bound to follow Duany’s suggestions, they have something to lose if they don’t.

“They have skin in the game,” Trimble said.

Duany and other New Urbanists seek to recapture some of the building motifs of the past by designing communities where retail and residential mix, where there’s common greenspace for residents and where transit is seemlessly integrated. A local example is Glenwood Park in southeast Atlanta.

To see the solutions he proposed for the five communities, take a look here.

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Duany will be appearing in connection with the agency’s Lifelong Communities initiative. He visited in February when he helped devise plans for nine communities in Atlanta to re-design public and residential spaces in a way that would be more convenient for the aging citizens.

Anyhoo, here are the details of his visit from the Atlanta Regional Commission:

Who: Andres Duany, founder of internationally recognized planning firm Duany, Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) will return to Atlanta next week to present the findings from February’s design charrette for creating Lifelong Communities to the Atlanta Regional Commission board and other local officials. The charrette produced a set of principles that articulate how communities must be planned and designed to meet the needs of the nation’s rapidly growing older population.

When: Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Schedule: 10 a.m. to noon — Workshop with local elected officials and planning directors on how communities can be retrofitted to become Lifelong Communities

1 p.m. – Formal presentation of the Lifelong Communities Principles and other findings from the charrette to the ARC board

1:30 – 4:30 p.m. – Discussions with development teams from the six sites about specific site challenges, opportunities and strategies for implementation

Where: The Loudermilk Center for the Regional Community, 40 Courtland St., in downtown Atlanta.

More info: Duany and 18 architects and planners from DPZ spent nine days in the region in February leading a charrette that created concept plans for six specific sites in the region – Boulevard Crossing on the Atlanta Beltline, downtown Conyers, Fayetteville, Mableton, the Toco Hills neighborhood and Gwinnett Place Mall. During the charrette, experts in transportation, housing, accessibility, health and active living shared their knowledge with the design team. The group examined a wide range of issues focusing on how to provide the housing and transportation options, access to basic and preventive healthcare and opportunities for social interaction and physical activity that older adults need to lead active and engaged lives. The combined knowledge of this diverse and talented group not only created master plans for the sites, but developed core principles to support a regional plan for creating Lifelong Communities.

Why: Current development patterns will not meet the needs of a rapidly changing population characterized by fewer households with children, more individuals who do not drive, more who no longer want to mow the lawn or deal with steps and more looking for services and opportunities for social interaction within their neighborhood. The rapid growth in metro Atlanta’s older adult population demands new and diverse housing options, transportation alternatives and community designs that promote active living. The Lifelong Communities Principles can serve as a guide as local governments work to revise their codes and development policies to meet the needs, preferences and changing lifestyles of their residents as the population grows older.

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Credit: Dean Terry via Flickr

Andrés Duany will be back in Atlanta on June 24 to wrap up an Atlanta Regional Commission project on lifelong communities.

Duany, a noted New Urbanist and a principal in the architecture firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., came to Atlanta in February at the request of officials in Conyers, Toco Hills and other neighborhoods in the metro area to help the communities adjust to the demands of an aging population.

Duany and other New Urbanists seek to recapture some of the building motifs of the past by designing communities where retail and residential mix, where there’s common greenspace for residents and where transit is seemlessly integrated. A local example is Glenwood Park in southeast Atlanta.

Here in the capitol of sprawl, Duany pulled no punches when he presented his findings at the nine-day workshop in February. Indeed, some of what he said was fairly controversial by Atlanta standards.

For example, he said, “If Decatur is great, it’s only in the absence of anything better.”

The towns that participated in the Lifelong Communities charette have found that their existing housing for senior citizens, existing transportation systems and the current orientation of commercial amenities are no longer a good fit for its citizens as they age.

Duany presented some amazing solutions for some of the suburban areas, where seemingly nothing, nothing is oriented around casually walking from your home to a shop or a park or work. Take a look here at the proposed re-designs.

And as I said, he had some choice words for Atlanta officials.

For example, “Here in Atlanta, you people can’t put two good blocks together. You have too much parking in surface lots.”

I could go on….and will:

“We don’t walk for the hell of it. We walk to meaningful destinations. We are so starved for walkability.”

“The grid is a machine that deals with congestion.”

“Suburbia is full of false choice…[because] 50 percent of the population does not drive.”

“Every subdivision is a monoculture [single-use].”

And now for the last Andrés Duany quote of the day: “The only way we can preserve nature is when we live in dense urban developments that we love.”

I’m waiting for the exact details of Duany’s visit from the ARC, and as soon as I have them, I will post them.

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