New Urbanism trend

By John A. Dutton Skira Architecture Library, Milano 2000. 223 pp., Softcover: $29.95. Just a cursory glance at this book reveals that John Dutton has put together a worthy successor to Peter Katz’ seminal The New Urbanism, published seven years ago. The illustrations alone — color and black and white photos, project plans, regional plans, renderings — make this volume an essential catalogue of current new urbanist practice.

The number of neighborhood-scale projects in planning and under construction tops 300 for the first time, and 31 new projects began construction in 2000. Since New Urban News began publishing an annual survey of traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) in 1996, the number of projects has soared while the annual growth on a percentage rate basis has gradually slowed. The slowing trend may be a blessing in disguise. At a much higher rate of expansion, it would likely be harder for new urbanist projects to maintain a reasonable level of quality in planning and construction.

In recent newspaper and magazine articles, new urbanist communities have been compared to Mayberry and the settings of Leave it to Beaver and Anne of Green Gables. This is not a recent trend: nostalgic, sometimes sinister, pop culture references ranging from It’s a Wonderful Life to The Stepford Wives have always been a part of the New Urbanism coverage.

New award highlights second generation of the New Urbanism. Attention architects, developers, and planners: CNU's inaugural Charter Awards want your best work. With its distinguished jury, the award represents CNU's attempt to “raise the bar” on design in the New Urbanism. Unlike 1999's Catherine Brown Awards, The Charter Awards are specifically focused on how well projects fulfill the Charter of the New Urbanism. The contest is open to projects at any scale, be it region, neighborhood, block, or building.

Change in land use practice takes time. It is frustrating to watch an innovative development move forward at a glacial pace, or to see a handful of municipalities adopt new urbanist planning codes — while knowing that mixed-use neighborhoods remain illegal in thousands of other communities. Watching a flower bloom is excruciatingly slow in real time but wonderful with the aid of time-lapse photography.

The Denver/Boulder region is rapidly emerging as the metropolitan area with the largest concentration of new urbanist communities. Someone looking to move to a newurbanist community in the next few years could find an abundance of choices below the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. From the dense urbanism of the Commons Neighborhood in downtown Denver to the greenfield village of Prospect in Longmont, the new communities cover the entire scale of the Transect.

The ever-growing new urbanist movement brings in new voices for four days of intense discussion. What does it take to keep the momentum? CNU 2000, “The Politics of Place,” drew a record 1,500 architects, planners, activists, government officials, and developers to what may have been the meatiest Congress yet. There was an overriding sense that the movement has matured to the point that it is dealing with the implications of success, such as gentrification, while continuing to challenge the status quo of architecture, planning, regulation, and development.

CNU 2000 in Portland, Oregon, draws a record crowd of 1,400. Developers, public officials, representatives from nonprofit community development corporations and municipal planners came to Portland in large numbers and made the eighth annual Congress for the New Urbanism conference the biggest ever. Public and private sector developers especially accounted for much of the 40 percent rise in attendance, according to CNU executive director Shelley Poticha. CNU began eight years ago as an exclusive group of architects and urban planners.

For years, CNU members in various parts of the country have urged us to work more on the local level. We have generally demurred out of concern that we would end up spending all our time on local issues and neglect the big picture. Our new Regional Partnerships program will allow us to focus on local areas as case studies while remaining true to our larger mission. Starting as soon as we hire a project leader, we will be developing partnerships with local activists and governments in three initial regions: Boise, Idaho; the Sierra Nevadas of California; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The presidential campaign has made livable communities, smart growth, and New Urbanism the talk of the nation. Amidst the concern over sprawl, the nation’s leading professionals and activists — members of the CNU — will convene in Portland, Oregon, June 15-18 for our eighth annual Congress. The widespread attention should make CNU 2000: The Politics of Place the best-attended Congress to date. Growth is coming of age as a national issue.