One of the hottest trends in developing today is a form of revamping or retrofitting existing communities to become more sustainable for the future. Many of the neighborhoods went from abandoned and run down areas, to pedestrian accessible, biker friendly, and overall sustainable models of development.
By revamping the formerly decayed city of Columbia Heights in Washington D.C., not only illustrates the intimate dance between urban design and architecture, but also created an efficient and well refreshed mixed-use city. Columbia Heights was always ideal for this type of development but the riots caused by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, left many of the building destroyed and subsequently left vacant. There are four main buildings which primarily make up this project which play a major role in the reshaping of the neighborhood as a whole. One of the mix-use planning techniques includes using the buildings help create a triangular civic plaza as well as secondary public plaza at the entrances to the Metro. This not only creates access to public transit, but also draws people into the economic core of the city. The development of the plaza also allows for a more biker and pedestrian friendly environment as well as sidewalk access such a sidewalk seating. The open space created by the revamping of crystal city provides green space and recreation as well as condenses the commercial part of the city enhancing the pedestrian friendly environment that provides for an overall more sustainable type of city.
A future example of this type of retrofitting is in Crystal City, a suburb of Washington D.C. in northern Virginia. By 2050, Crystal City in Arlington, VA would like to become and completely sustainable, high-density, mixed-use type city. Arlington County found an opportunity to transform a problematic urban center with a solid base of office, retail, hotel, and residential uses and in the process correct the mistakes of the past. So far, this plan has been approved and includes such land use changes as shaping well-defined public streets that provide equally for traffic as well as pedestrians and also creating high quality public parks that are accessible to all. The plan also calls for the establishment of a fully integrated and easily accessible multi-modal transit system that links neighborhoods and communities within the Planning Area and the greater metropolitan region. Not only does Crystal City allow provide a much higher density and pedestrian-friendly type of neighborhood, it also connects to a major city most easily via public transit, therefore remedying the harms of sprawl and creating an overall more sustainable city from the inside out.
Both of these revamped planning techniques are beginning to start a trend at the local level that subsequently affects planning positively for the country as a whole. Since some of the most important environmental movements come about at the local level, though this type of planning seems small, it could just be the spark that leads to the sustainability revolution in this country.
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I recently visited a website that talked of a large scale development. On a land area of 1,100 acres a project o a traditional neighborhood, know as Baldwin Park, is to develop on the site of a former military training base in Orlando, Florida. The development process dramatically transformed an environmentally stressed brownfield site into a thriving, green, sustainable neighborhood. This project was one of the world's largest demolition, recycling, and environmental remediation projects. In total 256 buildings, 200 miles of underground utilities, and 25 miles of roads were dismantled, yielding 600,000 tons of concrete, 80,000 tons of asphalt, and 240,000 tons of limerock. The cleaned concrete rubble was crushed on site for use in new roadbeds and other projects, literally creating mountains of material visible from miles away. This on-site recycling also saved an estimated 30,000 dump truck trips to the landfill. The development was aimed at attracting people and wildlife and includes 4,400 residential units and over 450 acres of open and green space. The developer also made a concerted effort to preserve and enhance the existing mature tree assets on the site. More than 100 live oaks, laurel oaks, and other large specimens were successfully transplanted, and over 4000 new street trees have been planted. Instead of developing valuable lakefront land into executive homesites, the shorelines of the largest lakes were transformed into a park system for the enjoyment of the public. The park features a popular waterfront trail, a small amphitheater, and wooden docks gazebos. Non-native vegetation has been removed from the shoreline, and new plantings that are attractive to wildlife are taking hold. The two large lakes were reconnected to one another, resulting in improved water quality for both. The development provides Florida and other states a fine example of housing, shops, job centers and other uses combined in an energy-efficient, walkable and popular development. The project has stimulated significant reinvestment in nearby commercial and residential areas that were once supported by military personnel.
ReplyDeleteIf it were up to me, I would advocate mixed use zoning everywhere there wasn't agriculture or protected national parks, I consider it more efficient way of doing things. When you have an infrastructure that allows where you live to be in close proximity to where you work and play, you will have done urbanism right. I would like to see a lot more of this kind of thing happening everywhere else in the country. It would not be that hard to do, one way you can increase mixed use zoning is by building apartment complexes on top of already existing shopping centers (like shopping malls) so that people will be able to live on the 3rd floor and go grocery shopping on the 1st floor of the building that they live in.
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