EcoDensity

As an urbanist concerned about global warming and a whole host of other issues that face our country I think about how decisions at the city planning level play a role in either mitigating or exacerbating these problems.

I believe that densifying our city neighborhoods that are currently zoned single-family is the planning challenge of the next century. The reason this will be so challenging is because it confronts what has become considered a tenet of the American dream: single-family home ownership.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the issue of sustainability and ecological footprint calls into question whether single-family housing is a way of living which the planet can handle in the long run. On the other hand I'm not a big fan of skyscraper living either. I think the future of the world lies in mid-level high rise. Getting middle America to see mid-rise condominium living as the new American dream may seem like a pipe dream now, but with the resurgence of city living I don't think it's an impossibility. Post-war Federal legislation helped create the single-family living as an integral part of the American dream and I think that if a progressive Congress is elected with a Progressive president in the next election cycle it's possible for Congress to make higher density living a part of the future American dream within a comprehensive global warming legislation package.

Vancouver, BC's Mayor Sam Sullivan calls this Ecodensity.

In the end maybe I should just move to Vancouver and forget all the pretty talk.

Blue Star Corner

When I first heard about Blue Star Corner at a Green Building presentation a few weeks ago I was pretty skeptical. Any developer worth his/her starch can make a cardboard box look like a Spanish villa in a presentation. And while, in the photos and drawings, Blue Star Corner looked pretty cool I was luke warm about its location, access to transit, and overall ability to make Emeryville, CA look like Amsterdam. Photos

I've been back to visit three times since then and each time I've been there the project has grown on me. I've always liked the facade changes that make each house at least somewhat unique from the others. At this point the best part of the entire development is not that it is LEED for homes Certified but its landscaping. The bird houses are a stroke of genius.

Whenever you visit a development a development the question you should ask after you leave is: would I want to live there? I'm not convinced that my answer would be yes. If Blue Star Corner was located closer to accessible transit I would be there in a second. Obviously a development like this that is closer to transit would increase its retail price by between $100,00-200,000 at least, which would put it well beyond my means.

What would new developments look like if this architectural paradigm replaced the current style of boxy, industrial, condo development? I'm not sure. It's probably not dense enough for my taste and doesn't allow aging-in-place for elderly residents. But I think it's a marked improvement from many of the developments currently being build in the East Bay. Not that their terrible but this is a cut above.

Now if we could only change the name...