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The Difficulty With Implementing Planning Ideals

Posted by: Paul Shigley

10 August 2007 - 6:00am

New urbanist designs can be beautiful in the hands of experts, but the developer's version of idealistic plans may be something else altogether, says Morris Newman, who examines the design of a 500-acre project in Fresno.

"The new urbanist village, in the hands of artists like Peter Calthorpe or Stefanos Polyzoides, is often a handsome design. Owing something to the traditions of the French Ecole des Beaux Arts, these designs set up a hierarchy of bigger spaces and major avenues that are broken down into smaller spaces and smaller streets."

"In the builder vernacular version of the urban village, such as the 493-acre Fancher Creek project in southeast Fresno, the site plan would not end up under glass on your wall, unless you were a land developer or a home builder. Elegant it is not."

Still, Newman concludes the design isn't all bad and Fancher Creek could become a decent mixed-use neighborhood.

Full Story: Idealistic Planning Meets Real World In Fresno Project
Source: California Planning & Development Report, August 7, 2007
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