The City After Cheap Gas
In Boston for a conference, Mary Newsom reflects on the lessons that Sun Belt cities can take from historic cities like Cambridge to prepare for the future.
"It's cosmic irony of a sort that the cities most adapted to thrive in 21st-century America may well be our oldest. And those likely to have the toughest time adapting are new – Sun Belt metropolises such as Charlotte, which grew to cityhood in an era of auto travel, air-conditioning and exuberant suburban building.
As I love to do, I spent time last week just walking the old brick sidewalks of this pre-Colonial city across the Charles River from Boston. Although cars make life easier in Cambridge, you don't really need one, and the excellent regional transit system – buses, subways and commuter rail – isn't the only reason. Almost every street has a sidewalk. Cambridge manages to stay bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly despite sometimes heavy traffic. Equally important, there's an old-fashioned mix of stores and housing, so you really can dash out for a loaf of bread or take-out Thai and be home in 10 or 15 minutes. Apartment buildings and houses split into two or three condos sit close together, sprinkled among single-family homes.
Like many older U.S. cities, Cambridge was built in an era when land was treated as precious and wasn't routinely wasted on half-acre lawns or “buffers.” It's compact and transit-friendly."
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
- Public Market to Open Over Big Dig - Dec 02, 2011
- New MIT Data Analysis Tool Aims To Rationalize Planning - Oct 04, 2011
- New MIT Data Analysis Tool Aims To Rationalize Planning - Aug 04, 2011
- The Importance of Quality Streetscapes - Jan 19, 2011
- The Missed Aerotropolis - Nov 03, 2010

















