Philip Bess makes the case for building a permanent community of Benedictines in the new urbanist resort.
"Seaside's makers appear mindful of sacred order, acknowledged explicitly in two ways. Scott Merrill's neo-American-Carpenter-Gothic Seaside Chapel ("non-denominational") and bell tower-a finely crafted Protestant-cum-Modernist sacred building, abstract but true to type-terminates Seaside's main north-south axis and fronts a public green; and there are plans for a cemetery just east of the Chapel, which when realized will do much to make Seaside's grounding in sacred order more visible. But Seaside still is not a day-to-day town, rather a resort town populated by a handful of permanent residents and many tourists. It remains at best a project that aspires to the fullness of urban culture and place."
"What would bringing Benedictines to Seaside accomplish?" Bess argues, "[t]he main achievement would be a permanent worshipping community in Seaside, the effect of which would be to animate Seaside's currently understated acknowledgement of the sacred order within which Seaside exists."
Thanks to Robert Steuteville
FULL STORY: A monastery for Seaside
The Health of Cities Depends on Place-Based Development More than Big Projects
Cities take a physical form that either supports or is stressful to people outside of a moving vehicle or building. Witold Rybczynski, in his critique of New Urbanism, forgets that lesson.
Book Review: Visions of Seaside
A new anthology tells the story of Seaside like we've never heard it before–on its own terms.
The Unbuilt Origins of Seaside
Seaside, Florida is well known as the proving grounds for new urbanism, the place where Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk made a development into a town. Dhiru Thadani documents the early experiments and unbuilt designs in a new book.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
