A modification in tax law fifty years ago completely altered a well planned concept to create vibrant urban centers.
There is a tendency in America to "wax nostalgic for the traditional downtown," but traffic and single-use zoning have long since precluded the creation of vibrant mixed-use urban centers. Fifty years ago, Victor Gruen designed a "fully enclosed, introverted, multitiered, double-anchor-tenant shopping complex with a garden court under a skylight" as a response to the chaos of American suburbia. Malls teach us, he once said, that its the merchants who will save our urban civilization. Planning isnt a dirty word to them; good planning means good business. Gruen thought of the mall as "the centerpiece of a carefully planned new downtown." But then the economics of land development changed the picture.
Thanks to Zvi Leve
Read the full story: The Terrazzo Jungle
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority