Calling for a New Development Pattern

As the population booms, the need for housing and development will become even greater over the next 20 years. Many are arguing for a shift away from the cookie-cutter land use patterns of the past.

1 minute read

February 21, 2008, 8:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg

"Sales of new homes fell by 26 percent last year, and the market shows no sign of rebounding anytime soon. Despite the situation we find ourselves in today, by 2030 the United States will need, according to the Brookings Institution, approximately 427 billion square feet of built space to accommodate population growth projections."

"In planning for that need, why not think beyond the formulaic subdivisions that threaten to turn our once architecturally varied landscape into indiscernible swaths of cookie-cutter sameness (aptly described in a National Geographic article on the new American metropolis as the 'theme-parking, megachurching, franchising, exurbing, McMansioning of America')?"

"There's time to step back and observe what rampant (over)development has wrought in places like Orlando, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Why not reconsider how communities are designed? Instead of focusing on how much housing can be built (and how big each house can be), why not reflect on how a house could better serve the people who live in it?"

"If something isn't working, isn't now a good time for a little R&D?"

FULL STORY: Is Your House Making You Look Fat?

Monday, February 18, 2008 in The New York Times

Housing Social / Demographics Urban Development United States

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