A contingent of California New Urbanists arranged a special trip on Amtrak's California Zephyr in two vintage railcars to the Congress for New Urbanism in Denver. High-level discussion ensued.
Riders included William Lind of the Free Congress Foundation (a conservative supporter of rail expansion); Howard Blackson, a planner with Placemakers in San Diego; and John Anderson, of Anderson and Kim in Chico, California.
"Monday afternoon, as the train climbed the Sierra Nevada mountains, talk turned to the future of commercial real estate, and how it seems to be following housing off the value boom cliff. A consensus was reached: that small would be the new big. Developer Robert Davis, who one could say lit the fuse on New Urbanism almost thirty years ago as the developer of Seaside, Florida, mentioned that their plans for larger retail on the square of Seaside were bring amended. The residents prefer the small, shabbier buildings there now, and so the town elders have decided instead to allow small vendors in airstream trailers to gather picturesquely downtown."
Read the full story: The Choo-Choo Diaries: A ‘Salon In Motion’ On The California Zephyr
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