How Sprawl's Zombie Remains Prohibit Lively Places
Zoning codes, street standards, parking regulations, and other hidden determinants of the built environment are like regulatory zombies from the distant past, throwing up barriers in the path of human-scale placemaking, writes Robert Steuteville.
Land once slated for housing returned to agricultural uses in the DC suburbs. Cities surpassing suburbs in growth. Automobile use declines while transit use rises. "Clearly, something fundamental has changed," observes Steuteville.
It may seem like sprawl is dead, but according to Steuteville, "Sprawl has never been entirely market-driven - it's also an act of will on the part of the housing and finance industries, the regulators who establish the codes, the highway lobby, and departments of transportation. Even after sprawl is dead in the market, these forces can keep it going for a long time."
"Placemaking lives," counters Steuteville. "That is the real future."
Thanks to Rob Steuteville
Full Story:
Published on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 in
- Mapping the Tools of Discrimination
- Overcoming Density Opponents by Listening to Them
- San Diego, Marin County Heading the Opposite Direction on Housing Policy
- It's Too Hot to Fly in Phoenix Today
- Surveying the Suburban Office Market
- Google to Buy 300 Modular Apartments for Employees
- No Cars Allowed on Portland's New Street
- Urine Trouble: MARTA Station Elevators to Get Pee Alarms
- Brewing Can Ferment Growth in Towns and Neighborhoods in Need of a Lift
- America's 1970s Bike Boom
- April FHWA Report Shows Americans Continue to Drive More
- Controversy Over Proposed Zoning Changes for Philly's Delaware Waterfront
- An Expanding Vision for San Francisco's Treasure Island
- Prop. 13 Will Blunt the Property Tax Windfall as Boomers Transfer Property to Millennials
- Evidence of Softening Rental Markets
- Seattle Adds Bus Capacity to Accommodate Amazon Interns
- New Tallest Building West of the Mississippi Now Open
- Tri-Cities Emerging as a Solar Demonstration Hub for the Pacific Northwest
- Business Owners Vote to Fund Sacramento Streetcar Operations
- The New Apple Store in Chicago Looks a lot Like a Laptop
