Chuck Wolfe revisits five instances of how we can learn from the urbanism we already have.
Writing in The Huffington Post, Chuck Wolfe describes five instances of urban conduct—or “teaching moments”—framed by common sense, ingrained patterns, readily adapted to best practices by watchful eyes. In the remainder of the article, he describes how to capture such common sense portraits of the urban environment for later use, and why. Among his conclusions:
Inadvertence as a First Principle of Urbanism
Allow people small stages in urban settings, through spaces that shine a light on colorful moments like these.
Cities: Where Children Learn to Fly
Seattle's Volunteer Park displays how an urban open space can become a theater for display of simple, yet universal, human hopes and dreams.
Clarifying Urban Property Rights, Without Effort
In today's shareable city, some forms of property are difficult for many people to surrender to chance. A leftover holiday lawn ornament--a likely award winner in a conjectural "you can't make this stuff up" competition--restates Wolfe's argument from his book, Urbanism Without Effort, that the urbanism we already have is often the best urbanism of all.
Activating Common Sense in The City
In conclusion, Wolfe revisits traditional and interventionist forms of the "sit-able city". As he emphasizes:
There is often nothing new in common sense human endeavors, planned or otherwise. What will work going forward is, very simply, often what has worked before.
FULL STORY: Looking Behind the Common Sense Elements of City Life
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.
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