Web Sites
“About Sprawl-Busters;” http://www.sprawl-busters.com/aboutsb.html,
1/23/00
This web site discusses the “Sprawl-Busters.” This is a group
of people who are against large-scale developments and the creation of
very large stores. Sprawl-Busters consists of volunteers who provide
strategic planning, field operations, electoral campaigns, and special
events to prevent the increase and provide solutions to large-scale urbanism.
RCK
Benfield, Kaid; “Once There Were Greenfields,” http://www.nrdc.org/nrdc/nrdcpro/reports/tronce.html,
1/27/00
This article is about “how urban sprawl is undermining America’s Environment,
Economy, and Social Fabric.” The article focuses upon the expansion
of metropolitan areas, traffic, greenhouse gasses, and pollution associated
with current urban areas. The research also discusses landscapes
lost, the fiscal costs of sprawl, and ways to solve these problems.
RCK
“Carfree Cities: City Topology;” http://www.carfree.com/cfc_topol_qz.html,
1/21/00
This web site discusses the positives of getting rid of cars in a community.
This specific article talks about the design attributes relevant to the
topology of a new layout for a new city. It gives specific quantities
and units of land areas that should be distributed among the layout.
The article discusses the major advantages associated with each layout.
RCK
“Carfree Cities: Districts;” http://www.carfree.com/cfc_topol_qz.html,
1/25/00
This article discusses the options of different layouts of the district
associated with a community. If the new design were to work, certain
aspects of the article must be met before improvements were to be made.
The article states that “each district should have its own distinct character
and style of architecture, with a unique pattern of streets, squares, and
buildings.” RCK
“Center for Livable Communities;” http://www.lgc.org/clc/,
1/25/00
This web site is dedicated to improving communities. CLC stands
for Center for Livable Communities which “helps local governments and community
leaders be proactive in their land use and transportation planning.”
The web site discusses the events, publications, community image surveys,
etc, that CLC is in charge of in differing communities. RCK
“City Comforts;” http://www.citycomforts.com/intro.html,
1/24/00
This article is about a book available on suggestions about how to
improve the urban lives of today. The web site supports a book about
looking at the small things currently in city life and using these examples
to create new communities. It offers opinions on how to make a common
urbanities life more interesting and not so city-like. RCK
“Communities and Livelihoods;” http://iisd.ca/communities.htm,
1/24/00
This web site is dedicated to new approaches associated with changing
the ideas and attitudes of citizens to create an improvement in their communities.
IISD stands for The International Institute for Sustainable Development
which focuses upon creation of sustainable livelihoods and building on
existing community strengths. RCK
“European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign;” http://www.who.dk/healthy-cities/esctc.htm,
1/27/00
This web site is dedicated to the promotion of Local Agenda 21, mentioned
in the text. This program also supports the Council of European Municipalities
and Regions, Eurocities, WHO Healthy City Projects, International Council
for Local Environmental Initiatives, and United Towns Organization which
aim at creating sustainable towns and cities. RCK
“Land Use Planning;” http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/landuse/luintro.htm,
1/27/00
This web site contains information on land use planning. The
Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development attempts to create zoning
ordinances that create different areas for different functions within a
community. This program tries to create a community by these ordinances
which hopefully would sustain themselves in the future. RCK
“Statement of Values;” http://www.undp.org/info/discover/values.html,
1/24/00
This web page discusses the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
which aims at creating results in communities. The statement of values
shows how the UNDP staff gains results in communities by means of integrity,
respect, and hard work. This group states, “We affirm the dignity
and worth of the individual. We respect and value our diversity.”
RCK
“The International Environmental Agency for Local Governments;” http://www.iclei.org/about.htm,
1/26/00
This web site concerns the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI). This program focuses upon the “prevention and
solution of local, regional, and global environmental problems through
local action. This program consults with the United Nations to create
solutions to communities that are in trouble and in need of help.
RCK
“Walkable Communities;” http://www.walkable.org,
1/29/00
This web page provides information about presentations, walkable audits,
training courses, workshops, planning, and mediation in community disputes
over planning issues. The program is called Walkable Communities
in which any community can “become more walkable and pedestrian friendly.
The leaders of the group, Dan Burden and Lys Burden hire people from universities,
city governments, and firms for projects to create a more “walkable community.”
RCK
Wallace, Kiki. “Prospect New Town,” http://www.prospect-newtown.com/history.html,
1/23/00
This web site is about a new town being built in Longmont, Colorado.
This town is the answer to urban sprawl, according to the article.
The article compares the aspects of a new urban town to that of a typical
suburb. These aspects include the streets, shops, offices, services,
parks, houses, and logistics of the two areas. RCK
White, Robert; “Our Approach to Traffic Calming,” http://www.tlcnetwork.org/bobwhite.html,
1/26/00
This web site focuses upon traffic improvements in communities.
The ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act) places emphasis
on making roadway improvements. These improvements include making
roads safer and decreasing the amount of traffic located upon certain roads
in a community. The ISTEA also tries to create aesthetically pleasing
elements with their road designs that fit nicely into a community.
RCK
PlannersWeb: Planning Commissioner’s Journal; James Kuntsler “How To
Mess Up a Town,” http://www.webcom.com/%7Epcj/articles/kun068.html,
1/28/00
This is an article written by James Kuntsler for Plannersweb.com.
The focus of the article is on the degradation of his town Saratoga Springs,
New York. It explains how it was once a dense urban community with
mixed-use buildings and “had the character of a city in the country”.
He goes on to illustrate the examples of how it was destroyed by mass merchandising
superstores and their legions of parking stalls. It has a great little
piece exemplifying the stupidity of public officials. JRC
“OTTAWALK Association of Pedestrians and Walkers of Ottawa” http://www.ottawalk.org/pednet/oldftp/Newsletters/ottawalk29,
1/2700
Ottawalk gives the results and the numbers of what can happen when
city streets are not designed properly. The results of “walkers'
deaths account for almost one-third of the accident fatalities in Ottawa-Carleton.”
Another important item of the site was a chart ranking the number of users
in each sport or activity in Canada. Overall, this is more of a research
page that could provide some general information as to what percentages
of people do what activities. AKW
Serving and Guiding Growth: The Relationship Between Public Infrastructure
and Growth” http://www.martin.fl.us/GOVT/depts/gmd/sustain/article3.html,
1/27/99
This web site deals with the importance of infrastructure and how it
can be related to people’s everyday life. The article deals with
issues of increased population, requires for public services by the government.
Also, the site as tells how items such as sidewalk are purchased from taxes.
AKW
“Walkable/Livable Communities” http://www.walksacramento.org/livable.html
1/29/00
This site deals with the reason for having walk-able communities. “To
name a few-- our loss of a real sense of community; our loss of valuable
land to asphalt and concrete; the negative effects of traffic congestion
on trade and commerce; the large expense of owning, maintaining and insuring
a car; poor air quality; the effects on inner cities left behind by car-oriented
suburban developments; the detrimental effects on our health of choosing
driving over walking; the extra time spent waiting in traffic that could
be spent with family, a friend, walking for health or some other more rewarding
pursuit.” AKW
Books
Fodor, Eben; Better Not Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth
and Improve Your Community; New Society Publishers, Stoney Creek, CT; Copyright
1999
This book discusses the commonly held idea that population growth means
size growth. It discusses the hidden costs of growth like how developments
that add to the tax base put more strain on that tax base than they contribute.
The author states that there seems to be a complacent attitude that growth
is inevitable and it has to take on the form of suburban sprawl.
Because of the monotony suburban growth model a lot of citizens want to
avoid growth because of the lack of growth strategies. JRC
Kay, Jane Holtz; Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America
and How We can Take It Back; Crown Publisher, New York; Copyright 1997
Asphalt Nation is a compendium of complaints and critical thought on
the auto-centric mindset of today’s society. It examines the effects
of the automobile on many fronts including social well being, the environment,
and architecture. It highlights the effect the car has had on the
physical form of our habitat and the social consequences of these actions.
It talks about economic and social isolation and the consequences of “carchitecture”.
JRC
Kunstler, James Howard; The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline
of America’s Man-Made Landscape; Simon & Schuster, New York; Copyright
1993
Kunstler traces, from the nation's beginnings, the implications of
changing architecture styles; the manifestations of our extreme emphasis
on private-property rights and low regard for the public realm; and the
destruction that our car-centered life has visited on American communities
in general and certain profiled older towns and cities in particular. If
his attachment to the small towns of the past seems an insufficient answer
to the problems of the present and future, his depiction of those problems
is on target. And the author makes a persuasive case for convicting the
private automobile of a gamut of 20th-century ills: the Great Depression;
the death of the cities and of the family farm; the trashy consumerism
that has driven the economy since the end of WW II; voodoo economics; the
S&L crisis; and global environmental degradation. Summary taken
from Kirkus Reviews. JRC
Krier, Leon; Architecture & Urban Design 1967-1992; Academy Editions,
London; 1992
This book is about the classical architectural and urban design theories
of Leon Krier. He explains his idea of urban quarters. These
are kept at a diameter of no more than a ten-minute walk with retail and
community services at the center. He attacks the practice of functional
zoning and professes the virtues of mixed-use design. JRC
Bennett, Hon; Guild to Residential Planning and Design in Small Communities,
Ontario, Canada: Ministry of Housing, Mar. 1980.
Bennett discusses the design principals when designing a subdivision
and small community. The main importance of the book is its information
on regional parks, neighborhood, and community parks. The discussion
on open space deals with the “importance to the physical and social-being
of a community.” (Pg. 27) Bennett also deals with the open spaces and how
they need to be related to the overall master plan to ensure success.
AKW
Collins, Richard, and Waters, Elizabeth; “America's Downtown: Growth,
Politics & Preservation”
“Local policies that shape urban growth are critical to the future
of the American preservation movement. The authors sift through the
information generated from several studies, focusing on local growth policies
and preservation issues in 10 major cities across America, identifying
the most lessons each has learned. The cities studied are: Atlanta, Boston,
Cincinnati, Denver, Jersey, Philadelphia, Roanoke, St. Paul, San Francisco
and Seattle.” (Review from John Wiley & Sons) AKW
Gratz, Roberta; “The Living City : How America's Cities Are Being Revitalized
by Thinking Small in a Big Way”
“Gratz defines the phenomena of urban husbandry as the care, management
and preservation of the built environment nurtured by participatory planning
efforts of government, urban planners and average citizens. She dramatically
demonstrates that we can learn from the costly, overscaled, raze-and-build
urban renewal disasters of the past. Includes inspiring case histories
of determined people who their devastated neighborhoods.” (Review from
Amazon.com) AKW
Koetter, Fred and Rowe, Colin; Collage City Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, April 1984.
Colin and Koetter describe ideas of both the modern and traditional
cities put together. The writings deal with a different alternative
to New Urbanism and design. However, the support in the design is
somewhat lacking. AKW
Langdon, Philip; “A Better Place to Live: Reshaping the American Suburb”
Langdon offers a fascinating near-deconstruction of the American suburb,
arguing that at the "moment when the United States has become a predominately
suburban nation, the country has suffered a bitter harvest" of numerous
social ills. Is the suburb to blame, the very place so many go to escape
the problems of the day? Langdon recognizes that suburbs are certainly
not the only culprits, but does see them as creating and reinforcing a
sense of "distance" between people. He convincingly details the many problems
and stresses inherent in today's subdivision: long commutes, the exaggerated
costs of suburban living, a lack of central gathering places, and dictatorial
homeowner's associations, to name a few. Life in the suburbs, however,
is not irredeemable, and Langdon provides examples and suggestions for
living arrangements that lend themselves to true neighborhood and community.
A fine study of fragmentation, the American way. (Brian McCombie, Copyright
1994, American Library Association) AKW
Moe, Richard and Wilkie, Carter; “Rebuilding Community in the Age of
Sprawl”
America's preservation movement has long fought the destructive force
of so-called urban renewal, where highways and shopping malls rise up on
the rubble of former thriving downtowns. Now communities are in the fight
of their lives against urban sprawl- boundless that devours the countryside
and leaves cities and small towns in ruins-a fight that is as much about
preserving our civic as our landscape. (Review from Amazon.com) AKW
Parson, Kermit; “The Writings of Clarence S. Stein: Architect of the
Planned Community” Baltimore & London: Hopkins Press, 1998.
The Writings of Clarence S. Stein deal with a variety of issues.
The introduction gives a description of where and when he gained his education
experiences along with his back ground as a child. The book goes
on to explain his life designing as well as personal issues. Stein also
discusses his design of Radburn, NJ. “A Town for the Motor Age.” (pg. 341)
AKW
Stein, Clarence; Toward New Towns for America Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, Mar. 1966.
The purpose and direction of this book was to explore a “series of
experiences in community building to find guidance towards making the next
step in community design.” Stein took in to account both the United States
and Europe when research for information. The new towns needed to
consider size, separation, industry, and most important a suitable place
to live. AKW
Untermann, Richard; Accommodating the Pedestrian Seattle,
WA: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1984.
Untermann discusses the fact that American have “lost the ability to
walk.” Along with the lack of positive community design, he states
that “we cannot escape the ugliness of the roadways that lacerate the cities.”
Untermann discusses the fact that we have forgotten that we are pedestrians,
communities must be accessible, and our design standards must change.
AKW
