“Uncontrolled cell growth in the human body is called cancer.  Uncontrolled growth in our cities is called sprawl, the “cancer” that destroys our social fabric.”  -James W. Wood

Urban growth since the development of the automobile has created congested, grid locked, socially disruptive communities.  If we take a look at historical towns and ways in which planners designed the first communities they were often designed around a town center, a place where social gatherings occurred.  Communities back then were socially strengthened by this philosophy and by the fact that the town was pedestrian friendly.  Before the invention of the automobile, forms of transportation consisted of walking or by horse and carriage.   The invention and development of the automobile created an increasingly high-speed traffic society with street design geared towards the automobile.  This brings us to today where planners are constantly struggling with designing a livable and walkable city.  Creating safer streets for pedestrian use, and nodes with mixed-uses, provide spaces where people can socially interact and the use of the automobile is kept to a minimum.  This is the design philosophy of those who defend the New Urbanism.

Peter Calthorpe, Andres Duany, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are all supporters of the New Urbanism.  Suburbs today are constantly suffering from congestions due to decentralization of the workplace and in an attempt to solve this problem Peter Calthorpe presents to us the “pedestrian pocket – a balanced, mixed-use area within a quarter mile of a five minute walking radius of a transit station.  Functions within this zone include housing, offices, retail, day care, recreation and parks.”  These pockets support light rail systems that are environmentally sensitive and pedestrian friendly. 

Emphasis on the front porch;
De-emphasis on the garage.