Fresh Loaf

Decatur Metro has the news!

On Thursday April 16th, New Urbanist extraordinare, Andres Duany, will open his three day SmartCode workshop in Decatur with a free talk about Smart Growth principles from 5:30p-8p at Holy Trinity Parish (515 E. Ponce de Leon Ave).

A book signing will follow the event.

Duany never disappoints, so come see what’s sure to be an entertaining romp through the principles and benefits of smart growth.

Entertaining, indeed. Duany recently envisioned five “senior living” sites in metro Atlanta as part of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Lifelong Communities Initiative. In typical Duany fashion, the acclaimed New Urbanist ended up re-imagining not just the sites, but the surrounding areas, as well. (He even threw a gentle jab at the walkable wonderland east of Atlanta.)

If you can attend this event, it’s worth it. All the details are at Decatur Metro’s site.

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Andres Duany

The Atlanta Regional Commission didn’t ask Andres Duany to envision a mixed-use design for Gwinnett Place Mall when he visited the region in February. But he did anyway.

He imagined how the stereotypical shopping box out in the wilds of suburbia would look should our economy collapse. Residents would have safety in numbers, gathered in dense housing. They could raze the single-family sameness surrounding them and plant crops. They could erect a wall to protect them from the barbarian hordes. Duany even included a moat. Because that’s how badass Duany is.

Last month, the smart-growth guru and father of New Urbanism converged upon Atlanta with a team of urban planners to conduct a nine-day series of site-planning sessions.

Duany’s team focused on five sites in metro Atlanta as part of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s initiative to prepare for the coming surge in the metro region’s aging population. In 2030, the commission says, one out of five adults in metro Atlanta will be over the age of 60. They’ll need a place to live. For people with limited mobility, the 40-story isolation towers we’ve stuck them in for the last few decades aren’t cutting it. The metro region’s sprawlish character isn’t hospitable for someone who can’t drive to the doctor, pharmacy or store. Simply put, the way things are right now, metro Atlanta isn’t prepared to accommodate many of the same people who helped build their communities.

Duany’s group aimed to see how the public and private sector can work together to change that. And for a wonk like me, it was a thrilling concept. After the jump, pretty pictures and lots of basic details.

(more…)

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1. East Atlanta neighbors stand up against crime (Ken Womack’s eavBuzz.net helps folks monitor their ‘hood — in real time.)

2. GDOT Commissioner Gena Evans fired (Chief of beleaguered transit agency later tells CL her sob story.)

3. Piedmont Park residents not cool with tunnels under Atlanta (But the rest of the city thinks they’re pretty awesome.)

4. Smart-growth guru smacks Atlanta (Andres Duany is to Atlanta what Toby Young is to overcooked fish.)

5. Strip-club arson case gets seamy (How could it not?)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Duany

Last week, acclaimed New Urbanist Andres Duany visited metro Atlanta to design several mixed-use sites for the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was deliciously brutal in his criticism.

“If Decatur’s great, it’s only in the absence of anything better.”

— Duany rips into the Atlanta neighborhood that the audience claims to be the most walkable.

“The only reason Atlanta isn’t mortified by its urban sprawl is because of its landscape. This the best-looking urban sprawl in the country.”

— Duany claims the region’s low-rolling hills help mask the dumb-growth.

“You have [massive parking decks] all over Atlanta. Who the hell wants to drive to the 15th floor? You feel like a loser even if you find a parking space.”

— Duany says the city’s parking decks should never be taller than five stories.

“Your streets are fantastically dangerous. And it isn’t the muggers. It’s the motorists used to driving fast.”

— Duany points out that the city isn’t safe for pedestrians.

Note: Now that I’ve been provided with maps and designs, I’ll be writing more later in the week about Duany’s presentation and plans. He’s got a lot of interesting ideas for metro Atlanta — Toco Hills and Grant Park, in particular.

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After months of behind-the-scenes coordination, the Atlanta Regional Commission can finally confirm celebrated New Urbanist Andres Duany’s project for metro Atlanta.

In early February, Duany and a team of town planners from his Duany Plater-Zyberk firm will hold a nine-day series of charrettes to design five sites in the metro region aimed at retrofitting communities — a proactive move to accommodate the growing population of aging metro Atlantans.

If that sounds like a ho-hum project for a town planner commonly called the “father of New Urbanism,” think more long-term. By 2030, according to the commission, one out of five people living in metro Atlanta will be over the age of 55. And the auto-dependent, subdivision existence that is metro Atlanta doesn’t bode well for those residents in terms of housing, transportation and quality of life.

Members of Duany’s team will set up shop in the commission’s downtown headquarters, hear input from stakeholders, and assemble and present its preliminary vision for five chosen sites — Toco Hills in DeKalb County, the Grant Park area along the Beltline, Mableton, Fayetteville and Conyers. Think of the process as Jackson Pollock meets urban planning.

Funding for the charrettes is provided by the American Association of Retired Persons, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Kathryn Lawler, the commission’s project manager, says the initiative is a first and could have national implications for how sprawl-ravaged regions can adapt to a population that’s living longer — and deserving of the right to move about the world like its younger counterparts.

(Photo courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company)

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The Atlanta Regional Commission is keeping mum about exactly what’ll be said, but representatives from Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company — as in Andres Duany, the man whose name is most often connected to any discussions about New Urbanism — are scheduled to address the planning organization on Wednesday at 1 p.m. about “aging.”

UPDATE: Just spoke with someone at the Atlanta Regional Commission who says that neither Andres Duany nor any of his representatives will be in attendance tomorrow. At the moment, any kind of project with the famed New Urbanist is merely in the brainstorming phase. Something may happen, something may not happen. But the chair of the commission’s Aging department will brief the board on the discussions. Sorry if we got any of the wonks out there excited. That being said, everything that follows below remains as is.

A hunch tells me it’s about how Atlanta may not be prepared to handle the large demographic shift and emergence of over-60 residents in the coming decades. According to the ARC, one out of every five metro Atlanta residents will be over the age of 60 by the year 2030.

The event is open to the public and will be held at the ARC’s offices downtown on Courtland Street at 1 p.m. If you enjoy hearing about administrative minutiae, you’ll love these meetings. And I mean that in a good way.

Speaking as someone who’s attended a lot of planning sessions and public workshops, senior citizens want to play a part in Atlanta’s next phase. They want walkable streets, sufficient transit and easy access to health care and amenities. They deserve these things as well, as do we all. I’ll attend and will report when it’s over.

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