I'm confused about something...

[Javaman]

Jim kunstler whom I read every week preaches on how we have to reorganized our society to make it more walkable, less drivable and localize the economy. I love that concept, but honestly what would be the steps to do that short of completely overhauling society.

given that our nation at the moment is based upon the suburban model, how would a town, state, nation go about making a change to a city/town plan?

[htuttle]

1. Zoning

Lots and lots of rezoning. For example, putting a block of commercial/retail right in the middle of the residential areas to encourage walkable destinations, etc...

As far as I know, that's about the only tool available to do something like this. Same as in SimCity, actually...

[phantom power]

2. Well, that's why people like me predict doom and gloom....

that kind of total reorganization doesn't ever happen in the organized/rational way we wish it would. It happens via catastrophe and chaos.

However, if we wanted to try, one necessary first step would be a massive overhaul of zoning laws. Make mixed-use zoning the rule, not the exception.

I expect that this may happen in an ad-hoc manner, probably first just by fiat: ex-urban neighborhoods out in the asteroid belt will just start running businesses out of their homes, ignoring the zoning laws. Nobody will care too much, because they'll be too busy with larger issues like a second great depression. Eventually, the zoning laws will be updated.

Assuming we don't just devolve into some kind of feudal society. And then die.

[oldhippie]

9. You'd think they'd be trying something like this as they rebuild New Orleans..........

I wonder if anyone is even considering it? has anyone seen any links that would indicate that NO is being rebuilt on a sustainable model?

[phantom power]

11. Every indication I've seen is that NO is being rebuilt on the "gentrification" model.

At least, the parts of it that are being rebuilt at all. The very opposite of progress.

[pinto]

3. Some city planners, architects, and public officials have presented

'localized' plans to promote viability while decreasing reliance on private transportation (i.e. cars and sprawl) to go about their daily business.

http://commonsblog.org/archives/cat_urban_planning_and_sprawl.php

http://planningresearch.blogspot.com/2006/04/sprawl-and-american-dream-reviews-of.html


http://www.sustainable-city.org/

[phantom power]

4. Right, what you said. Thinking about my neighborhood...

(this was supposed to be a reply to htuttle's post above)

we have something that I would consider not exactly mixed-zoning, but we have areas zoned residential within walking distance (~1mi) of commercially zoned areas. It's not a bad setup. We often walk to local restaraunts, I bike to my barber when I'm not feeling lazy and it isn't 105F outside, etc. But our house is in a residentially zoned block. It has a sort of hybrid feel between suburban and urban. Maybe there's an urban planning term for that kind of neighborhood, but I don't know it.

[phantom power]

5. One thing that makes rezoning difficult is multilateral buy-in.

It's one thing to declare some neighborhood as mixed-use. But to make something real, you need commercial developers willing to build in that neighborhood, and developers willing to put up condos, or what-have-you. And you need people willing to move in to that neighborhood, and make it "live."

It's a huge risk for developers, since the conventional wisdom essentially has people programmed to prefer the suburban housing as more desireable: Private yard, pool, HOA, gated community, etc.

Very hard to get all the necessary buy-in from commercial, residential and citizen factions. A classic basin of attraction in a complex system.

[nosmokes]

6. urban growth boundaries, infills and drastic improvements in

mass transit and making streets bicycle friendly. instead of building giant mega stores every damn place let's take a lesson from Europe and Latin America and put some Bodegas every few blocks that would sell local produce and milk and bread - the stuff people always hafta run to the store for.

[hunter]

7. I imagine empty suburban garages can quickly morph into store fronts...

... and studio apartments.

They already have in some places.

Great increases in residential and commercial density can happen quickly. It's not pretty, but people will do what they have to do to accommodate a rapid restructuring of the community brought on by economic hardship.

Maybe you don't like the changes while you still have a job and a car and a good income, and maybe you complain about the decline of your neighborhood, but when you can't afford to drive to work anymore, and then your car breaks down, and suddenly you've got a lot of family crashing at your house, then you appreciate that your neighbors are selling produce and bread and inexpensive clothing out of their homes, and things get a lot less crowded in your household when your cousins turn your garage into their family suite.

This is going to be interesting, but we'll probably be able to pull it off if we stick together as communities instead of selling ourselves to the criminals who make false promises of protection and social order.

[ramapo]

8. Mindset overhaul

People's expectations and thought processes need to change. The idea that it is perfectly OK to drive everywhere, even if it is across the street, needs to go. People have to demand change but such demands will only come when the current situation begins to become seriously unlivable.

Some areas can adjust more easily than others depending upon history and geography. Here in North Jersey, there are many towns that once had functioning centers. Other towns are geographically challenged. Some have no center and/or there are long hills, etc. that can make walking difficult for some. There are a lack of sidewalks, etc.

Our town is talking about some mixed use zoning. Stores with apartments above. Not everybody is thrilled with the idea. There is the thought that this setup would let in the riff-raff and such.

We need to put back the transit infrastructure that was destroyed half a century and more ago. Amazingly, some of the right-of-ways still exist, waiting for track to be laid. We could put a lot of people to work building a new society. It would be a hell of lot better putting billions into our own country than feeding the military-industrial complex that has spread its tentacles around the globe.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. Actually, it's easy for me to imagine...

I grew up in a little hamlet, which some might mistake for a suburb. There was a general store, a post office, a barber, a school, a diner, a bar. My folks had one car, but most things we needed were within walking distance. The Greyhound passed through town in the mornings and evenings. Decades earlier, there was a whistle stop on the railroad.

In the years since then, all of the above closed (except for the bar...) meaning that (for most people) driving is a necessity.

Every now and again, someone tries to reopen the store, but people are now in the habit of driving a number of miles "into town" to get cheaper prices. If the price of gas continues to climb like it has, that economic model might reverse itself. (People may decide it's worth paying a little more in a little store than paying for the gas necessary to get a "bargain.")