"First, in comparison, the other investment opportunities are terrible. The above map of Lafayette tells a compelling story about the financial failure of all those residential subdivisions with the wide lots, curvy streets and cul-de-sacs. They are financial losers right now and, understanding modern zoning as well as the expectations of the people who have bought there, there is little hope of turning that around. These places are built all at once to a finished state. Today is peak wealth; it's all downhill from here, regardless of how much public investment is made."
Those "residential subdivisions with the wide lots, curvy streets and cul-de-sacs" were threatening to smother the whole of the Weeks neighborhood in the early 1980's. We may have succeeded in staving off some of it, although other unwise developments there since could have done more damage than I even want to investigate.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51A7kiM4evI One planner was bemused or even incredulous at my suggestion that rolling dirt sidewalks everyday to keep them absolutely consistent and puddle proof--like a Zen rock gardens--could produce a lot of jobs for youngsters!
Neighborhoods First
"Cities across the country are starting to realize that the “big project” approach takes up too much staff time, wastes too much political energy and distracts too much from the basic needs of existing neighborhoods. Risky, low returning projects too often become expensive boondoggles that haunt a community for decades. Public officials everywhere are desperately seeking an alternative."
Jane Jacob's "Death and Life of Great American Cities" would back up these findings. (Thanks to Denis Scherzer for introducing me to the book.) She warns about the extreme hazard to communities of "catastrophic money," the big money thrown around to complete reshape places all at once. For one thing, that ignores the concept I'm currently working on: Places and the communities are part of an integrated system--change (disrupt) the place and you can't help disrupting the community.
"Neighborhoods First; A low risk, high return strategy for a better Brainerd is an example of how a community can grow stronger by making small, incremental investments over time. By observing how neighbors live their lives, by asking them where their daily struggles are, by getting out on the street and discovering what is actually going on, any local government can discern what their community’s pressing needs are. These projects are the high return investments and they are all around us."
The only other "Strong Towns" article I ever read made a convincing inference that even traditional commercial areas like Whisky Gulch could produce more in tax revenue than all the fancy new stuff that replaced it.
Those "residential subdivisions with the wide lots, curvy streets and cul-de-sacs" were threatening to smother the whole of the Weeks neighborhood in the early 1980's. We may have succeeded in staving off some of it, although other unwise developments there since could have done more damage than I even want to investigate.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51A7kiM4evI One planner was bemused or even incredulous at my suggestion that rolling dirt sidewalks everyday to keep them absolutely consistent and puddle proof--like a Zen rock gardens--could produce a lot of jobs for youngsters!
Neighborhoods First
"Cities across the country are starting to realize that the “big project” approach takes up too much staff time, wastes too much political energy and distracts too much from the basic needs of existing neighborhoods. Risky, low returning projects too often become expensive boondoggles that haunt a community for decades. Public officials everywhere are desperately seeking an alternative."
Jane Jacob's "Death and Life of Great American Cities" would back up these findings. (Thanks to Denis Scherzer for introducing me to the book.) She warns about the extreme hazard to communities of "catastrophic money," the big money thrown around to complete reshape places all at once. For one thing, that ignores the concept I'm currently working on: Places and the communities are part of an integrated system--change (disrupt) the place and you can't help disrupting the community.
"Neighborhoods First; A low risk, high return strategy for a better Brainerd is an example of how a community can grow stronger by making small, incremental investments over time. By observing how neighbors live their lives, by asking them where their daily struggles are, by getting out on the street and discovering what is actually going on, any local government can discern what their community’s pressing needs are. These projects are the high return investments and they are all around us."
The only other "Strong Towns" article I ever read made a convincing inference that even traditional commercial areas like Whisky Gulch could produce more in tax revenue than all the fancy new stuff that replaced it.
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