the third place

learning with legos at NBM

Posted by & filed under Architecture, Design, Planning, Public spaces, Zoning.

The ongoing Lego (R) exhibit, Towering Ambition, at the National Building Museum has some very cool models of famous buildings, but also provides a play area for kids and families.

More interesting than the models, however, are the prompts about land use and community planning hanging around and adorning the space where kids (and adults) can play with the Legos.

Rather than focus on cool buildings, like the exhibit, these prompts ask budding designers to think about places beyond the bounds of an individual building, to think like a town planner (and a rather progressive one at that).

Unfortunately the prompts still relegate land uses to separate building forms, but do suggest locating them near one another.

I think … Continue reading

MRO Garden Blooms Again

Posted by & filed under Planning, Public spaces.

On the heels of an agriburbia post, we have our own little backyard food supply at park and planning–our vegetable garden is setting up for the season.

The crew of after-work-hours volunteers had already planted some cool weather crops–lettuces, radishes, celery–and moved some estaablished herbs to the stairway beds, but last night we planted in anticpation of warm weather–tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, squash, bush beans, and more chard! We’ve even managed to harvest already–last year’s chard and kale that wintered over–and we’ve found a few sweet, overlooked carrots.

This year, we’re putting flowers in the center, where it’s harder to harvest and we’re putting potatoes on our green roof  near Georgia Avenue, where we hope the cascade of vines will … Continue reading

Where is the green space for apartment-dwellers?

Posted by & filed under Design.

If you don’t have a plot of land, you can still grow flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Fern Richardson writes a great blog on container gardens, Life on the Balcony. And Treehugger has put up a synopsis of her recent designs for using pallets as vertical planters.

A New Model for Mixed-Use Parking (Part 1 of 2: Goals and Precedents)

Posted by & filed under Planning, Zoning.

Parking is one of the single-most controversial aspects of development splitting generally along the lines of “we don’t require enough” versus “we require too much”. Parking management is an issue that affects congestion, pollution, pedestrian comfort & safety, potential for open space and green areas, business revitalization feasibility, and many other topics.  With so many factors being effected, it’s probable that no model we develop will make everyone (or maybe anyone) completely happy.  But it is our task to try.

As many know, the parking ratios we apply to commercial uses have not been updated for decades. And our shared-use model is still based on maximum demand. With this in mind, the County’s DOT and MNCPPC were directed to … Continue reading

Plant Chicago: more on the apparent topic of the day.

Posted by & filed under Design.

Adaptive reuse of existing buildings for agriculture: Plant Chicago – vertical farming and industrial reuse.

Take a quick look at their philosophy in 2 minutes.

Don’t think we’d have any 40-story buildings, but what if we used less and converted … i don’t know … some of our numerous self-storage facilities to vertical farms?

Agriburbia–are we already there?

Posted by & filed under Design, Planning, Zoning.

This Utne Reader article describes what may be a subdivision trend–designing residential neighborhods integral to farms.

New developments in Chicago, Atlanta, and Colorado are moving beyond community gardens and contracting with farmers to run and manage the farm next door. And as the article points out, there is the potential for conflict, “pesticide drift,” etc. This is why we zoned in the first place, to separate percieved noxious uses, and even though these residents will be a self-selected group ready to get their hands dirty, fresh tomatos are one thing, manure is quite another. When you look at the websites, there is a definite “people like us” vibe that makes you wonder if agriburbia is the green equivalent of a gated community.

But … Continue reading

EPA: “Do what I say, not what I do.”

Posted by & filed under Planning, Zoning.

A couple years ago, the EPA published a very concise, well-conceived, and practical guide for municipalities to turn smart-growth principles into regulations. Titled “Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes“,the publication outlines 11 “fixes”:

Allow or Require Mixed-Use Zones Use Urban Dimensions in Urban Places Rein in and Reform the Use of Planned Unit Developments Fix Parking Requirements [more on this in an upcoming blog] Increase Density and Intensity in Centers Modernize Street Standards Enact Standards to Foster Walkable Places Designate and Support Preferred Growth Areas and Development Sites Use Green Infrastructure to Manage Stormwater Adopt Smart Annexation Policies Encourage Appropriate Development Densities on The Edge

Of course, as partners with HUD and DOT in the … Continue reading

Recent Smart Growth Series Focus on Rural Communities (Part 2 of 2)

Posted by & filed under Design.

Based on a lecture presenting ICMA’s recent report, “Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities”, the first part of this synopsis summarized the general goals, scope, challenges, and policy principles for a “smart growth” approach to rural community development. Numerous links to various resources are provided therein. The second part of this synopsis will outline more detailed strategies for rural communities based on smart growth principles.

Strategies to Accomplish Goal 1: Economic Support of Working Lands and Conservation Areas

Ensure viability of a resource economy:

Assess taxes based on current use, rather than at its highest market value; Provide tax credits for conservation; Enact right-to-farm policies; Advocate renewable energy development; Allow value-added farm and forest product processing; and … Continue reading

Recent Smart Growth Series Focus on Rural Communities (Part 1 of 2)

Posted by & filed under Design.

Representatives from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Environmental Protection Agency recently presented the results of a study, “Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities”, at the National Building Museum. As we look towards modifications to our zoning laws, it may be useful to summarize some of their findings.

Smart Growth Goals

Economic support of working lands and conservation areas; Investing in assets to make rural towns thrive; and Creating new stable, sustainable neighborhoods and communities.

Defining “Rural”

Simply put, USDA defines rural by what it isn’t – rural areas are not “metropolitan counties”. This course-grain approach, of course, doesn’t help define the differences between and within Montgomery County’s more urban corridors and nodes, its residential … Continue reading

Deco Bikes

Posted by & filed under Planning, Public spaces.

Bike sharing is a natural for Miami Beach. Yup, even in a place where Lamborghinis jostle with Bentleys in the public parking lots, a bike is cool.

The island is flat, warm, laid out in a gridded street pattern, and partially ringed with off-road bike routes that pass by a marina, Government Cut, South Pointe Park, and the beach. If you live and work on the Beach, a $15.00 monthly Deco Bikes membership gets you unlimited access. If you’re a tourist, just swipe your credit card, choose a bike, and pedal off.

The docking stations are located all over the island, and I wonder if there will be an obvious pattern of use. In Montreal, Bixi bikes all go downhill … Continue reading