"New Urbanism" rhetoric is a whispering game. I don't understand how "We're trying to do a better job in designing places people like," turns into a grand unified theory for solving all our social ills. I don't understand why trying emulate things that have worked turns into political religion with a strident rhetoric of smugness, condensation, and busybodyness. I don't understand why even the practitioners and city lovers at times have chips on their shoulders.
So...
The best solution to the whispering game is to seek the original sources like Mike Lydon, a planner, an author and one the most eloquent and straightforward spokespersons on street design. He and Jason Roberts from The Better Block are here in Atlanta working with the Atlanta Regional Commission.
You can meet Mike AND Jason on Thursday, June 19 at 4:15PM at Noni's thanks the the Atlanta Regional Commission, TSW, and the Atlanta chapter of the Congress of the New Urbanism.
Read more about the ARC Sweet Auburn project here: "...demonstrate what a Lifelong Community might look like by temporarily transforming two blocks of Auburn Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward into a place that allows young and old to live well and age in place.
Mike has friends here. Remember him in the 2012 Living Walls panel at the Plaza?
Twitter:
@thebetterblock @AtlantaRegional @MikeLydon @CNUAtlanta and me too: @terrykearns