Congress for the new Urbanism

[Mike_Young]

How many have heard of this....basically it is sort of a group that is taking the place of the Urban Land Institute on a few ways and they have a many great ideas and concepts....
They realize many golf courses will need a retrofit .....so very good ideas....
check them out sometime   www.cnu.org/
They also think the signature golf/housing concept is over and done....

[Mike_Young]

Kelly,
We read it the same way....St andrews fits their model precisely

[RJ_Daley]

Mike, I found what seems like one of their big documents and plan of actions on that website:

http://www.cnu.org/sites/www.cnu.org/files/LEED%202009%20Rating%20System_ND_FINAL.pdf

I did a word search on 'golf'.  Not one hit in 147 pages.  I couldn't find any reading material about their position on golf development, retrofitting older urban sited courses, etc. 

But, I am all for revitalizing urban areas of our country, and making plans for retrofitting all of the older, urban/suburban sited golf courses possible.  I think one sign of success or a marker of progress in revitalizing urban development would be when we see urban dwellers routinely riding mass transit from their homes to golf courses for recreation. 

[PThomas]

maybe they should build a course in Detroit...would at least get rid of all the empty buildings!

[Adam Russell]

Seaside, FL is one of the creepiest places in America...

I think the ideas look great on paper but fail to deliver fully realized...like muscle bunkers.

[BCrosby]

Mike/Kelly -

Very interesting. I think their ideas have legs. We'll soon have no choice but to take such ideas seriously for reasons of energy, water, economics and environment.

As noted, in some respects places like N. Berwick, St Andrews or even Dornoch are models for future development. Which drips with all the obvious ironies.

As architects, I think you are both smart to keep tabs on this group. I'd also guess that other groups pushing similar ideas will pop up.

Bob

 

[Mike_Young]

Mike/Kelly -

Very interesting. I think their ideas have legs. We'll soon have no choice but to take such ideas seriously for reasons of energy, water, economics and environment.

As noted, in some respects places like N. Berwick, St Andrews or even Dornoch are models for future development. Which drips with all the obvious ironies.

As architects, I think you are both smart to keep tabs on this group. I'd also guess that other groups pushing similar ideas will pop up.

Bob

 

Bob,
I don't think it has really hit everyone that there will never be anymore of the house lined golf holes/courses again.....and what will we do with many of those we have that no longer function? 
The last routing I did was from a town center and out.....with a village green, then a towncenter that buildings for a pub, proshop, gym etc..
I like the thought process of these guys...

[Mike_Young]

Bob,

Probably the driving force behind the CNU is Andres Duany, website is DPZ.com, they have done some "suburban retrofitts", and resorts with golf courses. If you live in a large home in a suburban development then you would not be a friend of his philosophy. Quote form an article about him: "The suburban way of life, Duany argues, 'Is destroying the Earth.'" Yet he goes onto say according to the article: "Duany does not argue that consumerism or suburbia are inherently detrimental to society, but rather that their current manifestation is destructive." So how do we fix the current manisfestation? According to him: "...pushing up the efficiency of single-family suburban homes..." Sounds like a minor fix for something that is destroying the Earth!!!

There is much to like to the New Urbanism approach, but it does descend into hysteria sometimes, and it will be difficult to implement on a broad level due in large part to the lawlessness, political correctness, and breakdown and corruption in the educational systems that allow our large and medium size cities to self destruct. I was just in Reading, PA last night for high school basketball. Large, lively crowd, mostly black and hispanic kids, great atmosphere, but someone told me their high school graduation rate is 30%. 2 out of every 3 kids I was looking at would not graduate high school...and you want to retrofitt those neighborhoods so more of the suburban dwellers will think twice about leaving the city. The suburban schools are increasingly seeing blacks and hispanics enrolling to get away from the mess of city life and the complete lack of neglect by city school boards and other supposed community leaders.

Kelly,
As you probably know..Duany was the founder of the group and as you also probably know he may be the only "signature" landplanner I have seen.....he charges extra for his appearances over those of his associates.   I live in a "new urbanism" area of Athens ad we have the problems you mention above re Reading, Pa  ( home of Bill's Khakis)  best pants ever....We have a block of 16 new "cottages" with what you describe around us.....it is working but it has it's issues...
But for me...I think the future of golf will be more in this realm than the suburban realm....
Some of you may wish to read his book   Suburban Nation....a very interesting take on sprawl...

[Jim_Kennedy]

KBM,
I also read that about Reading when reading (phew!) about other drop-out rates and found it hard to believe. Eventually there was a correction printed for those numbers, the 30% was the drop-out rate not the graduation rate. That's still not great, but much better than the other way round.

Fixing education is the best way to attack 90% of the problems we are apt to face in the near, and distant, future.

[BCrosby]

Mike/Kelly -

From the perspective of gca, what is most intriguing about these initiatives is that they would change the incentives to build public courses. For the better.

Heretofore, most public courses are justified on the basis that they provide places for public recreation. Under the new initiatives, the public courses would have not only that function, but they would also have the more important function of preserving green space as part of a larger urban plan.

No doubt some of the latter has always existed as a justification for spending public money on golf courses. But these new ideas would tilt things even more in that direction. And thereby strengthening the case for public golf courses. Golf courses become not just a nice thing to give back to taxpayers, but also an integral (even indispensable?) part of an overall urban plan.

Bob