Saturday, April 2, 2011

Faux Urbanism?

New Urbanist principles are great things, but what happens when you build away from normal areas and start anew?  Places like Celebration, Florida are knocked because they are built in places without previous development and are essentially suburbs.  I guess a New Urbanist suburb is better than a regular suburb, but it's something to think about.  When I was in Boulder, Colorado for spring break I ventured to North Boulder.  North Boulder is a rapidly developing part of town, and there is quite the New Urbanist style to it.  I really like the architecture and it's not as far away as normal suburbs, but the public space seemed unused and more of a ruse than anything.  It is also expensive.  A 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath condo was for sale and advertised at $174,338 - a lot for something similarly sized to an apartment I lived in for a couple years.  Then again, it's Boulder.  More integration with downtown is probably needed, but I could see myself living here if the opportunity presented itself.  What do you think?
Unique Architectural Styling
Homes oriented to shared space.
Garages and parking behind the buildings.
Eyes on the street.
Looking toward the Flatirons.
Barren Public Space.

2 comments:

  1. The pictures make it look a lot like some of the subdivisions in Tucson, just a different climate. Perhaps it was the same architect/builder, or is this style of suburb becoming more popular everywhere? I'm not sure how I feel about it. As a whole, it's nice, but on a more individual level, it lacks character.

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  2. I think this style of development is becoming a popular sort of thing to do. I agree that it lacks some character, but that could also come around if it was properly integrated into the fabric of the city better.

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