Charleston & the New Urbanism?

While nothing startlingly new, this presents an interesting perspective, one that developers and consumers may well benefit from considering.

"A recent presentation on urban planning and transportation filled a downtown meeting room and left the audience with one thought: Freeways are so yesterday. John Norquist, who was mayor of Milwaukee for 16 years and led a dramatic renewal there that included zoning revisions and a more pedestrian-friendly downtown, now heads Congress for the New Urbanism, a San Francisco-based nonprofit agency that works to find alternatives to sprawl.

In his presentation to about 80 planners, architects, engineers and others, Norquist emphasized his view that street grids, rather than fast-moving freeways with no sidewalks, work better in densely populated areas.

'Even Wal-Mart now will locate a store on a street with sidewalks and will build stores next to other buildings,' Norquist said. 'Real estate values go up when freeways are removed, boulevards are built and views are restored.'

Josh Martin, Charleston city planning director, said Norquist made good points. 'For so long in this country, transportation and land use have divorced themselves from one another, and they operate in two separate spheres of influence that rarely collide,' Martin said. 'He’s saying we’ve got to get back to the way we used to address these things.'

'The Neck could be developed intensely, but it is dominated by infrastructure that doesn’t serve the neighborhood and lowers the real estate values,' Norquist said. 'You could create a place that you love, just like historic Charleston. Giant roads and parking lots create boring places.'”

For the full Charleston Regional Business Journal article: http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/pub/13_24/news/10855-1.html

For the Congress on the New Urbanism: http://www.cnu.org/