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@Mr. Mouzon, you disparage growth limits, but I maintain the problem is the law and it’s implementation, not with the concept….Writing a zoning ordinance to get what you want is an art, seldom perfected.. I always liked Vancouvers zoning ordinance..
I have absolutely no patience with zoning ordinances, and Planning Boards I find are staffed with…[Read more]

Hi Steve.

That’s good to hear. Hopefully the abovementioned notion is just an unfortunate viral campaign. You just restored my faith on Andres Duany. I kinda fancy his approach and truly wonder why this has not caught on with UAE based planners. I believe it is just a matter of understanding the indigenous urban fabric and transposing this to the…[Read more]

Hi Andrew,

this may help:
http://www.cad-design-and-drafting-services.com/aia-cad-standards.html

Lubima

You guys should feel quite privileged – attracting a noted New Urbanist like Mr. Mouzon to this discussion. He does some pretty cool work and you might want to look up his photo streams if you want to see some pretty pics of old world urbanism and architecture.

As to value in creating a well-deigned place where the community can come together, yes, certainly that’s a value for the greater good, even if its debatable whether or not it is a reflection of community values. Is it as much value for the designer’s net worth, maybe not so much! ; )

Hi currently i am looking for job in qatar , is there any position vacant.

I completely agree with this: “allowing for a little more kookiness in the designs, a little more roughness around the edges.” I think balance and symmetry are vital to any design, but it is a framework not a maxim to be applied to every element of a place. One of the best things about large and historic urban cores is the clearly organic way in…[Read more]

Great article! Thank you for posting it, I would not have seen it otherwise.

That’s a strech for sure, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don’t have a whole lot of time to read all of these discussions, and would prefer to keep it on a level above where I thought it was going. I wasn’t calling everyone here mindless, but the comments were disparaging him on a personal level, which I feel is out of line.

I’ll say…[Read more]

I completely agree with this, Nick. Many solutions for many places. It’s just that if we can develop a framework upon which to hang most or all of the ideas, it’s more efficient for sustainability and urbanism newcomers if they don’t have to look all over the place for useful ideas.

With that having been said, those of us in the first generation…[Read more]

Don’t hate it, but aren’t thrilled by it either. We have several “New Urbanist” communities here in the mid-atlantic (New Urbanist is in quotes because it is really old (traditional) urbanist). One DPZ guided development is The Kentlands, just north of DC. From a sense of scale to the architectural treaments, it just feels uncomfortable. It’s also…[Read more]

The perfect dinner-ware for me to pile my mash potatoes into the shape of Devil’s Tower.

I think the planning priciples of NU are generally good ideas as ONE answer to suburban sprawl”

What other answers are there that have moved beyond theory to having been proven in practice? Not saying there aren’t any; I’m just not aware of them.

I think NU is probably just good design like we all were supposed to have learned in school and…[Read more]

Nick,

I’m a huge fan of ruffling feathers, as you might have noticed. Without that, the default setting is complacency. But trust me… Duany’s complaint isn’t the LA discipline, but rather the confusion of the urban and the rural. As for the “too much of one thing is not good” idea, I completely agree. NU circa 1995 was all about one setting:…[Read more]

I couldnt agree more and I sypathize with your point regarding the contrast in typical suburban development and NU communities. I think it’s gotta be more evident in the west where there is a lack of trees and the rolling greenfields are replaced with rolling rooftops.

As an aside- I really like what David Kahn is doing here in Colorado with his…[Read more]

Thanks for getting in on the discussion Steve. I t would appear I have much to learn regarding urbanism, but I’m an eager student.

I don’t want to backtrack on what I stated, but I made a few comments, such as Duany ‘hating LA’s’ in order to attempt to ruffle some feathers so to speak, though I did read a statement by someone else ( I think on…[Read more]