Category Archives: Traveling as An Urbanist

Urbanism in my own (black) eyes

Quotes and Notes from the NCSU College of Design Urban Design Conference 2011(#ncsuudc2011)

First of all, I want to congratulate the NC State University College of Design, the City of Raleigh Planning Department and all the sponsors for putting on a sharp, timely and powerful conference. I also want to thank those sponsors who were able to keep the student rates of attendance low. Also enjoyed meeting almost all of the speakers and a few attendees. Let’s keep in touch!

The North Carolina State University College of Design, in conjunction with the City of Raleigh Planning Department gathered a conference of urban  leaders and students of all stripes  focused on the theme Sustainable Suburbs-ReImagining the Inner Ring in Downtown Raleigh on Saturday February 12. Through host Marvin Malecha, Dean of the College of Design, and moderator Mary Newsom, associate editor at the Charlotte Observer and author of the Naked City blog on urban development, design and policy, attendees learned suburban solutions from the following speakers/panelists:

  • William “Bill” Hudnut- The Fork in the Road Facing First Tier Suburbs
  • Patrick Condon- Seven Simple Urban Design Rules to Save the Planet
  • Ellen Dunham-Jones Retrofitting Suburbs
  • John Knott- Sustainably Restoring the Health of Our Cities
  • James Rojas- Latino Urbanism: Transforming the Suburbs
  • Patrick Phillips- Not Your Father’s Housing Market: Observations Following the Crisis and What it Means for Sustainable Suburbs
  • Everyone, with Mitchell Silver- The Suburban Challenge, Beyond Design

Every presentation agreed that we need to begin retrofitting suburbs, and incorporating diversity, better transportation options, financial stability and homes that reflect character of people and neighborhoods they are in. In addition, several speakers and attendees were past, present and future presidents/national board members of the main professional organizations for designers and planners. This wealth of leadership and knowledge, along with the presence of elected officials and other decision-makers made this conference stand out as a practical, inspirational resource, not just an ideas fest. Here are some of the best quotes of the day:

  • “We cannot ignore the suburbs…they can be sustainable”- Marvin Malecha
  • “[this is] the century of the suburb”- Mary Newsom
  • Green is green, not Red or Blue [politics]- Bill Hudnut
  • “1st tier suburbs are fork in road, metropolitan pivot point”-Bill Hudnut
  • Density doesn’t need to look dense- Patrick Condon
  • Elderly Boomers are Yeepies-youthful, energetic,elderly people into anything- Ellen Dunham-Jones
  • [I am] in the human habitat and community development business- not the development business- John Knott
  • Core of city problems is the ignorance of history of the area, especially low/middle income areas.-John Knott
  • Upwardly mobile immigrant households will be a new market for McMansions-Patrick Phillips
  • NC State University is putting eight dollars back into economy for every dollar it puts in- Marvin Malecha

Additional conversation focused on the need for collaboration between professional groups(planners, architects, academics, etc.), a special need for more city and county managers, as well as elected officials in the room and a special challenge to the students, especially those under 30. Also, Rojas’s presentation spoke for itself, pictures telling the story of how a culture outside of the mainstream approached the suburban landscape and story.

I also like to note that this site is a manifestation of the challenge to people under 30, to do what I can to re-design the world. I may not be a technical design person, but I know I can tell the story. To anyone reading this who was attending today, let us continue this challenge together.

Highlights of the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference 2011 (#NPSG2011)

Of course the hotel is transit accessible, but you couldn't capture my glee when I walked out to this station Friday after following signs labeled trolley station. Hotel is to the right of this picture.

As I mentioned before, I spent Friday February 4th, 2011 at the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Charlotte, just an hour and a half from my home in Greensboro. Many of you readers were either there in the flesh or there in spirit, so you were able to see and hear some of the conversations that went on yesterday. I hope to spotlight some of the presenters and other conference goers that I met, so I will leave the recaps to others. However, I am going to touch on a few highlights that made this conference a highlight of my year so far:

The Location

First of all, I commend the Local Government Commission for choosing Charlotte. If anyone is an example of how suburban communities are taking back their urban cores, Charlotte is one. When I arrived and parked and started walking and using transit, I thought I was in another state. Uptown(Charlotte wants it’s citizenry to think of a positive ideal when going to their downtown), was quite dense and  full of a good mix of chain stores and cool local spots. You also have two successful sports stadiums, fun museums, and the nucelus of financial power in the state, if not the Southeast and most of the nation. The Westin Charlotte, where most of the conference sessions were held,  is a visually spectacular building. I’ve driven past it a number of times and wondered quite possibly how people could people fit in the building. It’s so skinny. Yet, is not a key principle of smart growth, namely New Urbanism, if it can be smaller, make it smaller? The exterior was tastefully contemporary, a perfect backdrop to a conference celebrating progressive design and policy in land use. The icing on the cake was finding out that the hotel was Lynx accessible. It was rainy this weekend and being able to hop on a warm light rail train was just in time. Sadly, we do not have this system directly to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, but hopefully dignitaries with means will see how much of an asset this is and will make the necessary financial and regulatory decisions to make that happen.

The Agenda

The agenda featured over 100 sessions on a variety of topics, including many on environmental justice and diversity in the sector. Although I was only able to attend the Getting It Right:Training the Next Generation of Sustainability Leaders and Practitioners and Environmental Justice and Community Engagement: Can Inclusive Engagement Lead to Just and Smart Growth? sessions, I learned so much and had many of my beliefs affirmed about equity and diversity in the realm of smart growth and sustainable communities.

The Connections

I think the Westin did a great job of having refreshments arranged such that people could get a coffee (or tea, thank you Starbucks and Tazo!) and chat about issues they saw. This is how I met Brian Faulk, who is the publications director for the Center for Applied Transect Studies. We had a nice conversation about my recent post on Grist, the true viability of urban agriculture and why we need not forget equity in our building patterns. I had no idea at the time exactly who he worked for, but after reading the website and putting two and two together, it was pretty cool to be able to have a random conversation with someone so close to the founder of New Urbanism. In addition, I was able to finally meet Elisa Ortiz, who is the Outreach Manager for Smart Growth America and her colleague, Shelley Hazle, who is the Smart Growth Leadership Institute’s State Coordinator. Shelley spoke in the first session I attended above and Elisa and I are both a part of the YNPN family, as well as a co-Nonprofit Rockstar. I also enjoyed meeting several fellow grad students, other panelists and a few of the sponsors.

Those three things made my short day at the New Partners Conference so worth it. If you were there, what did you think? If this was your first time in Charlotte, did you like it? Would you come back again?

Smart Growth and Urban Design Conversations Coming to North Carolina

Charlotte at night, home of this week's New Partners for Smart Growth Conference

This week, Charlotte will be hosting the New Partners for Smart Growth conference from Thursday through Saturday. I plan on spending Friday at the conference learning about efforts North Carolina and other states are taking to make its streets complete, involve schools in smart growth planning, engage rural communities and further environmental justice issues.

On Saturday February 12th, I will be attending Day 2 of the NC State Univeristy College of Design’s Urban Design Conference. Presented in coordination with the City of Raleigh Urban Design Center, the conference will focus on the theme: Sustainable Suburbs, Re-Imagining the Inner Ring. I feel this is a perfect topic, as Raleigh is rapidly suburbanizing and not in a good way. However, I am looking forward to hearing how City of Raleigh leaders are addressing the situation through identifying areas that can be re-developed in a more urban pattern. Also, Ellen Dunham-Jones, who co-authored Retrofitting Suburbia, will be speaking again on her work. Check out her TED talk here.

Registration is still  open for this conference, click here for more information.

Also, if you will be in town for either of these conferences, please let me know so we can connect. For those of you who cannot make it, look in this space in the upcoming days for conference recaps and pictures.