(image of Vancouver from Flickr user Unkdumptruck)
The former planning director for Vancouver, Larry Beasley, will be speaking at Oak Cliff’s Methodist Hospital, in the Hitt Auditorium on January 19, 2009. Space is limited, so be sure to get there early. More details here.
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for more on 21st century urbanism, i recommend checking out 2 things that i have on my blog:
1 – a presentation i put together discussing how Millennials will affect the housing market/architecture:
http://carfreeinbigd.blogspot.com/2008/09/generational-studies.html
2 – my article to be published in an AIA journal regarding how millennials will shape architecture for the next century:
http://carfreeinbigd.blogspot.com/2009/01/forward-article.html
Millennials are the only people spending right now – as seen by places like american apparel, urban outfitters, and video game sales all doing well. we would be wise to dig our way out of the recession/depression by investing in/building urban neighborhoods focused on the Millennial generation who seek vibrant, diverse, AUTHENTIC dense places with the presence of “third places,” ie cafes, coffee shops, pubs, etc.
Thanks for the links! We’ve been noting the trend of Gen-Xer’s and Millenials moving away from the suburbs and back to the urban core in some of our presentations on justifications for multi-modal transit recently as well. Seeing the generational divide is extremely apparent when you attend public forums here that ask for neighborhood involvement in debating new development. By and large, at these meetings, the most vocal opponents to urbanism (or concepts related) are retirees, and/or late boomers. On the other side of the equation, those under 40 are championing smart density, and less reliance on the automobile. Both sides simply don’t understand the other.
I agree wholeheartedly with the need for truly authentic businesses and places that identify an area and give the community “something worth fighting for”, as Kunstler would say. I think it’s a natural progression countering the bland uniformity of suburban strip malls, and tract housing.