Probably one of the most frequent comments that you hear from people the first time that they visit a new urbanist community is, "the yards are too small." I am pretty sure that I said that the first time that I visited Kentlands ten years ago. As you learn more about new urbanism, you tend to understand more about the different "spaces" that people use during the course of the day. There are public spaces and private spaces and we clearly need to be able to access and use both types of spaces.
Starting with public spaces. It is pretty easy to see that parks, walking trails, sidewalks, plazas and alleys are public spaces. These are places where you expect to interact with other people. Okay, but what about private spaces? The private space is accomplished by the spaces in your home and perhaps office. Your home is considered your private realm and good design should allow you to have private spaces that are located inside as well as "outside." People don't want to have to spend all of their "private" time indoors. Good design should allow courtyards, garden areas and outside social areas within the structure of the home that allow the homeowner to be outdoors in a private space.
The key is not the size of the space, it is whether it is well-designed for how it is intended to be used. As I noted in an earlier message, people often say they want a yard...actually they want to be able to plant some flowers. They don't really want to have to mow the yard and pull the weeds or pay a lawn service each month to care for the yard. These interior courtyards and patios allow people to have areas where they can plant flowers or herbs without having the responsibilities of large yards.
I call this post, the "Front Yard Challenge" for a reason. I was asked to do this about 8 years ago and it was a good exercise. When you drive around different neighborhoods, see how many people are really playing in front yards, especially if there is a park nearby. In my neighborhood, most people exercise on the trails and take their kids to a park to play rather than in the front yard. Yesterday, out of about 32 homes, I saw people in the yards of two homes. One was mowing the yard and the other was pulling weeds and pruning bushes. The other 30 homes did not have activity in the front yard though I did see one mom with her two kids riding their bikes and parking them in the garage. Think about how you really want to use your outdoor spaces and I bet you will be surprised to find that a small yard can meet all of those needs.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Who Knew an Energy Audit Would be This COOL?
Check out this great music video made by some students at Stanford. I am sure it will go LEED Platinum!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Who lives in this house???
Listening to Andres Duany discuss the evolution of town centers and housing options over the last 50 years, one is amazed at how we have established our lifestyles around our housing choices. Often we look at neighborhoods of yesteryear and admire the large porches or the beautiful streetscapes. It seemed that each house was a unique structure and was often referred to by the name of the family that first lived there. The "McKinley house" or "Smith house." When you referred to the "Smith house," everyone knew exactly what house you were referring to. Over the years, we moved to the suburbs and houses started to look more and more alike. You can drive into some subdivisions and row after row of houses will look alike. Also, the garage started to appear on the front of the house. It certainly cost less if you did not have to build a driveway from the street to the back of the house. Alleys disappeared and fenced in back yards became popular. People would come home from work, enter the house and not leave again until the next day when they back out the car and headed off to work. You didn't really know your neighbors and they didn't know you. The only thing you knew for certain was that a car lived at that house because the garage was the largest feature of the front of the house.
Today, we are seeing an increasing demand for some of the "neighborhood" communities of yesteryear when people actually were neighbors. People want a home that has an inviting feel from the street. The garage is back where it belongs, in the back of the home. The house is designed to allow people to interact with the neighborhood when they want and to have privacy when they desire it. Homes in Brytan are designed to allow choices in how you live rather than in dictating how you must live. For instance, in traditional subdivision homes with the garage doors across most of the front, there is not a place to sit on the front porch, nor is there a beautiful street to look out upon. Start to look around at the different communities and see if you notice some of these design features.
Today, we are seeing an increasing demand for some of the "neighborhood" communities of yesteryear when people actually were neighbors. People want a home that has an inviting feel from the street. The garage is back where it belongs, in the back of the home. The house is designed to allow people to interact with the neighborhood when they want and to have privacy when they desire it. Homes in Brytan are designed to allow choices in how you live rather than in dictating how you must live. For instance, in traditional subdivision homes with the garage doors across most of the front, there is not a place to sit on the front porch, nor is there a beautiful street to look out upon. Start to look around at the different communities and see if you notice some of these design features.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Are you Green Today?
Today is St. Patrick's Day -- A day associated with corned beef, cabbage and potatoes; Irish Whisky and Guiness; shamrocks and leprechauns; and, last but not least, wearing green so you don't get pinched.
With green on your mind, it is a good time to consider how green you are every day:
- Are you conserving energy by adjusting your thermostat, using a programmable thermostat, or even opening your windows and not using your AC or heater at all (particularly during pleasant Spring weather!)
- Are you conserving water by installing appropriate landscapes that don't require irrigation, by installing low flow bubblers on your faucets, waiting to run your clothes washer or dishwasher until you have a full load, or by simply turning off the water while you brush your teeth?
- Are you recycling your metals, plastics and paper products, and better yet, are you thinking about unnecessary packaging when you purchase products?
- Are you buying local products and using local businesses which not only helps your local economy but can also save transportation costs?
- Are you starting slow and slowing when approaching red lights by removing your foot from that gas (which will conserve fuel) as well as keeping your car maintained and your tires inflated?
- When choosing a new place to live, do you consider proximity to work, schools and basic needs such as grocery stores, banks and libraries?
- Are you keeping the filters changed on your AC, choosing low VOC cleaning products and considering the ingredients in your cleaning products?
- Are you choosing to give services or gift cards or recycled gifts rather than adding to increasing piles of belongings that your friends have?
- Are you choosing to walk or bicycle or carpool to some of your destinations?
- Are you eating lower on the food chain more often and choosing organic, local or healthier choices for your family?
These are just a few of the many ways that you can lessen your impact on our planet. While today may be one of the few days in the year you may choose to wear green, tomorrow and every day after could be a day you choose to live green.
What does this have to do with Brytan? Living in a sustainably built, energy efficient home with water saving fixtures and clean air systems, that is located in an urban environment will lower your carbon footprint and save water and electricity. While we hope to see you you in Brytan, we hope that you choose to live green every day.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The lots are too narrow...
"The lots are too narrow..." is a comment that we hear frequently. We often find that it really isn't the size of the lot, it is the fact that these lots "looks" different from other typical lots. If we start to ask people about how they use the lot that they currently live on and what they like about it, we find out some interesting points. First, they want an area for their kids to play. Second, they enjoy gardening. Third, they view the yard as serving as a privacy boundary for their home. Those points were common themes but also common was this point: very few people enjoyed the time, effort and expense of maintaining a yard. They either spent their leisure time mowing, weeding and trimming rather than actually enjoying the yard or they had to pay a landscape crew to take care of the yard. The actual amount of space that people would garden was relatively small compared to the overall yard size. People were paying for a large yard in order to garden a small 8X10 or 4X6 area.
The narrow lots in Brytan and the way in which homes are sited on the lot allow for privacy yet also allow for gardening. The gardening can occur in the front beds or in the private courtyard between the home and the garage. Pots can be used that allow a person to easily change the plants depending on the season. Working on rosebushes or annuals is fun; mowing a yard is a great deal less fun, especially in the heat of the summer months!
What about play areas? Brytan has one of the best parks in the area. Your family can take advantage of the play equipment and the green spaces as well as walking trails. You will no longer have to buy expensive equipment that your children will outgrow in a couple of years.
The other key point and it is one that is going to become more of an issue in the future is the costs associated with irrigating lawns. Water and charges for wastewater have continued to increase each year. Brytan has worked with GRU to utilize reclaimed water in Brytan but the water management districts are going to encourage conservation of water resources. Brytan yards are designed to minimize water required for irrigation and to utilize those plants that work well without requiring an abundance of water.
Yes, the lots are narrow but all the ways in which you use your lawn are still available. You spend your time and money on your family and your home, not your yard!
The narrow lots in Brytan and the way in which homes are sited on the lot allow for privacy yet also allow for gardening. The gardening can occur in the front beds or in the private courtyard between the home and the garage. Pots can be used that allow a person to easily change the plants depending on the season. Working on rosebushes or annuals is fun; mowing a yard is a great deal less fun, especially in the heat of the summer months!
What about play areas? Brytan has one of the best parks in the area. Your family can take advantage of the play equipment and the green spaces as well as walking trails. You will no longer have to buy expensive equipment that your children will outgrow in a couple of years.
The other key point and it is one that is going to become more of an issue in the future is the costs associated with irrigating lawns. Water and charges for wastewater have continued to increase each year. Brytan has worked with GRU to utilize reclaimed water in Brytan but the water management districts are going to encourage conservation of water resources. Brytan yards are designed to minimize water required for irrigation and to utilize those plants that work well without requiring an abundance of water.
Yes, the lots are narrow but all the ways in which you use your lawn are still available. You spend your time and money on your family and your home, not your yard!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Preserving the Night Sky: Earth Hour
On March 28, from 8:30 to 9:30 in the evening, cities across the world will turn out their lights for one hour -- and change the face of the world from space. Cities such as Moscow, Sydney (where the movement started), Chicago, Buenas Aires, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, London, Vancouver, Paris, Mumbai, Rome, Budapest, Kuwait, Mexico City, and our very own Washington D.C. will all observe an hour of darkness during Earth Hour by turning off non-essential lighting and encouraging all individuals and businesses to join in the effort. The goal is to have one billion people enjoying the night sky and voting to fight global warming and encourage conservation.
I remember, as a child, looking up at the falling stars during the Perseids meteor shower, and having my entire field of vision taken up with streaks of light across the sky. For my own children to enjoy this meteor shower I had to drive out away from town. We laid on the hood of the car and when not counting meteors, we talked about the halo of light above our city, and how light pollution not only wasted energy, but interfered with bird migration and with sea turtle hatchlings. According to National Geographic, some amphibians, which are widely recognized as indicator species and are integral to some ecosystems, will delay nocturnal feeding when artificial light is present, which shortens their available hours for nourishment and may threaten their survival.
The New Yorker, in a recent article, discusses how bright light used to prevent crime can often become a tools of criminals. If a very bright light is used to on your garage, for example, your eyes adjust the bright light and make it more difficult to see into the dark void beyond. There are even safety implications, most of us have experienced seeing a gas station lit so brightly that it hurt our eyes, changing our ability to see less brilliantly lit objects on the road.
The cost of all of this light? In the United States the Night Sky Association estimates that the light wasted is worth two billion dollars annually, or the equivalent of 30 million barrels of oil and 8.2 million tons of coal.
What does this have to do with Brytan? Brytan is participating the in the Pilot LEED-ND program which encourages conservation of energy and protection of the night sky in neighborhood design. Choosing light fixtures that only aim downward, prohibiting decorative lighting (allowing lighting for safety purposes and some amount for advertising) and measuring the "spread" of light are some of the requirements. Barriers to implementation are requirements by the Department of Transportation, as well as legal concerns about liability since these efforts are voluntary and not mandated. Some municipailites have enacted legislation prohibiting certain kinds of lighting, and are changing out inefficient fixtures for fully shielded fixtures, sometimes saving millions per year. The City of Calgary, according to the BBC, changed out 37,500 fixtures, saving $2 million per year and yielding a full payback in only six years.
What can you do? Encourage local legislation restricting wasted and unnecessary lighting, and educate your friends and neighbors about how less light can be safer. Participate in the upcoming Earth Hour, and be part of the one billion participants fighting global warming. Turn your lights (and your TV!) off and enjoy a candlelit dinner, a walk under the (more visible) stars or lay in your hammock and listen to the sounds of nature realizing it is night (maybe you will see a firefly!).
I remember, as a child, looking up at the falling stars during the Perseids meteor shower, and having my entire field of vision taken up with streaks of light across the sky. For my own children to enjoy this meteor shower I had to drive out away from town. We laid on the hood of the car and when not counting meteors, we talked about the halo of light above our city, and how light pollution not only wasted energy, but interfered with bird migration and with sea turtle hatchlings. According to National Geographic, some amphibians, which are widely recognized as indicator species and are integral to some ecosystems, will delay nocturnal feeding when artificial light is present, which shortens their available hours for nourishment and may threaten their survival.
The New Yorker, in a recent article, discusses how bright light used to prevent crime can often become a tools of criminals. If a very bright light is used to on your garage, for example, your eyes adjust the bright light and make it more difficult to see into the dark void beyond. There are even safety implications, most of us have experienced seeing a gas station lit so brightly that it hurt our eyes, changing our ability to see less brilliantly lit objects on the road.
The cost of all of this light? In the United States the Night Sky Association estimates that the light wasted is worth two billion dollars annually, or the equivalent of 30 million barrels of oil and 8.2 million tons of coal.
What does this have to do with Brytan? Brytan is participating the in the Pilot LEED-ND program which encourages conservation of energy and protection of the night sky in neighborhood design. Choosing light fixtures that only aim downward, prohibiting decorative lighting (allowing lighting for safety purposes and some amount for advertising) and measuring the "spread" of light are some of the requirements. Barriers to implementation are requirements by the Department of Transportation, as well as legal concerns about liability since these efforts are voluntary and not mandated. Some municipailites have enacted legislation prohibiting certain kinds of lighting, and are changing out inefficient fixtures for fully shielded fixtures, sometimes saving millions per year. The City of Calgary, according to the BBC, changed out 37,500 fixtures, saving $2 million per year and yielding a full payback in only six years.
What can you do? Encourage local legislation restricting wasted and unnecessary lighting, and educate your friends and neighbors about how less light can be safer. Participate in the upcoming Earth Hour, and be part of the one billion participants fighting global warming. Turn your lights (and your TV!) off and enjoy a candlelit dinner, a walk under the (more visible) stars or lay in your hammock and listen to the sounds of nature realizing it is night (maybe you will see a firefly!).
Friday, March 6, 2009
Participating in a Charrette
Thinking back on the charette...
If you are involved in any way with land planning, design, architecture, engineering or development, you need to participate in a charette. It is an amazing process to watch a site plan become a workable entity. Working with Duany, it was important for us to follow the transect that he actually was in the process of developing during our charette. We wanted to develop a town that went from most urban to more rural and include the many visual "hints" that assist the user that he is going from an urban environment to a more rural environment. The most interesting aspect of the process was the interaction between what the best design was versus the best design that was possible given the many limitations that are put on the site. The challenge of designing communities today is to do so within the many requirements that are often at odds with the goals of new urbanism. For example, new urbanism promotes pedestrian friendly streets. This goal encourages narrow streets, on-street parking and curves to force drivers to slow down. The reality is that people don't want to slow down. The reality is that emergency services don't want to drive on narrow lanes. It was increasingly difficult to meet all the requirements and not lose the essence of new urbanism during the process. Also, one has to factor in the amount of open space or green space required, the separation requirements between the various utilities in the project and the placement of civic spaces. Personally I probably am in the minority but I am not a fan of requiring trees to be planted in islands throughout parking lots. Planners, seeking shade, require a tree every "X" number of parking spaces. Quite frankly, I think requring a certain number of trees is great but if you could get a larger section in the parking lot with several trees or encourage more of a useable urban park near the parking lot, it would be better for the trees and for the users of the space. Maybe it is a good idea to let the cars get hot in the sun...maybe people would be more willing to take mass transit...who knows?? I just think that urban parking lots need to be urban and smaller in the final footprint rather than larger than they need to be because of the island requirements. Sub-urban parking lots could have different requirements and, in my opinion, should have different requirements. In fact, there should be rules that are followed for urban spaces and rules for more rural spaces. When governments only specify one way and do not consider the profile of the area, it greatly hinders the ability to create a sustainable and enjoyable space.
If you are involved in any way with land planning, design, architecture, engineering or development, you need to participate in a charette. It is an amazing process to watch a site plan become a workable entity. Working with Duany, it was important for us to follow the transect that he actually was in the process of developing during our charette. We wanted to develop a town that went from most urban to more rural and include the many visual "hints" that assist the user that he is going from an urban environment to a more rural environment. The most interesting aspect of the process was the interaction between what the best design was versus the best design that was possible given the many limitations that are put on the site. The challenge of designing communities today is to do so within the many requirements that are often at odds with the goals of new urbanism. For example, new urbanism promotes pedestrian friendly streets. This goal encourages narrow streets, on-street parking and curves to force drivers to slow down. The reality is that people don't want to slow down. The reality is that emergency services don't want to drive on narrow lanes. It was increasingly difficult to meet all the requirements and not lose the essence of new urbanism during the process. Also, one has to factor in the amount of open space or green space required, the separation requirements between the various utilities in the project and the placement of civic spaces. Personally I probably am in the minority but I am not a fan of requiring trees to be planted in islands throughout parking lots. Planners, seeking shade, require a tree every "X" number of parking spaces. Quite frankly, I think requring a certain number of trees is great but if you could get a larger section in the parking lot with several trees or encourage more of a useable urban park near the parking lot, it would be better for the trees and for the users of the space. Maybe it is a good idea to let the cars get hot in the sun...maybe people would be more willing to take mass transit...who knows?? I just think that urban parking lots need to be urban and smaller in the final footprint rather than larger than they need to be because of the island requirements. Sub-urban parking lots could have different requirements and, in my opinion, should have different requirements. In fact, there should be rules that are followed for urban spaces and rules for more rural spaces. When governments only specify one way and do not consider the profile of the area, it greatly hinders the ability to create a sustainable and enjoyable space.
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