Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron takes an interesting look at suburban and exurban development — and the prospects for recovery in the wake of the housing bust.
Tag: Land use
A few more thoughts on third places
In my City Talk column today — When third place isn’t so bad — I talk again about Ray Oldenburg’s theory of third places: In his book The Great Good Place, Oldenburg demonstrates why these gathering places are essential to…
Taking a closer look at Clayton Homes’ zero energy i-house
I wrote about Green Bridge Farm, a sustainable community in Effingham County, in a post a few weeks ago. Yesterday I went out again to Green Bridge Farm for the open house for Clayton Homes’ i-house, a zero energy home…
Follow up on today’s column about proposed T-SPLOST, I-16 flyover removal
In my City Talk column today, I focused on two issues: the shaky status of the I-16 flyover removal, which didn’t quite make the cut for funding via the proposed sales tax for transportation that is part of the state’s…
Green Bridge Farm: zero energy i-House, communal organic garden, endless blueberries
Back in 2008, I wrote a column about Green Bridge Farm, a small sustainable development in Effingham County about a 30-minute drive from downtown Savannah. Michael Maddox’s family has owned the property since the 18th century, and he’s now crafting…
AP looks at efforts to retrofit cities for an aging population
Everyone knows we have an aging population in America, but what does it mean for American cities? Check out this fascinating AP piece: “Aging boomers strain cities built for the young“. Apart from some painful prose — like “silver tsunami”…
Zoning and Paula Deen’s chickens
Even the Huffington Post is now covering the enforcement of zoning in Chatham County that might mean the end of Paula Deen’s chickens. But I’m betting that the end result won’t be Paula Deen — or anyone else in the…
State senate banking chair has property in foreclosure, and other commercial real estate misadventures
Credit is tight, demand is weak, and the commercial property bubble burst right after the residential one did. I have followed housing issues primarily over the last few years, but the commercial market has been tough too. Take a look…
Urban planner Christian Sottile talks about cities at TEDxCreativeCoast in Savannah (video embedded)
I’ve studied and written a lot over the years about what makes cities work. Many of my ideas have independently coincided with, been refined by, or directly flowed from the minds of Christian and Amy Sottile, who have done truly…
More thoughts on population loss in older neighborhoods, the clustering of services, and supporting existing neighborhoods
In my City Talk column last Sunday, “How public policy can fight population loss in Savannah”, I continued my ongoing discussion about some of the demographic issues evident in the 2010 census data, especially the population loss in many of…
Population loss in older Savannah neighborhoods, gains in West Chatham
In last Tuesday’s City Talk column, I wrote about the increasing vacancy rates in Chatham County: According to the census in 2000, Chatham County had 99,863 housing units, with 9,818 vacant (about 9.8 percent). In 2010, the county had 119,323…
Location-efficient communities and $4 gas
There’s a great new article up at Planetizen by Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology: “$4 per Gallon Gas — Are We Ready?” It’s pretty clear that for many Americans, the answer to that question is a resounding…
A legacy of bold decisions, mostly good ones, in terms of land use
In the coming months, I hope to continue to develop posts for this blog about Savannah’s remarkable history in terms of land use, civic planning, and related matters. This is a matter of history, certainly, but it’s also a matter…