Bay Meadows, San Mateo's progressive Urban Village on the Caltrain Line
By Julie Scrivner
If any of you keep up on news local to Berkeley, or are from around the area, you may have already heard about this "progressive Urban Village." For those of you who haven't, this neighborhood is one of the first ecovillages in the Bay Area. "Setting the standard for people who want to live in a comprehensively sustainable and environmentally friendly atmosphere at the forefront of innovation and comfort, TPH's Amelia, is a 63-home neighborhood of two- and three-bedroom town homes replete with porches and balconies while Shea Homes' Landsdowne residences will be composed of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes oriented to the lush greenery of Bay Meadows' 12-acre park. Consistent with Bay Meadows' pedestrian-friendly approach, garages are at the rear of each home. Landsdowne and Amelia residences were designed by KTGY Architecture and Planning. The comprehensively-sustainable Bay Meadows will also feature five LEED-certified office buildings, a traditional town square and main street retail."
Bay Meadows is just one of the developments in response to the demand for towns on a smaller scale, ones in which driving is minimized and walking is optimal. This new demand is coming as a backlash against urban sproul, and may very well be the type of housing situations we see on a massive scale in the next decade. The idea of the village is that once you park your car on Friday afternoon, there is no need for your family to get back into it until Monday morning. With walking access to parks, retail, and the Caltrain for a trip to the city, there is no need for your family to leave your little paradise. However, I see this village as only the start to the ecocity trend. Although there is direct access to the Caltrain line, many families will still need to drive their cars M-F if their work is not accessible along the line, and if their schools aren't either.
This new model home living, in which the first generation of families must go through strict regulations and applications, makes me wonder about the potential impact on poorer families. Will these Urban Villages become the new way to segregate the haves from the have-nots? Is this a form of gated communities, or will the shopping district and 12-acre park will be open to the public who don't live within the village? I believe that this is a step in the right direction, but the greenification of a city, like Berkeley, may be a better approach.
The idea of ecocities comes from a guest lecturer in my class ESPM C167. His idea of ecocities is to use hot spots of residencies as the basis for a more compact, but greener, city. Instead of having one level office buildings or residencies, put the commercial shops on the street level, place office buildings on top of that level, and residencies at the top. The goal of this model is to make is possible for families to walk 5 minutes to work, shop, eat, or school. Overtime these hotspots will be built up as families migrate inwards towards the city center. As houses are abandoned on the outskirts of the city, these will be taken over by agriculture, moving agricultural production back near to the cities, minimizing the cost and carbon footprint of transporting goods. This model incorporates families that are already living in the city, instead of creating an entirely new, elite city. In addition, it allows for a vibrant and diverse community of different cultures and communities, rather than just those who can afford it.
The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city:
And more!
It is important for our generation of GPP students to advocate for a greener future, that includes all demographic types.
Check out more about ecocities:
http://www.ecocitybuilders.org/
http://svenworld.com/2010/08/03/what-on-earth-is-an-ecocity/
By Julie Scrivner
If any of you keep up on news local to Berkeley, or are from around the area, you may have already heard about this "progressive Urban Village." For those of you who haven't, this neighborhood is one of the first ecovillages in the Bay Area. "Setting the standard for people who want to live in a comprehensively sustainable and environmentally friendly atmosphere at the forefront of innovation and comfort, TPH's Amelia, is a 63-home neighborhood of two- and three-bedroom town homes replete with porches and balconies while Shea Homes' Landsdowne residences will be composed of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes oriented to the lush greenery of Bay Meadows' 12-acre park. Consistent with Bay Meadows' pedestrian-friendly approach, garages are at the rear of each home. Landsdowne and Amelia residences were designed by KTGY Architecture and Planning. The comprehensively-sustainable Bay Meadows will also feature five LEED-certified office buildings, a traditional town square and main street retail."
This new model home living, in which the first generation of families must go through strict regulations and applications, makes me wonder about the potential impact on poorer families. Will these Urban Villages become the new way to segregate the haves from the have-nots? Is this a form of gated communities, or will the shopping district and 12-acre park will be open to the public who don't live within the village? I believe that this is a step in the right direction, but the greenification of a city, like Berkeley, may be a better approach.
The idea of ecocities comes from a guest lecturer in my class ESPM C167. His idea of ecocities is to use hot spots of residencies as the basis for a more compact, but greener, city. Instead of having one level office buildings or residencies, put the commercial shops on the street level, place office buildings on top of that level, and residencies at the top. The goal of this model is to make is possible for families to walk 5 minutes to work, shop, eat, or school. Overtime these hotspots will be built up as families migrate inwards towards the city center. As houses are abandoned on the outskirts of the city, these will be taken over by agriculture, moving agricultural production back near to the cities, minimizing the cost and carbon footprint of transporting goods. This model incorporates families that are already living in the city, instead of creating an entirely new, elite city. In addition, it allows for a vibrant and diverse community of different cultures and communities, rather than just those who can afford it.
The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city:
It is important for our generation of GPP students to advocate for a greener future, that includes all demographic types.
Check out more about ecocities:
http://www.ecocitybuilders.org/
http://svenworld.com/2010/08/03/what-on-earth-is-an-ecocity/
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