For John Norquist, it was the equivalent of “shaking your leg and beating the tin cup.”
Norquist, then mayor of Milwaukee, now president of the Congress for New Urbanism, was one of several municipal leaders who met in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and told federal officials that U.S. cities were in dire need of funding to prevent similar crises.
It was a poor strategy, Norquist said – it ended up pulling development dollars out of the nation’s cities and putting them into the suburbs, leading to more sprawl.
Selling Luxury Real Estate Requires More Than Exposure
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Private Office Advisor Engel & Völkers Oceanside www.DiSpiritoteam.com…
Learn More
“You can’t build a city on pity,” Norquist said. “You have to build it on what its real value is.”
Norquist and the new urbanism movement touted that real value at CNU XIV, a conference June 1 to 4 that drew nearly 1,500 people from 20 countries.
The meeting, which promoted the group’s vision of vibrant, walkable communities with a mix of uses and people of different incomes – both for new development and redevelopment – comes at what some have called the “defining moment” for new urbanism.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the region lost architecture along with human life. The principles of new urbanism have been invoked in the rebuilding of New Orleans and Mississippi, thrusting the movement into the spotlight.
Proponents and critics have emerged, with supporters arguing that new urbanist strategies would help reverse the damage done by sprawl since the Eisenhower years, and critics saying that it would promote gentrification or hinder market choice.
Norquist said the notion that new urbanism promotes gentrification both “over-complicates and over-simplifies” the issue.
The idea of pushing existing residents out of their neighborhoods is not one of the principles of new urbanism. In fact, Norquist said, mixed-income developments can help spur vibrant communities.
But when private investment is made, he acknowledged, the prices that developers seek to recoup their expenses can be unaffordable to existing residents. At the same time, he argued, these areas would often be ignored if it weren’t for the private sector.
“If it’s one of the most blighted areas in the town, where will the capital come from to fix the buildings in that neighborhood?” Norquist said.
The ideals of new urbanism are embraced by Rhode Island Housing, which aims to help low- and moderate-income residents find the housing they need. The agency, which was one of CNU XIV’s chief sponsors, supports the movement because of its focus on compact development, said spokesman Christopher Barnett.
“New urbanism will be a crucial tool in solving Rhode Island’s housing shortage,” Barnett said. “There is no place to responsibly sprawl in Rhode Island, so we have to embrace the compact growth principles that are at the heart of new urbanism. The state’s vacant commercial buildings, old factories and timeworn village centers are waiting for re-investment, and housing is often the vehicle.”
But how successful are new urbanist developments in providing affordable housing?
According to Andrés Duany, an architect who helped found the movement and is currently working to redesign the Gulf Coast, the answer isn’t cut and dried.
Seaside, Fla., credited as one of the first new urbanist developments in America, has seen property values skyrocket. Duany said a house he once owned in a development, for example, has gone from $37,000 to $450,000.
The Katrina Cottages, built after the hurricane as a means of providing attractive and affordable housing to the victims of last year’s hurricane, started with a selling price around $35,000. Within weeks, the price had jumped.
The reasons for the rapidly rising prices are the attractiveness of new urbanist developments and the scarcity of them, he said. “We’re able to deliver affordable housing but we are unable to maintain it,” Duany said.
Despite some flaws in the movement, Cornish Associates CEO Arnold “Buff” Chace sees a lot of value in new urbanism. Chace, who lobbied to bring CNU XIV to Providence, has implemented the principles of new urbanism in his projects along Westminster Street.
New urbanist projects promote the social aspects of community and tend to be environmentally friendly because they do not rely on cars, Chace said. But also, if municipalities begin to incorporate the movement’s principles into their local zoning ordinances, the predictability of the process could make it easier on the developers.
“Time is money,” Chace said, “and if they can get through the regulatory process in half the time, that’s something to them.”
Overall, however, he said the principles of new urbanism make sense and allow communities to reclaim their cities, many of which have been devastated by decades of large-lot, use-restrictive zoning and roads that pull the community apart.
“This is about being practical – it’s not an ideology,” Chace said. “It’s about understanding what works and being very critical and analytical. We’re not modernists, we’re not traditionalists. We’re looking at how people work together and trying to do more of things that work to bring community together.”
