In presenting preliminary plans on five different communities in metro Atlanta on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 14, Andres Duany shared ideas on how to retrofit suburban shopping malls.
Duany, considered the father of new urbanism, said malls are between 120 and 180 acres. They are strategically located on arterial roads. And they have (now often vacant) big box stores that can be converted for new uses.
“All the parking lots are just building sites,” said Duany,
Nearly everything that’s wrong with our American society can be blamed on sprawl.
At least that’s what Andres Duany, the father of “new urbanism,” believes.
Duany is in Atlanta working on a nine-day planning exercise called: “Lifelong Communities.” He was brought here by the Atlanta Regional Commission, and several other partners, to help design welcome communities for our aging population.
Stay tuned to this space to read commentaries and analysis from many of our region’s civic leaders and interested citizens. If you have ideas you would like to share, or if you know of someone who can contribute to improving our region and state; please let me know. Email me at: maria@saportareport.com. It would be great to have color photo of those contributing to this feature.
Could transportation funding reach a stalemate yet again this year?
The politics between all the diverse constituencies at the state could torpedo progress for another year.
The state House is favoring a statewide sales tax. The state Senate is favoring a regional solution, giving metro counties the option to vote in a one-cent tax.
The big question is the role the governor will play. Will he side with the House or Senate, or will he promote his own agenda?
Welcome to SaportaReport, a site I hope will be a thought-provoking venue in making metro Atlanta and Georgia a great place to live, work, play and study.
For readers who are familiar with my writings at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this column will be similar in scope to the one I wrote for the Horizon section for about a decade.
This will be my outlet to share perspectives of our region and our state, and to weigh in on how we can do better. My topics will range from transportation, the environment, the arts, philanthropy, urban design to leadership.
