The Intrusion of the Vehicle into Suburban Neighborhoods
In the 1840s, American homes began to transform from “an ordinary farm into a gentleman’s estate” while today suburbia is plagued with learning how to move from roadway-dominated neighborhoods to more unique, though condensed, garden villas reminiscent of the past. Homeowners still aim for the “triple dream” (house, nature, community) shown in the Llewellyn Park’s of suburban history, however, the present task is vastly more complicated with such reliance on vehicular transportation and convenience. The results are static neighborhood planning, homes positioned along a grid, and minimal outdoor space mirroring one’s neighbors.
In order to discover the impact of automobile use on suburban design, it is important to study the history of vehicle dependency as it relates to suburban homeowners and usage. Also, a further literature review on the theories of New Urbanism (www.cnu.org) and traditional, walkable neighborhoods, as well as current research findings from the Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org), will be conducted. Lastly, three communities planned around New Urbanism theories will be used as case studies to review the design aspects and outcomes in relation to vehicular usage: 1) King Farm, Rockville, MD; 2) Salishan Neighborhood Revitalization, Tacoma, WA (Fig. 1); 3) Habitat Trails, Rogers, AR.
This is a very interesting topic. It's making me begin to wonder how different the ideals of a home and our society's overall lifestyle would be if vehicles weren't so readily available and so heavily depended on. It's so interesting how New Urbanism theories draw on ideas from the past. I would be interested to see how and why homes and communities of the past that embodied parts of New Urbanism were set aside to make room for the suburbia of today.
ReplyDeleteDo the three communities you will be using as case studies show promise for the possibility of obtaining the triple dream? I wonder if people will begin to seek out homes in denser neighborhoods, closer to work/school and close to shopping areas with the rising gas prices!
Your chosen topic is such a large factor in the way suburbia has developed and how it functions. There are so many factors (both positive and negative) attributed to heavy use of the automobile. Earlier in the semester I found this interesting article which stated,
ReplyDelete"Before the automobile, people both lived in the city and worked in the city, or lived in the country and worked on a farm. Because of the automobile, the growth of suburbs has allowed people to live on the outskirts of the city and be able to work in the city by commuting. New jobs due to the impact of the automobile such as fast food, city/highway construction, state patrol/police, convenience stores, gas stations, auto repair shops, auto shops, etc. allow more employment for the world's growing population." http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/systems/agentsheets/New-Vista/automobile/
While those impacts are positive, one negative impact is the increase in fast food which has contributed to obesity. The three precedents you will examine on New Urbanism theories will be very interesting to read about in conjunction to their approach on vehicular use.
Your second paragraph is clearly stated and gives the reader a good idea of what to expect in the rest of your paper.
I will be interested in seeing the direction you take this paper. I sit and think about how now families in suburbia hoften have 3 or 4 cars and how the driveways and garages were not designed to accommodate this. Will you be proposing a new layout or what will be the approach taken for the overall solution to this problem?
ReplyDeleteThe case studies I've chosen de-emphasize the dependence on automobiles and consider focusing on other valuable aspects of neighborhoods. From the research, the aim is to study what were positive and negative outcomes of these communities in relation to New Urbanism theories. What have the residents said after they moved in and lived there a while, in order to determine if in fact American homeowners can move in the direction of less intrusion of private modes of transportation.
ReplyDeletegreat job erica...the topic has generated lots of early interest so you know that the position is clear and the potential arguments are intriguing. i know that DWELL magazine back in the early 2000s did a three part "special" on the automobile...you should look inot dwell magazine as a source as well.
ReplyDeletei also suppose you could dedicate a paragraph just on the position and dominance of the garage...is it a place for people or a place for cars....
Your topic is the most important point for suburbs. I planned to touch on similar subject on my final paper, too. Today, people who live in outside of cities, they have a car and prefer driving even they go to anywhere inside of the suburbs. We have to solve this problem as future architects, planners and designers. I found an article on NY times's website for using on my final paper and think that maybe you can use it for your paper, too and I hope it will help you. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?pagewanted=all
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