Scott sends along the release regarding the Andres Duany lecture that was scheduled for tomorrow in Decatur…

Duany Appearance in Decatur Cancelled
Public lecture remains scheduled and will now feature keynote Ellen Dunham-Jones

Because the Decatur, Georgia, installment of the SmartCode Workshop, originally scheduled for April 16-19, has been postponed indefinitely, Andres Duany, the Workshop’s lead speaker, will not be appearing at the public lecture scheduled for April 16 at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

Instead, DeKalb County Commissioners will use the scheduled event to kick-off the county’s LCI study of retrofitting along the North Druid Hills Corridor, and have invited Ellen Dunham-Jones, head of Georgia Tech’s architecture department and co-author of the recently released book, “Retrofitting Suburbia,” to serve as keynote speaker.

Ms. Dunham-Jones will explore urbanization of existing suburbs as an antidote to existing patterns of sprawl, and will speak on how new forms of development can: serve as catalysts for a more connected landscape, absorb new growth, and evolve in relation to changed demographic, economic, and regional conditions.

The April 16 event begins at 5:30pm and will include the lecture, follow-up discussion and book signing. Holy Trinity Parish is located at 515 East Ponce de Leon Avenue in Decatur.

Wheatley forwards a call-to-action from StandUpDeKalb, over the land use redesignation of the Williamsburg Apartments at the southeast corner of Clairmont and N. Druid Hills Road.

The note promotes opposition to the redesignation because the apartments were not part of the County Planning Department’s original list of “appropriate town centers”, and because the developer JLC (not to be confused with 315’s JLB) has turned down the neighborhood’s request to submit a detailed site plan.  However, a site plan isn’t required for land use redesignation in the county, only for rezoning.

This project is part of the larger ARC project to create senior-oriented mixed use development in this car-centric area of DeKalb County.  Duany talked the neighborhood specifically in his opening address to the ARC a few weeks back, and though the neighborhood says the apartments weren’t part of the county’s original “town center” list, I believe Duany showed inital plans for this very intersection.

Unfortunately for everyone, with the advent of sprawl, today we have these huge plots of developed land that rely solely on automobile use.  And whether you believe in “climate change” and our “dwindling natural resources” or not, you must admit that the only 50 year-old concept of “retirement homes” is a rather depressing result of our car culture.  The only feasible way to “start over” in these massive plots, and allow our aging population to “live in place” (read: avoid the retirement home) is to let developers take them on at once, building these large mixed-use communities.

Its NOT the optimal solution.  I’d much rather see individual properties with different owners, slowly redevelop their individual plots to create more organic mixed-use growth.   But that ship sailed long ago.  Now, thanks to the huge land grabs made 50-60 years ago, these large-scale redevelopments are about our only option.  I’m not advocating that we let the developers run wild.  Do your part.  Go to the meetings, challenge their plans, make them second guess everthing.  If you have a critique, make it known.

But don’t stand in the way just because its new and different.

UPDATE: The Duany lecture has been canceled.  See this more recent post for more details.

On Thursday April 16th, New Urbanist extraordinare, Andres Duany, will open his three day SmartCode workshop in Decatur with a free talk about Smart Growth principles from 5:30p-8p at Holy Trinity Parish (515 E. Ponce de Leon Ave).

A book signing will follow the event.

Duany never disappoints, so come see what’s sure to be an entertaining romp through the principles and benefits of smart growth.

Thanks to Bo for forwarding!

The full press release can be found after the jump, which includes a little love for Decatur and a quote from Lyn Menne. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh snap!

Though Scott and E reported that smart growth “godfather” Andres Duany mentioned Decatur in a recent presentation, they didn’t mention how, in the words of CL’s Thomas Wheatley,  “deliciously brutal” he was about metro-Atlanta.

For instance…ehem…wanna make sure I get this right…

“If Decatur’s great, it’s only in the absence of anything better.”

And while that particular nugget certainly stings more than just a little for a community that’s been trying hard to reverse its bad development practices for over 20 years, you’ll probably find yourself agreeing with Duany as he turns his attention to other, less flattering aspects of Atlanta’s urban landscape.

All of these delightful Duany bites can be found in Wheatley’s post over on Fresh Loaf.