Joint Town of Los Gatos Town Council/Planning Commission Study Session Field Trip AgendaJOINT TOWN OF LOS GATOS
TOWN COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION
STUDYSESSION/FIELD TRIP AGENDA
REVIEW OF RECENTLY CONSTRUCTED PROJECTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1997
5:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
Joanne Benjamin, Mayor
Linda Lubeck, Vice Mayor
Randy Attaway, Council Member
Steven Blanton, Council Member
Jan Hutchins, Council Member
5:00 P.M.
• Tour Participants Will Meet in Council Chambers for Review of Project
Blueprints
► Tour Will Then Proceed to Town Hall Parking Lot and Embark Bus to the
Following Selected Sites:
1. Los Gatos Glen - 300 Blossom Hill Road
2. Wimbledon Estates
3. Freeway Remainder Parcels on Wedgewood and Pollard Roads
4. Open Doors - 634 W. Parr Avenue
5. Office Depot - 15166 Los Gatos Boulevard
6. Subdivision near Peppertree School - 16055 Los Gatos -Almaden Road
7. "The Dome" - 16101 Los Gatos Boulevard
8. Speedee Oil - 15643 Los Gatos Boulevard
9. Cornerstone Shopping Center - 15902 - 16000 Los Gatos Boulevard
10. Sierra Azule - 14615 Shannon Road
11. Kennedy Meadows - 16221 Kennedy Road
12. Bella Vista Gardens - 371 Bella Vista Avenue
ADJOURNMENT
In Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, If You Need Special Assistance to
Participate in this Meeting, Please Contact Patsy Madrid, (408) 354-6832. Notification 48 Hours
Before the Meeting Will Enable the Town to Make Reasonable Arrangements to Ensure
Accessibility to this Meeting. (28 CFR §35.102-35.104]
MGRI I3W:ITCAGENDAI4-30SS. WPD
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
JOINT TOWN COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION
STUDY SESSION/FTELD TRIP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Route Map
2. Field Trip Directions
3. Multi -family Residential Summary Sheet
4. Fact Sheet from 1976 Field Trip
5. 45 E. Main St. Floor Plan
6. 37 E. Main St. Floor Plan and Elevations of 31 through 45 E. Main St.
7. 31. E. Main St. Site Plan
8. 34 E. Main St. Site Plan and elevations (2 sheets)
9. 354 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Site Plan and elevations (2 sheets)
10. Los Gatos Glen (300 Blossom Hill Rd.) Site Plan
11. Wimbledon Estates (14731 Winchester Blvd.) Tentative Map
12. Open Doors Family Housing (634 W. Parr Ave.) Site Plan and elevations (2 sheets)
13. Office Depot (15166 Los Gatos Blvd.) Elevations and site plan (3 sheets)
14. 14960 Terreno de Flores Perspective view, elevations and site plan (3 sheets)
15. 16055 Los Gatos Almaden Rd. (Pepper -tree School subdivision) Site Plan and
elevations (2 sheets)
16. Speedee Oil Change (15643 Los Gatos Blvd.) Site Plan and elevations (2 sheets)
17. Cornerstone Shopping Center (15902 - 16000 Los Gatos Blvd.) Site Plan and
elevations (5 sheets)
18. "The Dome" (16101 Los Gatos Blvd.) Perspective, site plan and elevations (3 sheets)
Table of Contents
Page 2
19. 119 Harwood Court (Detached Accessory Building) Elevations and floor plan
20. 14615 Shannon Road (Sierra Azule)
21. Kennedy Meadows (16221 Kennedy Rd)
22. 371 Bella Vista Ave. (Alberto Way)
23. Article from Sierra Club publication,
N:\IDEVNLEEWLDTRP.TBL
Tentative Map
Tentative Map
Site Plan, perspective and streetscape (3 sheets)
"Twelve Gates to the City", submitted by Dave Flick.
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
JOINT TOWN COUNCHJPLANNING COMMISSION
STUDY SESSION/FIELD TRIP DIRECTIONS
April 30, 1997
• Depart from Civic Center - Go west on E. Main Street
Flick Buildings - 34 & 37 E. Main Street
Beckwith Building - 31 E. Main Street
Johnson Building - 43-45 E. Main Street
• Right on N. Santa Cruz Avenue
Mondeo - 9 N. Santa Cruz Avenue
Planters
Double D's - 354 N. Santa Cruz Avenue
Olive Street
• Right on Roberts Road
• Right into Ohlone Court/ Turn around at cul-de-sac
Los Gatos Glen - 300 Blossom Hill Road (Number 1 on the Map)
• Right on Roberts Road
• Left on Blossom Hill Road
• Right on University Avenue
Eleanor's site - 720 University Avenue
Woodworker's site - 742 University Avenue
973 University Avenue
• Left on Lark Avenue
CNG site
Right on Winchester Boulevard
Left on Wimbledon Drive
Wimbledon Estates - 14731 Winchester Blvd. (Number 2 on the Map)
Courtside Planned Development
• Left on Wedgewood Avenue
• Follow Wedgewood to Pollard Road
CalTrans property (Number 3 on the Map)
• Right on Pollard Road
CalTrans property (Number 3 on the Map)
Los Gatos Woods
• Left on Dardanelli Lane
• Right on West Parr Avenue
STOP - Tour Open Doors - 634 W. Parr Avenue (Number 4 on the
Map)
• Continue on West Parr Avenue
Villa Vasona
Cedar Village
• Right on Capri Drive
• Left on Division Street
• Right on Winchester Boulevard
Smith Property
Courtside Tennis Club
• Left on Lark Avenue
Lost Gatos Creek Trail/Bridge
16673 Lark Avenue Project
• Left on Los Gatos Boulevard, park on street next to Office Depot
STOP - Office Depot - 15166 Los Gatos Blvd. (Number 5 on the Map)
Continue north on Los Gatos Boulevard
14960 Terrano de Flores Lane
"North 40" Properties
• Right on Samaritan Drive
• Right on National Avenue
• Right on Los Gatos Almaden Road
STOP - Subdivision near Peppertree School - 16055 Los Gatos
Almaden Road (Number 6 on the Map)
• Left on Los Gatos Boulevard
Speedee Oil Change - 15643 Los Gatos Blvd. (Number 7 on the Map)
• Left into Cornerstone Shopping Center Parking Lot, park in lot.
STOP - Cornerstone Shopping Center 15902-16000 Los Gatos Blvd.
(Number 8 on the Map)
"The Dome" - 16101 Los Gatos Blvd. (Number 9 on the Map)
• Exit Parking Lot onto Camellia Terrace then Left on Blossom Hill Road
Terraces
Camino Del Cerro
Greenbriar - 8 lot subdivision at Union Avenue and Blossom Hill
Road
Right into driveway at 14734 Blossom Hill Road, turn around and exit right back onto
Blossom Hill Road
STOP -U.C. Regents - Summerhill project
• Right on Harwood Road
119 Harwood Court - Detached structure
• Drive through emergency access gate
STOP - Look down onto Challenger site and valley around Hicks and
Shannon Roads
• Proceed along Santa Rosa Drive Iook at Sierra Azule houses (Number 10 on the Map)
• Drive down hill, turn left on Shannon Road
• Right on Kennedy Road
Right on Forrester Road
STOP - Leave group to walk Kennedy Meadows trail (Number 11 on
the Map)
• Bus will turn around, turn right on Kennedy Road and pull to the side of the road just after
passing Kennedy Court to pick up group
2
• Proceed along Kennedy Road, turn left on Los Gatos Boulevard
"This Old House" - 367 Los Gatos Blvd.
• Right on HWY 9 (Los Gatos -Saratoga Road)
• Right on Alberto Way
Pueblo de Los Gatos
Las Casitas
Los Gatos Commons
STOP - Leave group to walk Bella Vista Village (Number 12 on the
Map)
• Turn around at end of Alberto Way, pick up group
• Left on HWY 9 (Los Gatos -Saratoga Road)
Right on Los Gatos Boulevard
Left on Fiesta Way, turn into Civic Center Parking Lot
3
Right on HWY 9 (Los Gatos -Saratoga Road)
• Right on Alberto Way
Pueblo de Los Gatos
Las Casitas
Los Gatos Commons
STOP - Leave group to walk Bella Vista Village
• Turn around at end of Alberto Way, pick up group
• Left on HWY 9 (Los Gatos -Saratoga Road)
• Right on Los Gatos Boulevard
• Left on Fiesta Way, turn into Civic Center Parking Lot
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MULTIPLE RESIDENTIAL ANALYSIS
1. PUEBLO DE LOS GATOS - 53 units
(Formerly Alberto Way Apartments)
420 Alberto Way
Fact Sheet
from 1976 Field Trip
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 6 to 24 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: CH (Highway Commercial),
(multiple residential complex allowable by Conditional
Use Approval).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density urban
residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: CH (Highway Commercial), (Planning
Commission public hearing to consider rezone to R-M:5-12
set for February 21, 1973)
e. Area of property: 2.5 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 53
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 53 (21 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 29 (12 units/net acre)
This development, approved in 1969 as an apartment complex,
was converted with Town approval to a condominium (individual
ownership of units and common ownership of open space) in
1972.
2. LAGOON APARTMENTS - 23 units
16945 Roberts Road
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 6 to 24 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential)
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density urban
residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 1.1 acre.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 23
(21 units/acre)
-1-
g. Number of units approved: 23 (21 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 13 (12 units per net acre)
3. VALLEY OAKS - 28 units
(Residential condominium)
120 Oak Rim Way
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 6 to 24 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential)
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density
urban residential range (5-12 families per net acre)
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 1.52 acres.
f. M•iaximum units allowable at time of approval: 32
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 28 (19 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 18 (12 units per net acre)
4. ESPANA OAKS - 54 units
(Residential condominium)
120 Carlton Avenue
a. General Plan desianation at the time of approval:
Residential 3 to 5 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential)
c. Existing General Plan designation: Lowest density
urban residential range (0-5 dwellings per net acre)
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 5.42 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 116
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 54 (12 units/acre)
h. .aximum units allowable now: 55 (12 units per net acre)
-2-
5. LOS GATOS VILLAGE - 163 units
(-Residential condominium)
15700 Los Gatos -Almaden Road
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Medium density urban residential range (5-12 dwellings
per net acre).
b. Zoning at time of approval: RPD (Allowing a 133-unit
residential complex).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Same as when approved
d. Existing zoning: PO (Planned Development)
e. Area of property: 22.5 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 216
(12 units per net acre)
g. Number of units approved: 163 (7.2 units/net acre)
h. flaximum units allowable now: 163 (As specified by
approved Planned Development)
6. LAND MARK APART;AENTS - 96 units
14850-14930 Oka Road
a. General Plan designation at time of approval:
Residential 3-5 families per acre.
b. Zonina at time of approval: R-2S (Multiple Family
Residential.
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density
residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre)
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 4.73 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 103
(21 units/acre)
g. Numbers of units approved: 96 (20 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 56 (12 units per net acre)
7. CASTLE!•I00D APARTMENTS - 132 units
Castlewood Drive
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 6-24 families per acre.
-3-
b. Zoning at the time of approval: R-2-S (Multiple Family
Residential).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density urban
residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre)
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: Land subdivided into 35 parcels
averaging approximately 8,500 to 9,000 square feet each.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 140
(35 lots x 4)
g. Number of units approved: 132 (33 lots x 4)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 70 (35 lots x 2)
8. LOS GATOS WOODS - 235 units
(Residential condominium)
920 Pollard Road
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 6 to 24 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential).
c. Existing_ General Plan designation: Medium density
urban residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-i,1:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 21.2 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 445
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 235 (11 'units/net acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 228 (12 units per net acre)
9. CALLE MARGUERITA APARTt1E JTS - 41 units
268 Cal l e Marguerite
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 3-5 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Resi_ential)
-4-
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density urban
residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (ilultiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 3.6 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 75
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 41 (11.4 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 42 (12 units per net acre)
The last five units to this development were more recently
approved and are still under construction.
10. WEDGEWOOD MANOR - 108 units
(Senior Citizen residential condominium)
Lora Drive
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 3-5 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: R-1 (Single Family
Residential).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density
urban residential range (5-12 dwellings par net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-1:8,000
e. Area of property: 5.8 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: Unknown.
9•
Number of units approved: 108 (19 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: (Under R-1:8 zoning=
approximately 25) (By Planned Development up to 70)
11. VALLEY OAKS DRIVE APARTMENTS - 20 units
Valley Oaks Drive
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 3-5 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: Rr1:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Lowest density urban
residential range (0-5 dwellings per net acre).
-5-
d. Existing zoning: R-M:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 1.2 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 25
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 20 (16 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 15 (12 units per net acre)
12. VASONA TERRACE - 57 units
(Residential condominium)
15400 Winchester Boulevard
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 6 to 24 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential)
c. Existing General Plan designation: Medium density urban
residential range (5-12 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-i1:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 7.3 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 153
(21 units/acre)
g. Number of units approved: 57 (7.8 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 74 (12 units per net acre)
13. PENNSYLVANIA APARTMENTS - 32 units
600 Pennsylvania Avenue
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 3-5 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (Multiple
Family Residential).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Lowest density urban
residential range (0-5 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-"i:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of Property: 2.7 acres.
-6-
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 56
(21 units/acre)
9•
Number of units approved: 32 (12 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 32 (12 units per net acre)
14. RANCHO DE LOS GATOS - 71 units
(Residential condominium)
18400 Overlook Road
a. General Plan designation at the time of approval:
Residential 3 to 5 families per acre.
b. Zoning at the time of approval: RM:8,000 (:•lultiple
Family Residential).
c. Existing General Plan designation: Low•west density urban
residential range (0-5 dwellings per net acre).
d. Existing zoning: R-it:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
e. Area of property: 7.9 acres.
f. Maximum units allowable at time of approval: 165 units
(2T units/acre)
9•
Number of units approved: 71 (8.9 units/acre)
h. Maximum units allowable now: 80 (12 units per net acre)
The following additional information is provided for those resi-
dential developments presently under construction:
1. LOS GATOS VILLAGE, LOS GATOS WOODS AIJD VASONA TERRACE
(See above)
2. VILLA OE LOS GATOS
16345 Los Gatos Boulevard
a. Zoning: R-:1:5-12 (Multiple Family Residential)
b. Net land area: 5.47 acres.
c. Maximum allowable units: 65
d. Number of units approved: 52
e. Resulting density: 9.5 units per net acre.
-7-
3. CHARTER OAKS
N4700 Winchester Boulevard
a. Zonina: PD (Planned Development) (General Plan designation
5-12)
b. Land area: Total site = 17 acres, public and private
streets = 6.5 acres, net land area exclusive of above=
10.5 acres.
c. Maximum allowable units: 126
d. Number of units approved: 102
e. Resulting density: 9.7 units per net acre.
4. WEDGE1!00DMANOR EXPANSION
Lora Drive
(Senior Citizen residential condominium)
a. Zoning: R-1:8,000 (Single Family Residential)
b. Land Area: 1.2 acres
c. Maximum allowable units: 23 (as an expansion of the
adjacent nonconforming use at identical density).
d. Number of units approved: 23
e. Resulting density: 19.4 units per acre.
5. AVERY LANE APARTMENTS
Avery Lane
a. Zoning: R-•i:5-20 (Multiple Family Residential)
b. Net land area: 87,636 square feet.
c. Maximum allowable units: 40
d. Number of units approved: 38
e. Resulting_ density: 19 units per net acre.
6. COLLEGE AVENUE APARTMENTS
120 College Avenue
a. Zoning: R-1M (Single Family -Medium Density Residential)
b. Net Land Area: 1.6 acres.
c. Maximum allowable units: 18
d. Number of units approved: 12
e. Resulting density: 7.5 units per net acre.
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• STREETSCAPE •
a-
twelve
to
pity
A dozen ways to build strong, livable,
and sustainable urban areas.
he gently rolling hills of Bedford, New York, only an hour f•oni
midtown Manhattan, seemed an unlikely site for a talk on urban-
ism, looking more like a pastoral scene out ()fa Currier and Ives
painting. But here in a church meeting -room next to the post
office and firehouse, Bedford's citizens were rallying CO save their
beloved town from encroaching urban ills like strip malls and
parking lots. For advice they turned to architect and planner An-
dres Duany, one of the leaders of the "new urbanism" movement. New ur-
banism, it turns out, is very similar to old urbanism: it seeks to revive the
traditional city planning of an era when cities were designed around human
beings instead of automobiles.
In his frequent lectures, Duany blasts "planned unit development" —the
standard suburban subdivision with its worm -shaped cul-de-sacs, sidewalks
that no one ever walks on, and bottleneck -creating collector roads that feed
into already congested highway strips. He then shows slides of the old-fash-
ioned Main Street from Disney World; there are no cars in sight, just visi-
tors strolling. "People pay dearly for this, fly across the country and stay in
expensive hotels just to soak up this urban atmosphere," he says. "But this
is all fake. Imagine how they would love it if these streets and houses were
real." Duany goes on to talk about some of America's favorite real places,
delightful walking towns like Narragansett, Rhode Island, and Annapolis.
Maryland. Because today's building and zoning codes are woefully fixated
on traffic flow, he points out, "such places would he illegal to build."
The fate ofAmerica's cities over the past 50 years has been one of gradual
abandonment. What may be the biggest mass migration in the nation's his-
tory —the move to the suburbs —was sec in motion by a series of federal and
state policies at the end of World War II, including GI -Bill subsidies to sub-
urban home -buyers and massive road -building projects, and furthered by
BY FRANCESCA LYMAN
SIERRA • 29
.12 gates
Hismen Hin-Nu, an innovative and affordable housing complex in Oakland,
California, was designed according to the desires of the residents.
speculative real estate development and savings -and -loan
chicanery. That wave continues to sweep over us with the
building of Thousands of suburban and regional shopping
malls and industrial parks. all ofwhich continue to pull in-
yesnnents and consumer dollars away from cities, while de-
stroying farmland and wildlife habitat.
The motor for this nligranon was the postwar devotion to
tie internal combustion engine, which led to the now ubi-
quitous suburban miasma of malls. drive-in franchises, and
subdivisions w'idl prominent driveways to garages almost as
large as the houses themselves. Residential areas are far dis-
tant from commercial buildings, shaking theta almost im-
possible to reach without an automobile. The iconic all-
American Main Street, with its public space of shops and
markets and offices, is fractured in favor of monolithic dis-
count houses in yesterday's pastures and woodlots.
Older, pre -automobile cities were inherently far more
ecological. in store ways than arc obvious. Compact and
dense. They allowed for greater efficiency, better use of space,
and more diverse housing types and income levels. And be-
cause most major American cities were sited in fertile agri-
cultural areas, there was —and often still is —great potential
for Ieeding them locally. (Ste "Food for Thought," page 19.)
tines are not necessarily had for nature —unless they're
designed to ignore nature. "In many ways the environmen-
tal crisis is a design crisis," writes Sim Van der Ryn in Eco-
iot iral Desii,'n (Island Press, 1995), "a consequence of how
things are made, buildings are constructed, and landscapes
•ire used." Design decisions have become so severed from
their ecological consequences, he says, that during the past
50 years "we have reduced a complex and diverse landscape
into an asphalt network stitched together from coast to coast
our of a dozen or so crude design `templates' "—the strip malls,
30 • !VI AY/IU•NI• I997
regional malls, industrial parks, trailer parks, and
mass-produced single-family homes that are
now so familiar. "Dumb design" is what Van der
Ryn calls these standardized solutions mindless-
ly replicated everywhere, because they require
extravagant energy use, auto dependence, and
total disregard for the particulars of place.
C)ur cities and suburbs are so locked into
dump design that it is hard to imagine a way out.
Government policies are riddled with subsidies
for cars (at the expense of transit and regional
planning) and suburban development. At the
same time, those seeking to build in urban auras
often face higher costs for construction. energy.
water, and waste disposal. Thousands of old in-
dustrial sites contaminated by their past usc.
the so-called brownfields, linger on the urban
landscape for decades because it is easier —and
cheaper —for businesses and industry to relocate
to "grcenficlds," the open, often agricultural
spaces in suburbs and countryside.
low can we undo what 50 years of urban
planning "progress" has done to our farmland.
communities, and culture? The good news is that the work
has already started. Pick almost any city in America today,
and chances are that people arc working together to reclaim
it —through community gardens, recycling, habitat restora-
tion, grcenw•ays, rezoning, and many other projects. No One
city has done it all. hut Chattanooga, Seattle, Jacksonville.
and a few others have undertaken comprehensive plans to
dr:maancally reduce energy and resource use and increase ac-
cess to open space. Architects and city planners are beginning
to shape these visions of sustainability, and, perhaps more
importantly, beginning to change the rules of urban design.
In the old gospel song, there were 12 gates to the
heavenly city. Here are 12 ideas that are gateways to a new
city. Walk through one or more, and help build a vibrant.
human community where you would want to live and
bring up your children.
Think in terms
of whole systems
The modernist school of planners (who got us where we
are today) saw homes as "machines for living in and de-
sign in terms ot-firncnon: architects creating facades, engi-
neers creating electrical and plumbing systems, landscap-
ers doing the greenery, and traffic engineers dictating the
connections between buildings and the rest of the urban
environment. Thinking instead about whole systems en-
courages planners to include the landscape (or cityscape)
and its inhabitants in their approach. It promotes the idea
that many design solutions can spring from a given prob-
lem. Rather than depending on specialists, the commu-
nity —which, after all. will have to live with any new devel-
opment—is involved as much as possible in the planning, dignified as a tree in the
with architects making its ideas and desires concrete. midst of nature." Green
Michael Pyatok is an architect of affordable housing who homes are rooted in the
designed a unique, mixed -use building complex in a rundown natural and cultural charac-
section of Oakland, California, practicing this whole -systems teristics of their regions,
approach. He doesn't take all the credit, however. "We built and are designed to save en -
a constituency from a community of coauthors," he says. In ergy, water, and materials.
a series of workshops, the prospective tenants divided up Instead of using wood clear -
into teams, building models and shaping the indoor and out- cut from national forests,
door space to their liking. "They talked about the things they are constructed from
architects talk about," Pyatok says, "and educated themselves recycled, reclaimed, or lo-
about everything from how to build community and prevent cally produced substitutes.
crime to sustainable construction materials." For example, (See "Shopper, Spare That
they chose to use stucco and cement -based siding rather than Tree!" July/August 1996.)
wood, to consume fewer trees. A central courtyard evolved One model is the Sustain -
into a place for hanging out, available only to residents. The able Housing Demonstra- Green houses can also be archi-
Ohlone residents named the place Hismen Hin-Nu,"Door- tion Project in Cambridge, tecturally appealing. This Buck
way to the Sun." The development never would have hap- Massachusetts. It began Island, North Carolina, home
pened in a conventional situation, says Pyatok, because "de- as a drafty, poorly insulat- (above and lower left) was built
velopers have preconceived notions about what people want." ed three-story woodframe to fit into the landscape and
with hazardous Lead paint. use as many low -toxic, energy -
The architects preserved saving features as possible.
the foundation, sidewalls,
floors, roof, and shingles, finding that many 1920s-era
materials contained fewer harmful substances than their
Individual houses, too, are being built in harmony with the modern counterparts. They retrofitted the rest with sustain -
surrounding environment in accordance with Frank Lloyd ably produced woods and nontoxic wood alternatives. Com-
Wright's credo that a house should grow into the light "as posting toilets and a wastewater recycling system that feeds
indoor plants dramatically conserve water.
An excess of water was the problem in the small
town of Pattonsburg, Missouri. In 1993, ravaged by
one of the worst floods this century, the entire town
was relocated with the help of federal disaster aid. En-
vironmental architect Bob Berkebile designed the
new homes to be within easy walking distance of each
other, with carefully placed trees to cool them in the
summer and shelter them from winter winds. After a
series of community meetings, Pattonsburg adopted
a set of codes that includes energy efficiency require-
ments for all new buildings and passive solar orienta-
tion for new homes.
Design and build
green homes
Bring back industry
Industry was a big reason for the growth of cities, but
when people started to abandon them after World War
II, industry soon fled as well, and cities have suffered
ever since. Many are now trying to redevelop aban-
doned industrial sites, or brownfields, and other areas
by bringing back industry in the form of "eco-indus-
trial parks." In such complexes, based on ideas devel-
oped in Denmark, one facility's waste becomes
another's feedstock. In its simplest form, this means
locating businesses so as to efficiently share resources,
reusing raw materials as much as possible and mini-
SIE It A 31
12 gates
Annapolis, Maryland, is a famous walking town largely because its construc-
tion luckily predated today's autocentric building codes.
nnizingwaste. Burlington, Vermont, is experimenting with
recycling hospital -waste as compost, and in the Bronx, new
furniture is being made out ofdiscarded wooden pallets.
('hatt;utooga has replaced its diesel buses with what is now
the biggest fleet nfclectric buses in the country, manufac-
tured at a plant within the city and contributing 35jobs and
substantial tax revenues to the community, while simulta-
neously reducing air pollution.
Respect the law
of the land
In 1890, in one of the first suburban developments, William
1)uzer Lawrence staked out sites for his houses in
lironxyille, New York, paying Icss attention to lot
sire or shape than to access to sunlight and rela-
tion to the woodland setting. Originally an artists'
colony, what is now the Lawrence Park Historic
1)istrict was designed before the invention oldie
bulldozer (thus sparing boulders and rocky crags.
as well as old trees) and heIi>rc the advent ofcity
planning. with its tierce observance or uniform
setbacks and other boundaries that pay little re-
spect to natural torivations. I louses here are built
:Hi a steep and rocky terrain. almost sitting on top
ofeac h other. Given the district's attractions, how-
ever. no one seems to care.
Lawrence Park is connected by railroad to New
York City. Its narrow streets were intended for
horse and carriage rather than cars. To this day,
one of irs charms is that you don't need a car to
live there. and can walk to markets and shops.
-iiWday. architects and designers are returning to
this model. using design motifs that pay homage
32 • M A v/ I t_ N E I 997
to native trees and plants. At Village I boa's, in
Davis, California, planners Michael and judv
Corbett grouped dwellings around an inter-
locking series of existing orchards, winding
hike paths, and narrow, pedestrian -friendly
streets. It helped that Davis is already devoted
co the bicycle: the city famously has more
wheels than legs.
Encourage people
to walk
Pedestrians "create the place and the time for
casual encounters and the practical integration
of diverse places and people," sans architect
Peter Calthorpe. "Without the pedestrian. a
community's common ground —its parks. side-
walks, squares, and plazas—bcctmie useless ob-
structions to the car."
Calthorpe is trying to popularize "pedestrian
pockets," areas of high -density development built within a
quarter -mile of public transit. To this end, he has designed
regional plans For cities such as Portland and San Diego
that direct new housing and jobs into mixed -use, transit -
Oriented neighborhoods and downtowns.
(While the new urbanist designers are snaking high -
density, mixed -use, close-knit neighborhoods marketable as
high -end housing, they have come under fire for failing t
practice their urbanism in the heart oldie city. Most ot-their
developments are new towns, "gentrified from scratch." as
Newsweek described them. Some new urbanist develop-
ments like Calthorpe's Laguna 'West outside Sacramento.
California, are served by bus routes but otherwise ended up
as fairly conventional suburbs.)
Above: Pedestrians beware! Like many main drags, San Pablo Avenue
in El Cerrito, California, is built for cars. Below: an artist's vision of how
light rail, landscaping, and trees might humanize the same scene.
I'ortland's downtown has preserved a human scale that makes
walking —and shopping —a pleasure instead of a chore.
Humanize cities
In addition to insisting on the need for open space and trees,
argues Fred Kent, director of the Project for Public Spaces,
we also need to consider the ecologically sound aspects of
density and street life. Many cities are learning that com-
pactness promotes efficiency, creativity, and walking, and are
working to revive old main streets and neighborhood cen-
ters. Urban planners, who in the past focused primarily on
managing traffic, arc now beginning to look more at the
whole complex of functions of city streets and neighbor-
hoods. Kent's own firm spends much of its time "humaniz-
ing" chronic -and -glass facades on city streets like New York
City's Sixth Avenue by adding; shops, benches, landscaped
sitting areas, and the like.
Steve Price, who redesigns streets and buildings on his
computer, argues that the minimalist modernist view of"less
is more', is destructive. "More is more," he says. "People
need interesting things to look at in cities —flowerpots,
murals, window displays."
Set limits to
urban growth
Postwar zoning and planning codes —not to mention the
availability of cheap land —encouraged cities to spill out into
the surrounding countryside. One way to limit sprawl is to
create regional plans that channel building and dcvelopnrent
back to the city or close to suburban transit stations. In Port-
land, 1000 Friends of Oregon supported a study ofalterna-
tive land use and transit options to counter a proposed $.300-
rnillion beltway around the west side of the city iii 1992. The
plan, which architect Peter C;althorpe helped create, redi-
rects a projected population growth of 160.000 away from
standard sprawl and into high -density housing with com-
mercial buildings and shops, within walking distance of
planned light -rail and bus connections. "Portland is always
cited for its wonderful, walkable downtown." says Keith
Bartholomew of 1000 Friends. "We're trying to build more
of this, places where people can get a quart of milk without
using a quart of gas."
Another way to control sprawl is to permanently preserve
open space at the edge of the metropolitan region —the
"greenbelt" approach. Portland also used this strategy.
Thanks again to 1000 Friends, Oregon has state -legislated
boundaries preventing urban and suburban development in
rural and agricultural areas around its cities. With Porrland's
population projected to boom during the next 50 years, plan-
ners have been working; to set aside 6,000 acres anew open
space and to guide growth within city limits. A few other
states, including Florida, Georgia. Vermont, Maine. and
Washington, have begun growth -management plats like
those Oregon and 1 lawaii undertook in the 1970s.
In the past, environmentalists often supported lower -den-
sity development in the belief that it was "greener" and more
natural than city living;. Fortunately, a growing number are
discovering the benefits of urbanism. The more energy vote
put into creating compact cities, argues Chris Beck oldie
Trust for Public Land's Oregon field office, the more open
space you save.
In Sonoma County, California, four municipalities re-
cently voted by substantial margins to establish urban -
growth boundaries, protecting the open space between the
cities from leapfrog development. "Part of -the charm of these
cities lies in the rural landscapes that surround them." say.
Tim Frank, chair of the Sierra Club's Sprawl Campaign.
"When you give people a chance to conserve that for their
children, and pay lower taxes to boot —that's very popiilir.'•
Establish
greenmarkets
As more cities build mixed -use communities rather tliaa
subdivisions fed by highway strips, there is a chance to re-
vive not just pedestrian scale but local commerce. Farmers'
SiI 1411A • 33
12 gates
Farmers' markets, like this one in San Francisco, can provide a
sense of community as well as organic fruits and vegetables.
markets are booming across the country, their numbers in-
creasing to 2.410. a 40 percent gain from 1994 to 1996. These
markets not only create a festive community atmosphere,
but also give people access to fresh, often organic produce,
and even serve as tools for economic development. Oriented
toward small entrepreneurs, these markets offer job oppor-
tunities, and make shopping by bicycle or foot possible. The
stain rule. according to Maureen Atkinson of the Urban
Marketing Collaborative in Toronto: "Keep it funky. Don't
make it a stall.'.
Revive historic and
local building styles
I listoric buildings have an undeniable appeal. partly because
they were often built to last. using materials and styles ap-
propriate to the regional climate. Coherent local building
styles also serve to unite diverse people, says David Rice, ex-
ecutive director oldie Norfolk Redevelopment and Hous-
ing Authority. "1n the best examples," he says, "differences
among people —race, income, and social status —are less evi-
dent than the shared sense of community identity."
Rice points to the redevelopment of a public housing
34 • M.sv'I N I')97
complex called Diggstown, which was transformed through
the addition of humanizing, historic touches like porches.
walkways, and lampposts. "It's really very exciting to sec."
says Ray Gindroz, the project's principal architect. "There's
a sense of self-esteem and community that wasn't there
before." Police report that drug use and the crime rate have
declined; in stark contrast to the desolate landscape of many
public housing projects, Gindroz reports that in Diggstown
"you see family reunions being held."
Bring back
public space
Another casualty of modernist planning hats been the tradi-
tional civic commons, which has been displaced by public
space that is privatized in the extreme: the shopping mall.
private club, and gated community. Many planners are now
trying to reintroduce truly public space, as in New York
City's unique business/government Grand Central Part-
nership, which helped transform Bryant Park on 42nd
Street from a "needle park" into an oasis of green, a lunch
and cultural mecca.
Fred Kent oldie Project for Public Spaces cites a hugely
popular new neighborhood that has sprouted up around
New York City's Union Square as a result of the highly suc-
cessful farmers' market there. It's a symbiotic and organic
process, he says. The loft housing available in the neighbor-
hood was another catalyst, as was an important transit stop
and effective traffic engineering. Now there are ,t host of
renovations and new businesses. Urban planners need to
build on the natural processes in communities. saws Kent.
rather than impose new projects on them.
One ache hest examples of returning civic space to the
public may he a plain for Portsmouth, Virginia, in which
Urban Design Associates of -Pittsburgh redesigned several
New York City's Bryant Park, a former "needle park, has been
reclaimed for a wide variety of public uses.
Preserving the hest of the past, like these early-20th-century buildings in Galena,
Illinois, maintains civic pride and increases a city's appeal.
major areas with public spaces linked to natural sites. A new
high school will include a green, open stretch that will ex-
tend views ola large city creek. A new ferry landing and re-
design ofa park and portsidc tourist shops will reconnect
the city to its xvatcrfront, and, say the architects, "create a
new front door to the city."
Restore the
local landscape
The harbors. Forests. valleys. and other natural settings that
shaped particular places and (formerly) imposed limits on
the community are now bring rediscovered and highlighted.
In Baltimore, Seattle, and San Francisco, old port facilities
have become business and recreational hubs, while in San
Jose and Austin. urban riverlronts have been trade attrac-
tive public amenities. Creek restoration and wetlands preser-
vation have also become part Of the repertoire of urban de-
signers, ecologically important and aesthetically satisfying at
the same time.
Combine residential and
commercial buildings
American cities once had shops, homes, apartments, gov-
ernment buildings, and public squares all built closely to-
gether. Postwar planning ended that tradition, separating
residential. commercial, and industrial areas into single -use
zones linked by highways. The solution is to amend zoning
lays to allow housing in commercial areas, and neighbor-
hood -serving commerce in residential
areas. In Ne\v York ('it•, designers acre
"adaptively reusing" etupty orrice buildings
as residential condos. '1-toronto recently
commissioned a design firm to her)) it
"retn•banize" itself: the new plan includes.
along with carefully orchestrated transit
and higher densities, .1 mix of residential
and coniniercial buildings.
ONE CAN EASILY RESPOND to the ch;111eniae
of transf-orming today's cities like the
Maine Farmer who was asked lOr direction,
to Boston: "You can't get there Irou1 here.'
But we don't really have a choice. especially
with tour out of five people in the United
States now living in metro areas. •i'he old
dream of a suburban home on a quarter
acre is losing its luster. especially .is the
two -tar garage is joined by the two-hour
commute. It's time to replace than old vi-
sion with a new, sustainable one.
Building environmentally sustainable
cities will he neither easy nor cheap. It will
require architects, planters, politicians, and ordinary citi-
zens to shift their customary ways of -thinking. But eye won't
he doing it alone. After all, building community mean; that
you have lots of good company. ■
FRANC ESc :A L.YMAN i< fiat Ili„ Q t'colos'ieal urban desit tt a, the (:,i lr-
tr (niter fur the .-Idr'rtin-orl n o1.Srietut turrl.-Irt itt ..\.eic urk (:i,).
She is author of The Greenhouse Trap (l3oanur 1're:>. 199f/ sett?
is currently working on a children, s book.
RESOURCES
The Sierra Club's "Sprawl Costs Us All" campaign is work-
ing to protect rural lands, promote efficient, compact, and
transit -oriented urban design, and redirect development
to inner cities. To get involved, contact Tim Frank at (818)
799-6744 or tim.frank@sierraclub.org.
For further reading on livable cities, look for Cities in Our
Future edited by Robert Geddes (Island Press, 1997); Home
From Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st
Century by James H. Kunstler (Simon & Schuster, 1996); At
Road's End: Transportation and Land Use Choices for Com-
munities by Daniel Carlson et al. (Island Press, 1995); Eco-
City Dimensions (New Society, 1997) and Sustainable Cities:
Concepts and Strategies for Eco-City Development edited
by Bob Walter, Lois Arkin, and Richard Crenshaw (Eco-Home
Media, 1992). A useful periodical for urban redesigners is
The Urban Ecologist, quarterly journal of Urban Ecology,
405 14th St., Suite 900, Oakland, CA 94612; (510) 251-6330.
For emphasis on environmental justice, see Race, Poverty,
and the Environment, a publication of Urban Habitat, Box
29908, Presidio Station, San Francisco, CA 94129-9908; (415)
561-3333; uhp@igc.apc.org.
A. , 35