suburban splendor + walkable urbanism for Columbia

There have been a bunch of great blog posts with glowing reviews of Chris Leinburger’s talk on walkable urbanism.  Rather than rehash what's already been done so well, I’ll go ahead and discuss bits and pieces that I thought were interesting over the next few days.  You don't have to read the recaps to get what I'm saying here, but I encourage you to do so if you've got some time: Hecker, HoCoPolitico, HoCoRising, Rocket Powered Butterfly. (That was alphabetical order.  Lot of H's there.)

Leinburger offered us Columbians a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario, stating that people can choose to live in "suburban splendor" while within walking distance of "walkable urbanism."  How can you turn that down, right?  Best of both worlds!

I think it might be a little hard to imagine in reality-- mentally, we rigidly think CITY and SUBURB and never the twain shall meet.

Leinburger offered an existing example in Beverly Hills, CA.  He has a friend who lives at the corner of Gregory Way and Peck Drive out there (apparently unrelated to the actor with the same name), and it's smack dab in suburban splendor.  Quiet streets with grass, trees, single family homes, etc.  Here's a Google Street View of the area:


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This view is on Peck Drive looking south.  The first intersection is Gregory Way.  If you spend a little time clicking around, you’ll see this is a gorgeous neighborhood with beautiful houses and lawns.

A half mile away (or a 10 min walk according to Google Maps) is the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.  You might have heard of it?  Rodeo Drive?  This dense, pedestrian-friendly, walkable urban area boasts all the amenities that make a there there.

(And if you want to browse the area via Street View, click here.  I just couldn't include all my awesome notations on the browseable version.)

Leinburger's point is that we can have it all.  We can having vibrancy and nightlife and pedestrians and outdoor cafes and bike-friendly downtowns AND we can have the quiet suburban existence, all within our lil town.  It's been done before, and there's no reason why it can't be done here.