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Old 01-28-2016, 06:16 PM
 
Location: Stasis
15,823 posts, read 12,409,322 times
Reputation: 8599

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Article today at:
El Paso and Other Cities Are Struggling With Ending Sprawl and Implementing Urban Revitalization and Walkability - The Atlantic

"...Half of the city seems dedicated to parking for cars, though the people who drive them are nowhere to be seen, not walking down the streets or sitting in the restaurants or drinking margaritas in the bars.

Looking around at this car-centric, nearly abandoned downtown, it may come as a surprise that in recent years the city has been feted for its urban-planning initiatives. The National Resources Defense Council has said that El Paso has “America’s Best Smart Growth Plan” and—perhaps more surprisingly—in 2011 the city won a Smart Growth award for its Plan El Paso, a 800-plus page comprehensive plan that aimed to make the city more compact, walkable, and transit-friendly.

But 10 years after the El Paso's city government first kicked off revitalization plans, downtown is still a relatively empty and sleepy place..."
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Old 01-29-2016, 07:11 AM
 
3,745 posts, read 5,815,576 times
Reputation: 5446
Interesting read. I still want my single family house, privacy between neighbors ( I don't want to hear their MP3 player blasting away underneath me, or talking late at night). I also want a garage for my car ( no such thing at Montecillo). Wife has a chronic health issue when means we don't parking the car a mile away and walk to sidewalk cafes or theaters. Even parking in the Mills Garage to attend the Plaza Theater is a challenge. It is fine IF you are a young person but then do they have the money for these expensive places to live and eat ( think $10 burgers at International Burger)? Sorry, I certainly were not in favor of those that got rich selling land to the colonias but piling people on top of each other and trying to get them out of cars may work for some, not for all.
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Old 01-29-2016, 11:14 AM
 
Location: Stasis
15,823 posts, read 12,409,322 times
Reputation: 8599
The comments at the link are interesting.
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Old 01-30-2016, 11:10 AM
 
Location: El Paso, TX
202 posts, read 431,930 times
Reputation: 313
I like downtown, but don't want to live there. People with money don't want to live right by Juarez and park their car(s) on the street. That is why Downtown will never be a viable place to live for most people. Downtown should try to market itself to hipsters only.
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Old 01-31-2016, 09:34 PM
 
2,258 posts, read 3,483,566 times
Reputation: 1233
People in this thread (and the weirdos in the Atlantic comment section) seem to think Smartcode means either sprawling suburbia or tiny Manhattan-style apartments.

There are shades of gray in-between that combine the best of detached housing with walkability. Think a lot of the older neighborhoods of El Paso like Manhattan Heights, etc. Great Craftsman-style bungalows with grid-pattern street development, broad sidewalks that actually connect, little tortillerias and mom and pop shops that you can walk to grab a loaf of bread or whatever. For me, that's the perfect style of development. I don't want to live in a loft downtown (already done it, it's great for 20+ year olds). I want to have my separate house, with a nice little yard, but am able to hop on a bike or walk down to the neighborhood coffee shop.

Smart code is about re-marrying small-scale commercial development back into neighborhoods, they way its been done for centuries in every other country except post-WWII America.
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