Of salsa and smart growth

Many players in New Urbanism headed for New Mexico recently, yet their agendas are mostly national, not local. There’s a distinct Southwestern flavor to this issue. Philip Langdon reports on the remarkable revitalization of downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, in an article beginning on page 12. Also in Albuquerque, a meeting important to this trend took place in mid-October, as representatives of major foundations met to discuss how they could fund similar projects. A New Mexico foundation, McCune, was instrumental in bringing back Albuquerque’s downtown, which had languished for decades despite repeated efforts to spur development. As the article points out clearly, the keys to success were excellent design and patient investors who were willing to fund the kind of high-quality construction that will hold its value for multiple generations — not just 5 or 10 years. McCune has done something vitally important while earning strong returns in Albuquerque, and the question is whether other foundations can be enticed to follow suit. It would seem like a classic “win-win” opportunity — the sort of thing that foundations should be doing routinely — but it’s not so simple. Foundation investors typically make decisions entirely separately from their program managers. The one side earns the money, the other side spends it, and that’s that. The side that earns the money knows and probably cares little about New Urbanism, smart growth, or the amazing success of downtown Albuquerque. Yet that meeting may mark the beginnings of change, and may ultimately lead to important opportunities for other downtowns that face similar challenges. Tackling codes Just 50 miles away also in mid-October, new urbanist leaders met in Santa Fe to discuss what many believe is the biggest challenge facing New Urbanism — outmoded zoning codes. Enacting codes that at least level the playing field when it comes to mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented planning and development is a daunting task. A ray of hope is offered by the SmartCode, which will soon be available to municipalities nationwide for a small fee. But that’s only the beginning. This or any code, mass produced or not, will have to be tailored to each individual city and town. That’s going to take years of work — providing local officials are interested in making such changes. Two other stories relate to the Southwest: the largest new urban project ever planned is moving forward in — yes, again — Albuquerque. Probably few of us now living will still be around when Mesa del Sol is complete. In Arizona the news is not so good — Civano, a flagship project that combined human-scale design with green architecture, is at a crossroads. Changes in management may alter the character of this project for the worst, some fear. The big picture This issue may give the impression that the Southwest is the epicenter of New Urbanism, although that’s not the case. Actually, it’s happening all over the US (and in Canada, and many other countries, for that matter). New Urban News’s annual survey of neighborhood scale projects reveals that this trend is coming on like a thundering herd of cattle, and it may soon shake the ground upon which planners, developers, and other land use professionals walk. Some truly exciting, paradigm-shifting projects — much like downtown Albuquerque — are just getting underway. Stay tuned.