Thursday, April 10, 2008

Interesting Links re In-Fill Development; Concept of "Co-Housing"

Here are a series of links that you may find worthwhile. The main one is from a neighborhood activist talking about the impact of in-fill development on existing single family home communities. These are neighborhoods typically built for the automobile dominated culture of the 50s and 60s - pre-energy crisis. It talks about the benefits and the pitfalls of increased density. Here is the link.

Click here and you will be taken to a site that reviews a design competition for "in-fill" redevelopment. You can see the entries, winners and losers, etc. You'll get a sense of some of the issues involved.

Sort of Orwellian, you might want to check out the concept of "Bicycle City" - click here for the link. I don't see anything that relates to existing communities adopting the concepts - it looks to be directed at new town planning. In many ways, Lake Worth is close to being a bicycle city already.

The following "trailer" is an introduction to a CD that is available on the topic of co-housing. Click here for link. Co-housing has made some strides in Europe, but has trouble getting a foothold here in the U.S. Independent Americans have problems with the notion of sharing a public common space and shared childcare as part of their residence. Think of a dorm for "grown-ups" with kids - individual dwelling areas linked by eating, child care and recreation spaces. Not suggesting anything like that here for our situation, but it's worth noting as a trend.