ArtsCriticATL.com

We recently wrote about Jonathan Lerner, the Atlanta novelist. Today, we introduce Jonathan Lerner the feature writer. A veteran of national publications, he’s a man of many specialties, from architecture and urbanism to art and design to food and travel. He is volunteer media co-chairman for the 2010 Congress for the New Urbanism. Please visit ArtsCriticATL tomorrow for his discussion of the current exhibit at the Museum of Design Atlanta.

By JONATHAN LERNER

The Congress for the New Urbanism will hold its annual convention this week in downtown Atlanta. Organized with the assistance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it has the theme “New Urbanism: Rx for Healthy Places.”

A considerable part of its program will investigate how the ways places are designed and built affect our well-being. The CDC and others have been busy putting numbers to cause-and-effect relationships between things like access to greenspace and depression; street design and traffic injuries; and the “nutritional deserts” of inner cities where the only food sources are convenience stores and Mickey D and his pals, and where conditions such as obesity and diabetes flourish.

Smyrna Town Center exemplifies New Urbanist principles.

The New Urbanists’ mission is to create communities that are compact and walkable; incorporate retail, recreation and employment as well as residential uses; are served by public transit; and where you might find it pleasurable to be, or even to become, rooted. They look to this public health research to help them refine their designs.

Both they and the public health folks hope to influence policy in areas such as zoning, transportation planning and affordable housing, so that conventional, sprawl-pattern development will join the Edsel and the high-rise public housing project in the Museum of 20th-Century Mistakes.

Attending the congress requires a $1,000 registration fee. One session, however, is open to the public, and it will challenge you to envision a more livable metropolis. David Byrne — current bicycle activist and former rock star whose lyrics asked “Where is that large automobile?” and declared, “This is not my beautiful house!” — will join Ellen Dunham-Jones, Glenwood Park developer Charles Brewer and Scotty Greene, executive director of the Buckhead Community Improvement District, to discuss “Healthier Circulation: Bicycles, Cities and the Future of Getting Around.” 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, at the Tabernacle. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

3 Comments

1. Ellen

   1

   As a co-chair of CNU18 and one of the panelists speaking with Byrne, I’m biased of course that this is a great story. But, I agree CNU 18 is indeed a fabulous opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about sustainable urbanism. The $1000 price tag Jonathan cites is for the whole package with tours, etc. Regular registration gets down to $550. Another free event is the Next Gen conference within the congress. It’s targeted to people in their 20s and 30s and is all day Thursday at the Hilton, followed by a pub crawl. For more info go to http://www.cnunextgen.org.
   There’s also a free 3-hour session from 9-12 on Wednesday at the Hilton on Safe Streets – how narrower but more interconnected streets lead to faster emergency response times and fewer car, bicycle and pedestrian accidents.

   16 May

2. Flora Bunda

   2

   Hopefully this can convince some folks to do new “urbanism’ right around Atlanta. Unfortunately, our ‘New Urbanists’ seem to find a wonderful greenspace, clear cut all the desirable hardwoods, and leave no space for to replace these trees that provide shade and other benefits. Why can’t these designs actually build around existing shade trees rather than have to start from scratch? Must we all be forced to live in dwellings 3′ apart to save a developer a few feet of pipe and electric cable?

   16 May

3. Jonathan Lerner

   3

   Flora, which designers or developers are you referring to when you say “our ‘New Urbanists’ seem to find a wonderful greenspace, clear cut all the desirable hardwoods, and leave no space for to replace these trees”? Some of this area’s N.U. projects are redevelopments of “brownfields” — industrial sites that didn’t have any trees left on them anyway,for example Glenwood Park. Some are infill projects like Inman Park Village, where I don’t know if trees were removed but I do know that a park area was created that is not locked behind gates, that is, it’s accessible to all. Some are “greenfield” developments of what had been rural or agricultural land, like Serenbe or Vickery, and in those two cases at least (which I know a lot about) enormous effort went into preserving trees and vegetation.

   16 May

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