Columbia MD
From: John Gear (catalystpacifier.com)
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 14:37:30 -0600
>I wonder why visionary builder/developers
>like Jim Rouse aren't involved in this.  His efforts to restore urban
>marketplaces have brought new vitality to many decayed urban centers.  His
ideas
>for the new town of Columbia, Maryland have left a reasonably decent city
in its
>wake.  I know the days of these big developments are over and developers are
>looking around for something to do and make money from!        I guess
>co-housing is the new kid on the block!

As a former resident of Columbia I would have to disagree strongly.
Columbia's structure makes it an almost totally auto-dependent town.  The
"village" concept was nice enough but has been rendered almost totally void
by the *huge* highways and thoroughfares that lead (predictably I suppose)
to the mall.  When Rt. 29 was not so congested and Rt. 32 still a rural road
it was possible to imagine bicycling around Columbia ... now you would have
to be very brave, suicidal, or both.  Overall, the car is king--emporor
really, since it keeps conquering new territory.

I think the residents of Columbia are every bit as isolated as suburbanites
in any place I've ever lived, if not more.  They spend hours commuting to
Baltimore or DC, fighting sprawl-induced traffic all the way.  At home,
their large (mainly) single-family dwellings mean that there's *nobody* home
most of the time in most of the houses -- everybody's out "making a dying"
trying to pay for the big house.

And those few who work "nearby" (as these things go) still can't walk to
work.  There's no way to get from any of the residential centers to the
office parks without getting in a car.  Hell, there's no way for most people
to get a quart of milk without getting in the car.

I think cohousers ought to study Columbia very, very, closely--and figure
out why it has failed so miserably in terms of making any real change in the
way people live (if you read the Rouse Co. propaganda it says that they were
trying to avoid Levittown ... which is just about exactly what they got --
Levittown with windy roads and cul-de-sacs that make mass transit much more
difficult).
John Gear (catalyst [at] pacifier.com)

The Bill of Rights--The Original Contract with America
Accept no substitutes.  Beware of imitations.  Insist on the genuine articles.

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