Cohousing-L Mailing List: Neighborhood boundaries, urban design

[Mmariner (Mmariner]

Diane S. wrote:

<<Part of what I'm getting at is that part of my concern in the present
pattern of development is that there is no connection between neighborhoods.
 In my area, the only place to walk is up and down your own tiny street, or
out
onto the main road.  Just as people are attracted to cohousing in part
because
they can do more as a group than they can as individuals (e.g.. organic
gardening
in the city, or preserving land from development in the fringe suburbs), I
would
like any group I'm involved in to be interested in building "streets" which
link to other streets from other neighborhoods so that kids and grownups have
a
place to go and not be harassed by trucks and cars.>>


In the book "A Pattern Language" Christopher Alexander (et al) wrote about
how each neighborhood should have it's physical and social boundaries 
marked by obvious, visible changes such as vegetation, entryways,  blocked
streets, etc.  

I also loved his idea of urban design plotting alternating "fingers of
green space withfingers of settlements to where everyone was near some
natural environment.

As neighborhoods become more cohesive, they'll hopefully create
wonderfully diverse environments that clearly mark territory and give people
a feeling of belonging and local pride.

Michael M
Nyland