Re: drivable emergency access. was RE: "Cohousing Overlay" asZoning Regulation
From: Kay Argyle (Kay.Argyleutah.edu)
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:08:35 -0700 (PDT)
Our grass pavers have a honeycomb grid, with two-inch(?) cells. The
manufacturer says they are ADA compliant and will support 97,000 lbs per sq
ft. I've seen photos of them used for dirt trails (hiking, bike, riding).
http://www.grassypavers.com/

"we have discussed constructing occasional parallel pulloffs for same
although these parking spaces will feel like they are encroaching on lawns
and other open space"

Design the pull-offs as multipurpose social space. 

- Paint them for games: hopscotch, four-square, fox-and-geese, or "roads"
for toy cars. As a child I was horridly frustrated by the fact that the
chalk hopscotch grids I drew for myself at home were small and misshapen,
not at all like the ones at the school playground. 

- Furnish with lightweight or wheeled patio furniture and a grill, or
plastic toddler play equipment, to be moved to the edge when the pad is
needed for, say, a carpet cleaning service truck. 

- Create a labyrinth. Inset pebbles, marbles, or tiles in the cement for the
outline: prettier and more permanent than paint.

- Put a basketball hoop at the side.  

- Benches or hedges or other low barriers (even knee-high) would give a
psychological separation from resident's yards.

I've wished that our community had half a dozen small patios scattered
through, one for every three or four units to share. Our community's spaces
are either public or private, mostly with no intermediate; we need areas
that are semi-private yet socially accessible.

Christopher Alexander's book A Pattern Language discusses gradations of
privacy and the elements of design that can encourage people to use an area
or turn it into a no man's land (among many other concepts useful for
creating livable buildings and communities).

Kay

 

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