Not Canada, but many fast growing US cities which are largely suburban and decentralized also have booming downtowns. Austin is very suburban, but it's central areas are very important to the whole region's identity and desirability as a place to live. SXSW would never be held in Round Rock. IMO, I think we need to get past the city vs. suburb culture war and consider how the greater metro area benefits when it can accommodate a diversity of places for different kinds of people. There is definitely value in being well-rounded.
Usually smart growth does not mean traditional single family neighborhoods are being banned or sacrified, usually it means that everything else like strip malls and apartments are reconfigured into town centers surrounded by lower density homes with yards. There will always be people who want to rent an apartment. Traditional suburban land use planning doesn't handle the inclusion of multifamily very well. A lot of suburban municipalities zone to keep rental apartments out, or push them into isolated areas. And when they do exist they are complex-style communities that aren't necessarily attractive. Smart growth on the other hand usually means a suburb will include multifamily zoned areas in its plans, as a part of a main street area or a small satellite downtown or neigborhood hub. Urban, even faux urban, apartment developments such as townhome style buildings fronting a street, are usually more attractive and more contemporary than 1970's complexes. And they will age better because they are more open, more modifiable, safer, etc.
Quote:
- Though we have “ethnic enclaves” such as Brampton, Ont., and Surrey, B.C., they are neither exclusive nor cut off from the surrounding community or society. This helps explains why suburban politics is so fluid here. “There’s hope in Canada; we’re not as dug in as the Americans on the blue-red thing,” Prof. Gordon says. “It’s possible for any centrist politician to craft a platform to win in the suburbs.”
|
What does "centrist" actually mean in this context, and why does immigrant enclaves relate to partisan politics anyways?
A lot of times "centrist" turns out to be some kind of politically correct business conservative. Not someone who actually considers both sides and has a pragmatic opinion.
The problem with the centrist label is that there is more than one axis in the political spectrum. Being socially liberal but fiscally conservative is not some clever compromise between left liberals and right conservatives, it is its own distinct orientation that occupies its very own corner of the graph. You could also be socially conservative but economically left, is that also centrist? See the problem?
Quote:
|
not a suburban paradise??
|
Check out the street patterns of those suburban neighborhoods. It's a fused grid layout. There are few cul-de-sacs. Each area inside of the higher order arterials has many ways in and out. Look at the placement of the parks within each residential area. Notice the inclusion of attached housing and multifamily. Also lots are small, there are small setbacks between homes and the street and other homes.
That is better planning than most suburbs. You could probably ride a bike somewhere inside of that area. A bus route might work. In the long term those strip malls fronting the bigger roads could give way to bigger development.
Compare it to this:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8252.../data=!3m1!1e3
Prev
Linear Mode
