Retrofitting Sprawl: Addressing Seventy Years of Failed Urban Form

by Emily Talen (Editor), Julia Koschinsky (Contribution by), Brenda Case Scheer (Contribution by), Gerrit-Jan Knaap (Contribution by), Aviva Hopkins Brown (Contribution by)

Overview

These twelve previously unpublished essays present innovative and practical ideas for addressing the harmful effects of sprawl. Sprawl is not only an ongoing focus of specialized magazines like Dwell; indeed, Time magazine has cited “recycling the suburbs” as the second of “Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now.” While most conversations on sprawl tend to focus on its restriction, this book presents an overview of current thinking on ways to fix, repair, and retrofit existing sprawl.

Chapters by planners, geographers, designers, and architects present research grounded in diverse locales including Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Dublin, Ohio; and the Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. metro areas. The authors address head-on the most controversial aspects of sprawl—issues of power and control, justice and equity, and American attitudes about regulating private development. But they also put these issues in practical contexts, bringing in examples of redesign that are already occurring around the country, including the retrofitting of corridors and the repurposing of cul-de-sacs. Whether fixing sprawl requires a “cultural shift” in thinking or a “coordinated effort” by local government, these essays testify that a combination of forethought and creative thinking will be needed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820345451
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	08/15/2015
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

EMILY TALEN is a professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Her books include City Rules: How Regulations Affect Urban Form and The Charter of the New Urbanism.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Retrofitting Sprawl Emily Talen 1

Section 1 Existing Realities

Chapter 1 From Sprawl to Walkable: How Far Is That? Julia Koschinsky Emily Talen 11

Chapter 2 Strip Development and How to Read It Brenda Case Scheer 31

Chapter 3 Rezoning Montgomery: People, Politics, and Place Gerrit-Jan Knaap Aviva Hopkins Brown Rebecca Lewis 57

Chapter 4 The Personal Decisions That Govern Sprawl Matthew Salenger 81

Section 2 Case Studies

Chapter 5 Urban Design Tactics for Suburban Retrofitting June Williamson 103

Chapter 6 Suburban Downtowns David Dixon 123

Chapter 7 The Public Sector Steps Up-And Retrofits a Zombie Subdivision Ellen Dunham-Jones Wesley Brown 139

Chapter 8 Walking to the Strip Mall: Retrofitting Informal Pedestrian Paths Nico Larco 157

Section 3 Imagined Possibilities

Chapter 9 Rethinking Residential On-Street Parking Marc Schlossberg Dave Amos 181

Chapter 10 Spaces of Indeterminacy: From Thresholds to Ecotones in Retrofitting Sprawl Gabriel Díaz Montemayor Nabil Kamel 199

Chapter 11 Retrofitting the Cul-De-Sac in Suburban Arizona: A Design Proposal Benjamin W. Stanley Aaron Golub Milagros Zingoni Whitney Warman Christian Solorio 217

Chapter 12 Occupy Sprawl, One Cul-de-Sac at a Time Galina Tachieva 241

Contributors 255

Index 259