"new urbanism" as a model for Berwyn?

[wil]

I've pasted below an article on the "new urbanism" (from USA Today in 2005).  I'm surprised that this model for urban/suburban development has not been a part of the dialogue here concerning real estate, Berwyn development, etc.  I really think this is a significant trend in other parts of the country--an alternative to the suburban development of the 1980s.  Berwyn seems well suited for this kind of urban/suburban planning. 

Your thoughts? 


From: owner-historia-l@mail.cas.unt.edu [mailto:owner-historia-l@mail.cas.unt.edu] On Behalf Of Roberto Calderon
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 10:35 AM
To: historia-l@mail.cas.unt.edu
Cc: garciadtx@aol.com
Subject: [Historia] Haya El Nasser, "'New urbanism' Embraces Latinos" (2/16/05)

Source: Domingo Garcia <garciadtx@aol.com>

'New Urbanism' Embraces Latinos

Wed Feb 16, 9:02 AM ET   Top Stories - USATODAY.com

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY


This is a slice of Orange County you won't see on TV's The OC. Bridal shops and corner grocery stores. Families strolling downtown. Workers walking to lunch. Store signs in Spanish next to the ubiquitous Starbucks shops. Street vendors. Professionals living in artists' lofts a block from Main Street.

Amid a suburban county's gated communities, three-car garages and megamalls, Santa Ana is a fledgling hub of "new urbanism," an increasingly popular antidote to sprawl that promotes dense, walkable neighborhoods where people live, work and play.

But it's new urbanism with a twist: Latino new urbanism.

Advocates of this budding movement suggest that places where Hispanics are fast becoming the majority could help rein in sprawl by capitalizing on Latino cultural preferences for compact neighborhoods, large public places and a sense of community.

"I grew up in Mexico. We had a traditional urban square and plaza where everything is happening," says Mario C havez-Marquez, 31, who lives in one of downtown Santa Ana's new loft apartments. "To me, it made sense to move back to the center, closer to my job. Now I can walk to a supermarket."

Builders and planners have largely ignored the cultural identity of this new wave of home buyers, says planner Michael Mendez, who coined the term "Latino new urbanism."

As a result, many Hispanics moving up the economic ladder choose typical suburbs far from work, mass transit and shopping because it's usually the only path to home ownership, Mendez says. "They have to assimilate into what's available."

Hispanics are the largest minority in the USA and are projected to become the majority in California by 2040. How and where they live will shape neighborhoods, cities and suburbs for generations.

California expects to gain 21 million people from 2000 to 2050 - 18 million of them Hispanic. Housing the booming popul ation without putting more stress on land and water resources and a congested highway system is a big challenge. The nation as a whole faces similar demands: The Census Bureau (news - web sites) projects the U.S. population growing 49% to 420 million by 2050.

Latino new urbanism is taking hold in California and Texas, the nation's two most populous states and the ones with the largest numbers of Hispanics. And it's starting to garner national attention among growth-control advocates and developers eager to tap the Hispanic housing market. The National Associati on of Home Builders, for example, plans to publish a book on designing for the Latino market.

Almost a third of California homebuyers had Hispanic surnames in June 2004, according to DataQuick Information Systems. That's up from less than a fifth in 2002. The top surnames of buyers: Garcia, Hernandez, Lopez and Rodriguez.

Latinos are comfortable living near stores and businesses and riding buses and trains, says Katherine Perez, executive director of the Transportation and Land Use Collaborative of Southern California.

"There is a natural group of folks ready to embrace these ideas," she says. "(But) what happens to the Latino that has 'assimilated' and moves in to the single-family, detached home in the suburbs with the SUV in the driveway? What does that mean in air quality, land consumption and pure economics?"

Latinos already are reshaping old urban neighborhoods. In East Los Angeles, Mexica n-Americans live in small wooden houses that were built more than 50 years ago by Anglos. They've added paint and stucco, put in large front porches, fountains and wrought iron, and turned neighborhood parks into the main social place outside the home.

In most communities, zoning and building codes prevent such ethnic touches. Now developers and civic leaders are trying to create these neighborhoods from scratch:

* San Diego approved five "Pilot Villages" last year. One of them, Mi Pueblo in San Ysidro near the Mexican border, is pure Latino new urbanism.Facades of new homes arevibrant red, blue, yellow and green. Mi Pueblo eventually will have 1,143 residential units, about a quarter of them moderately priced. Three-bedroom, two-bath homes built so far are selling for $270,000, about half the local median price.

* San Fernando, a small Los Angeles suburb that is 90% Hispanic, is working to attract housing, retail and services so residents don't have to go to Pasadena or Glendale for shopping and entertainment.

There are plans for a mall and apartments, homes and condos downtown.About 15% of new housing will sell below the city's single-family home median price of $367,000 ($295,000 for condos).

Latino new urbanism has gotten the attention of Henry Cisneros, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and now the chairman of American CityVista in San Antonio. The company develops homes in city neighborhoods that haven't seen new housing in decades. Moderately priced developments in Austin and San Antonio are built near established Latino communities.

Cisneros advocates designs that fit the needs of Hispanic families - from big kitchens with gas stoves for g rilling tortillas to courtyards for social gatherings, multiple bedrooms for large and extended families, and driveways that accommodate numerous cars.

So far, new urbanism has chiefly targeted white and higher-income populations in suburbs, he says.

"I think Latinos can be the ideal audience for a new urbanist conversation," Cisneros says.

Developments tailored to such lifestyles account for only 5%-10% of new construction, says Pasadena architect Stefanos Polyzoides, co-founder of the Congress for New Urbanism, a non-profit group.

Differences in what Hispanics, blacks, whites or Asians want are subtle, says Gopal Ahluwalia, who tracks buyers' preferences for the home builders group. "I have my doubts about this Latino new urbanism thing," he says. "It's more socioeconomics and demographics that drive this marketplace than ethnicity and race."

Santa Ana, whose population of 342,510 is about 80% Hispanic, embraced Latino ne w urbanism before there was even a name for it.

In the early 1990s, Santa Ana's downtown was dying. People came because they either worked in the county government center or had to serve on a jury.

Then Hispanic immigrants arrived in large numbers. But many left as soon as they could afford to, City Councilman Mike Garcia says. Now the city is trying to keep them. It refurbished historic facades, built brick sidewalks with benches and replaced a methadone clinic and bus depot with artists' lofts.

Mario Chavez-Marquez and his wife, Karyn Mendoza, 29, were lured by the changes. He works as a planner for the city of Irvine, a 10-minute drive from Santa Ana. Mendoza, who grew up in a mostly white suburb of Chicago, walks two blocks to her job as a social worker for a non-profit organization. They also exhibit works by Latino artists in their diseño ART Gallery, on the street level of the loft they own.

"Who's to say Latino new urbanism should be just for Latinos?" says Dowell Myers, a demographer at the University of Southern California. "Maybe it's a general model for the whole region."

[P-PANTHER a/k/a La Pantera]

With all due respect wil, it seems you're attemtping to force feed Latino urbanism on Berwyn. Market forces will determine Berwyn's future course. IMO, gentrification is a socio-economic, NOT ETHNIC, issue.

In plain English, I think the same people who decry the influx of Mexican taquerias in the area would have absolutely no problem if a Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, or Salpicon found its way here.

[Bonster]

In plain English, I think the same people who decry the influx of Mexican taquerias in the area would have absolutely no problem if a Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, or Salpicon found its way here.

Of course not...those are nice places you wouldn't see in a Mexican neighborhood.

[OakParkSpartan]

In plain English, I think the same people who decry the influx of Mexican taquerias in the area would have absolutely no problem if a Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, or Salpicon found its way here.

Of course not...those are nice places you wouldn't see in a Mexican neighborhood.

Well, if folks want to live in nicer surroundings, what is wrong with that.  Isn't that one of the prime justifications for illegal aliens?  They want something better? 

This "Latino Urbanism" wouldn't seem much different than "European Urbanism" where folks have been doing the same thing but much longer (where did the Latino's get part of their culture???  Europe.).  It is all about moving away from an auto centric community to one more oriented to pedestrian traffic.  Probably not much different than what existed in many communities here up until the 40's.

Cheers,
Brian

[Bonster]

In plain English, I think the same people who decry the influx of Mexican taquerias in the area would have absolutely no problem if a Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, or Salpicon found its way here.

Of course not...those are nice places you wouldn't see in a Mexican neighborhood.

Well, if folks want to live in nicer surroundings, what is wrong with that. 

Absolutely nothing.
The nice joints represent a nice neighborhood, which we all want.
The influx of taquerias suggests an area crowding with other things people do not like, if you get my drift.

[wil]

With all due respect wil, it seems you're attemtping to force feed Latino urbanism on Berwyn. Market forces will determine Berwyn's future course. IMO, gentrification is a socio-economic, NOT ETHNIC, issue.

In plain English, I think the same people who decry the influx of Mexican taquerias in the area would have absolutely no problem if a Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, or Salpicon found its way here.

I don't think the issue is "force feeding" Latino urbanism.  But I do see similar trends in L.A., S.F., San Antonio, NYC--all of which have large Latino, bilingual populations.  Many sociologists say the increasing "Latinization" of Chicagoland is inevitable, so instead of fighting it why not embrace this aesthetic?  

Anyway, I know this is a complicated issue, and I respect the hard work of many folks on BerwynTalk.  But I believe this trend in urban planning is worth considering, and I hadn't seen any references to this specific dialogue on this board.  Hey--once it hits USA Today, we  know it has already become mainstream and popular.  (Several years ago it was mostly local presses covering this new urbanism and now it has national attention.)  

Wil

[wil]

This "Latino Urbanism" wouldn't seem much different than "European Urbanism" where folks have been doing the same thing but much longer (where did the Latino's get part of their culture???  Europe.).  It is all about moving away from an auto centric community to one more oriented to pedestrian traffic.  Probably not much different than what existed in many communities here up until the 40's.

Cheers,
Brian

Yes--at many levels I agree.  For instance, Spanish culture (from Spain that is) has had a huge influence on the Mexican marketplace and use of public space.  And Chicago has a long tradition of celebrating public space--i.e. parks, gathering spots, free concerts, etc. 

This is why I think this Latino urbanism would work so well in the Chicago area.  From what I've read on this site, Berwyn had more of a pedestrian culture in the past.  If earlier decades in Berwyn were driven by European immigration, these recent years are characterized by Mexican immigration.  So wouldn't it make sense for the new urbanism to have a Latino twist? 

In many U.S. cities, Latino populations have reinvigorated pedestrian and sidewalk culture.  This is really a good thing.  (And take a look at the populations taking public transit instead of driving cars.)  I read somewhere that during the Chicago heat wave of '95, there were comparatively fewer deaths in areas like Pilsen and Little Village precisely because there was more of a public, neighborly culture where folks looked out for one another and spent time in common spaces.  Maybe someone else can confirm this since I wasn't in Chicago then. 

Okay, I will stop preaching now. . .

[P-PANTHER a/k/a La Pantera]

Bonster,

Hence my assertion that people aren't apprehensive about the ethnic "bent" of an establishment (ie Salpicon), but rather the class of clientele it attracts.

[Bear]

Growing up here in the 60's was kind of a sub urbanism era. The DD was very much a sidewalk
mecca, keep in mind most women still did not drive, they were stay at home moms. Only the affluent had more than one vehicle, everyone walked. Uptown as we called it was vibrant, two grocery stores, a department store, fine dress and suit shops, a theatre, several pharmacies, a great 5 and 10, and the coolest hobby shop in the world. The sidewalks would be packed all day long, this was nothing compared to Cermak, the Michigan ave of Berwyn. Society sure went array over the years, Berwyn was at one time what you want it to be, and it will be that again as more people reject the sterile strip malls and faceless suburban communities.

[P-PANTHER a/k/a La Pantera]

I remember the Uptown era of the DD. The North Riveride Park Mall basically rendered Berwyn's Boul Mich obsolete.  Have fond memories buying model cars, planes at the dime store.

[Bonster]

Panther,

I get ya.  Serves me right for half-assed skimming through threads while at work.  Gets me in trouble here every time.


With regards to that article,

Cisneros advocates designs that fit the needs of Hispanic families - from big kitchens with gas stoves for g rilling tortillas to courtyards for social gatherings, multiple bedrooms for large and extended families, and driveways that accommodate numerous cars.

The classic Berwyn Bungalow certainly does not adhere to that aspect of Latino urbanism, and shouldn't lead to the horrendous modifications (dropping double-wides on top).  I think Latinos can (and have) embrace what is already here, and their prominence alone has lead to a "Latinization" of Berwyn.

[Bonster]

err, led, not "lead".

[Ana]

Oh, for heaven's sake. . . 

[Bonster]

 -< heh.  Had to call the grammar police on myself...d'oh!

[Robert Pauly]

Maybe I'm crazy, but these excerpts from the article kind of sound like they're describing .......

BERWYN!!!!!  (Think the Latinos are here by accident?)

Advocates of this budding movement suggest that places where Hispanics are fast becoming the majority could help rein in sprawl by capitalizing on Latino cultural preferences for compact neighborhoods, large public places and a sense of community.

Latinos already are reshaping old urban neighborhoods. In East Los Angeles, Mexican-Americans live in small wooden houses that were built more than 50 years ago by Anglos. They've added paint and stucco, put in large front porches, fountains and wrought iron, and turned neighborhood parks into the main social place outside the home. 

Cisneros advocates designs that fit the needs of Hispanic families - from big kitchens with gas stoves for g rilling tortillas to courtyards for social gatherings, multiple bedrooms for large and extended families, and driveways that accommodate numerous cars.