Episode 20: Patterns of Development podcast show notes
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Old School
I was talking to an architect the other day, and he and I were talking about the patterns of development. Cody said, “we really nailed development in the early 1900s…” buildings had to be designed simply to be constructed quickly, natural lighting needed to be considered because we didn’t have electricity, airflow and windows had to be considered because we didn’t have modern climate control… it’s amazing how quickly we got away from 1000s of years of fundamentals.
I was just watching ALONE, the show where people have to survive on their own in the arctic wildness. Season 7, I think is on Netflix. One of the people on the show, stuck in the woods, didn’t have a chimney on their shelter. So when they lit up their campfire, they obviously smoked themselves out.
Kind of an aside but the point is we’ve come a long way in the construction of our shelters. From the huts in the woods to our tall climate-controlled skyscrapers. But regardless of form, they still need to serve some basic functions for humans.
The Best Ideas Aren’t New
An article from Strong Towns, “The best new ideas in planning aren’t new,” by Daniel Herriges.
There aren’t any new ideas under this sun, they’re all recycled. And the same goes for how we build and plan our cities. The two tactics called out in the article have been well covered here as successful patterns of development:
Accessory dwelling units for both residential and commercial spaces. Primary units are typically where the owners live. Accessory units are second units on the same lot.
2. And Duplexes. Similar to ADUs. Duplexes are when two units are on the same lot.
The best part, the magic, in this article though, are these couple of lines:
“…many homeowners who are told that their city is considering “ending single-family zoning” (or even scarier…
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