Lisa Chamberblain writing in the New York Times in an article Planned City Rises Within a City in the Southwest reports on the work of Peter Calthorpe, an urban architect who has long advocated mixed use, green sensibilities, and a long-now perspective. (I used to rent the lower half of Peter’s houseboat in Sausalito when I first moved to California.) Calthorpe has been designing a new city, Mesa del Sol, to be developed organically over time. The plans include functions to create jobs and develop civic infrastructure. Picture above is one of six sound studios which are among the first buildings to be built — for jobs. One of the directors of the emerging city has a nice quote;
“There should be a different word for this model of development,” said Mark Lautman, director of economic development for Mesa del Sol. “Developers with a five-year timeline come in, throw up some buildings, then get out. This is like building a city from scratch. We call this generational development.”
