In my lovely master-planned hometown of Irvine, CA. a new housing development is sprouting up called Central Park West, touted as Orange County's first "urban master planned community," according to the developer Lennar's website.
I grew up in Irvine and I am quite used to seeing new housing developments being built almost continually. But until recently most of those developments were the traditional suburban neighborhoods comprised primarily of single family homes, and designed with close oversight by the Irvine Company, which owns most of the land the city is located upon. CPW is one of several (but certainly the largest) complexes being built along Jamboree Road that advertises itself as "urban" or "mixed use." The area, which has for most of its developed history been home to commercial buildings and a few shopping centers, is now the site of intense residential construction. While I applaud the construction of higher-density, pedestrian-friendly housing in a region whose leaders have often trumpeted single family homes with almost religious middle-class suburban zeal, it is important to understand just how urban these new apartment/condo developments are.
What comes to mind when you hear the word urban? Crowds of pedestrians, mass-transit, loud noises, a diversity of shops and restaurants, people, and environments, unique cultural attractions, right? Not a grouping of 8 apartment/condo complexes around a circular street, with names like "The Belvedere," "Astoria," "Chelsea." The names of small pocket parks wedged between housing further reference New York: Delancey, Tribeca, Rockefeller. It's not the urban I imagine but it is what Lennar Urban, the subgroup of massive home builder Lennar Corp (that recently purchased most of the land of the former El Toro Marine Corp Air Station) envisions. Or at least it's what they think will lure customers to an environment that offers all the convenience and density of urban living without the strange people, the uncertainty, the randomness...the charm.
The small "central park" being set aside in the middle of this block-sized development is the last reminder, if the cute historicized names referencing New York City were not enough, that this "master-planned community" is not an urban community at all, but a gimmicked, theme-parked reincarnation of it in a sunny suburban wonderland. Central Park West is no more an urban community than Disneyland's Main Street is an actual small town. And if we really are going to get serious about designing sustainable cities and communities and restoring public space and public life, we're going to have to stop deluding ourselves that developments like Lennar's Central Park West are really urban communities.
I grew up in Irvine and I am quite used to seeing new housing developments being built almost continually. But until recently most of those developments were the traditional suburban neighborhoods comprised primarily of single family homes, and designed with close oversight by the Irvine Company, which owns most of the land the city is located upon. CPW is one of several (but certainly the largest) complexes being built along Jamboree Road that advertises itself as "urban" or "mixed use." The area, which has for most of its developed history been home to commercial buildings and a few shopping centers, is now the site of intense residential construction. While I applaud the construction of higher-density, pedestrian-friendly housing in a region whose leaders have often trumpeted single family homes with almost religious middle-class suburban zeal, it is important to understand just how urban these new apartment/condo developments are.
What comes to mind when you hear the word urban? Crowds of pedestrians, mass-transit, loud noises, a diversity of shops and restaurants, people, and environments, unique cultural attractions, right? Not a grouping of 8 apartment/condo complexes around a circular street, with names like "The Belvedere," "Astoria," "Chelsea." The names of small pocket parks wedged between housing further reference New York: Delancey, Tribeca, Rockefeller. It's not the urban I imagine but it is what Lennar Urban, the subgroup of massive home builder Lennar Corp (that recently purchased most of the land of the former El Toro Marine Corp Air Station) envisions. Or at least it's what they think will lure customers to an environment that offers all the convenience and density of urban living without the strange people, the uncertainty, the randomness...the charm.
The small "central park" being set aside in the middle of this block-sized development is the last reminder, if the cute historicized names referencing New York City were not enough, that this "master-planned community" is not an urban community at all, but a gimmicked, theme-parked reincarnation of it in a sunny suburban wonderland. Central Park West is no more an urban community than Disneyland's Main Street is an actual small town. And if we really are going to get serious about designing sustainable cities and communities and restoring public space and public life, we're going to have to stop deluding ourselves that developments like Lennar's Central Park West are really urban communities.
See for yourself: http://cpwliving.com/
Picture: http://www.cpwliving.com/tours.php?c=chelsea
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