This commentary from church architect Randy Bright argues that New Urbanists unfairly attack church sprawl, and that the cost of developing denser communities is the freedom of the people.
Bright tackles the argument from the perspective of a church-goer.
"I've nothing against New Urbanism, per se, but I find it troubling that when they extol the virtues of New Urbanism, it is generally followed by characterizing 'sprawl' as something to be demonized. Banks further writes that Christians can't live out their Christianity if they live 20 miles away from their church. I think that you will find millions of Christians in America that are doing just that, and are quite willing to make the trip so that they can go to the kind of church they want to attend and associate with the kind of people they like to be with. In reality, if the New Urbanist dream were to come true to create densely developed cities as the only place for human habitation, you would find that people would still drive 20 miles from one side of the city to another, in heavy traffic, to attend the church of their choice.
And I would have to ask, do these New Urbanists do Facebook, Twitter and all the others? Do you really think that they ignore far away friends and only spend time with their next door neighbors?"
FULL STORY: New Urbanist purists don’t comprehend the lives of others
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research