CNU New York

Message from the Board:

CNU New York, the official state chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, welcomes you to the first issue of the Empire State Urbanist, a bi-monthly Newsletter for our members and supporters.  Our goal is to make you aware of upcoming events, recent accomplishments, and important issues that can affect the quality of life in New York, and in nearby states and provinces.

2014 was a busy year for CNU New York.  In 2014, CNU hosted its National Congress, CNU 22, in Buffalo, with an attendance among the highest in CNU history.  CNU’s National Transportation Summit was held in New York City in fall of 2014 and was a great success. Our next event, CNU 23, will be held in Dallas from April 29 through May 2nd. Please stop by our Chapter Meet-up Friday May 1^st in Dallas (See details below).

The support and enthusiasm that members have expressed at these events continues to drive us to look for more and better ways to support you in your efforts to improve your communities. We look forward to providing more events for you in 2015 and informing you of our programs and progress through this Newsletter. We hope to engage you in an extraordinary program of building great livable, sustainable and equitable places in New York State and the surrounding region.

This is a critical year for CNU, as a new national president, Lynn Richards (http://www.cnu.org/staff), takes over the helm of the Congress. As part of this effort, CNU New York is following a strategic plan to meet the challenges of promoting high quality urbanism. We have created a more a dynamic chapter structure that will enable more events across the region, and are expanding our commitment to build key partnerships with like-minded organizations.

CNU New York relies heavily on the energy and effort of its members and volunteers.  New members are always welcome. If you would like to assist the Chapter with its goals and operations, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

CNU New York’s Officers:

Marc Wouters, Larry Gould, Paddy Steinschneider, Eric Alexander and Elizabeth Case

Meeting the Demand for Walkable Places, Dallas, April 29-May 2

As the 23rd annual Congress comes to Dallas-Fort Worth Texas this spring, North America stands at the cusp of two eras: For three generations we have built car-oriented infrastructure, housing, and businesses; Now we face tremendous pent-up demand for walkable, people-oriented places.

The dynamic, fourth-largest metro in the US exemplifies the opportunity to transform itself through better design, development, and transportation policy in response to shifting needs and demographics.

CNU 23: Meeting the Demand for Walkable Places will convene placemakers from across North America on a mission to advance the form and function of regions, cities, towns, and suburbs—now and in the future.

Be part of the energy and excitement in DFW for CNU 23, April 29 – May 2, 2015 by learning, networking, and collaborating with the top real estate developers, architects, public officials, planners, engineers, and advocates working to make our cities better places.

Click here to register

Explore the Hands-on 202 sessions at CNU23
In addition to the standard program, each congress offers a set of in-depth, expert-taught 202 sessions.
202 sessions are advanced learning courses led by thought leaders and innovative practitioners.  The experience is cutting-edge, hands-on, and immerses attendees in the on-the-ground context of Dallas/Fort Worth.  Learn more and sign up here.

CNU 23 Chapter meet-up

CNU New York, CNU New England, CNU DC and CNU Ontario proudly announce their CNU 23 meet up and party at The Quarter Bar at Bread Winners.  All Congress attendees from the Potomac to the Arctic Circle (and everywhere else) are invited to this French Quarter themed venue for great food, drink and an intense but fun crowd.  The event runs 7 p.m.-10 p.m. at 3301 McKinney Avenue in uptown Dallas.

 

The walk from the Adolphus to The Quarter is about 1.8 miles, but there are two ways to use transit to get to the meet up:

 

By Light Rail

From the Adolphus, walk 3 blocks north on Akard to the Light Rail. There are three trains that get you to The Quarter: the Red or Orange toward Parker Road, and the Blue toward DT Rowlett. Get off at the CityPlace-Uptown station.  Exit toward the M-Line trolley and walk west 3 blocks on Cityplace West Blvd. to McKinney Avenue, then south 3 blocks on McKinney to The Quarter Bar.

 

By Trolley

From the Adolphus, walk 7 blocks north on Akard to Ross, then one block east on Ross to North St. Paul.  Take the M Line trolley (free and fun but crowded and slow) to McKinney Plaza at Hall Street. The Quarter Bar is right there.

 

We will be upstairs, where there is both a private room with our own bar and an open roof deck. 

Warwick Grove nears completion

LeylandAlliance LLC, of Tuxedo, NY, is nearing completion of Warwick Grove, a 215-unit traditional neighborhood, located in Warwick, New York. Warwick Grove was ground breaking in its TND master plan and execution and helped pave the way for larger scale New Urbanism projects in the New York State. The project is expected to be sold out by fall 2015 with construction completed by mid-2016.

 
Warwick Grove is an in-fill neighborhood in the historic Village of Warwick which is about an hour outside of Manhattan.  The Village has a vibrant walkable downtown. Mike Watkins of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company conducted a charrette in 1997 and designed this 215-unit traditional neighborhood. The site plan was crafted with nine small and large parks and the 10,000 sf multipurpose Neighborhood Center and Post Office. The 32 acre neighborhood is surrounded by a Village Park which was enlarged with land donated by LeylandAlliance and 130 acres of open space conservation land. In addition, a new 15,000sf Regional Library was built along the entrance road on land donated by Leyland Alliance.

A broad mix of housing types, sizes and elevations created a rich reflection of the housing stock of the Hudson Valley. Single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums apartments with many floor plans and elevations were traditionally designed by some of the nation's top New Urban architects, including Union Studio of Providence, RI, Marianne Cusato of Miami. FL, and DeGraw & DeHann Architects of Warwick, NY.  This sustainable community has been built by Warwick Grove Company, an affiliate of LeylandAlliance LLC, serving as both land developer and builder.

To learn more visit the website at http://warwick-grove.com/ or on Facebook and You Tube.

Vision Long Island presents at NYMTC Brownbag Lunch

Last month Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island, gave a presentation about downtown redevelopment on Long Island.  While "mega-projects" may get all the press and some of the controversy, many smaller - medium scale projects have been approved and built in downtowns throughout the island.  They are one of the many things helping to revitalize Long Island’s many Main Streets.

Over 10,000 units of housing have been approved over the last eight years in downtowns and near train stations, though not all have been built.  Long Island may have a reputation for NIMBYs blocking development, but there is quite a lot being built that doesn't make the cover of our local paper.  These smaller projects have garnered significant public support, but are rarely get coverage outside of weekly newspapers.  Ten communities across Nassau and fourteen more across Suffolk have made significant progress revitalizing their downtowns or making steps towards creating new ones.  Fourteen more are just getting started.

Another common excuse for why things aren't getting done, or at least seems that they aren’t, are the many municipalities and layers of government on Long Island.  However, when compared to other suburban states, LI has a similar amount or fewer number of municipalities per capita.  Long Island has 119 municipalities including cities, towns, villages and counties with a total population of 2.852 million – about 23,966 people/municipality.  Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all have a higher number of municipalities relative to their populations.

Overall, Long Island has seen much improvement in many of our downtowns and may not be deserving of our NIMBY reputation.

Leon Krier Tomorrow Evening in New Haven

“Guatemaya, a new Capital City for Guatemala”

 On April 15, Leon Krier will be making a presentation on his thoughts and ideas about the direction of architecture and urbanism in our world, which is only starting to realize that it is in a state of transition following the Great Sprawl Experiment that damaged the triple bottom line of the economy, environment, and culture between Harry Truman's State of the Union speech in 1947 and the Great Recession in 2007. Find out how a return to an architecture of community can help fix this damage and heal the whole.

 

 

Join us for this Meet-Up with Leon Krier, which will be at the English Building located at 839 Chapel Street in New Haven beginning at 6:30 PM on April 15, 2015. Cocktails will be available. There is no fee for attendance, although contributions will be welcome.