The City of Hercules, once known for The Hercules Powder Company, a manufacturer of dynamite, is redeveloping its old industrial properties into what has become one of the most explosive new ideas in housing and one of the finest communities of its type on the West coast. Call it the anti-suburb plan; Hercules has employed smart growth and green planning concepts to create commuter and retail-friendly spaces among new housing, commercial and office space. A whole new downtown--"Market Town" will rise from this once industrial area on San Francisco Bay. Various environmental groups, including The Greenbelt Alliance, have supported this new mid-density development.
As a way to counter the suburban sprawl that has consumed our farm and pasture lands at a dizzying pace (some of the fringes of which now lie half built or abandoned) incorporating housing with commercial spaces in a re-vitalized downtown can't be beat. You can add many times the density in a much smaller area. But more than that, bringing goods, services, and transportation within walking distance of residences cuts reliance on automobiles in a way unseen anywhere outside of a few big California cities in recent years.
The Problem with Privately Owned Public Spaces
But like all new ideas, there might be a dark side, one that we have seen and written about many times. While many of these new “transit villages” appear like traditional towns, in most cases, multiple private owners own them, just like in the more traditional residential condominium. Mixed-use common interest properties in high-density buildings require a way to manage and maintain them and the means to fund those repairs. Normally, a building owner who leases space in buildings in a typical downtown area pays for building maintenance from rental proceeds. The established municipality pays for street and utility maintenance from property taxes...
Please click the title link above to read the rest of this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment