Featured | New Urban Mom

Archive for Featured

New Urbanism – Balancing Individualism with Function

One of the father’s of new urbanism, Miami architect Andre Duany, recently defined an important attribute of new urbanism that’s worth noting. New urbanism, he explains, balances the need for individuals with the necessity of building communities that are in harmony with the environment. As I’ve mentioned on this blog before , new urbanism is

That Early Morning Phone Call

See that little girl in the picture? That’s the 3-year old me. I’m sitting between my parents and while I’m decades away from that picture the anxiety in my facial expression is something I feel today. (By the way I had to go to the bathroom in this picture and if you knew me then

New Urbanism and Working at Home

I remember back when my two kids were toddlers. I wanted to work from home…so I did. But I was an “early adapter” for my “working mom” group back then. I nabbed onto the idea that I could keep my professional ambitions alive and be home with my kids. I used our computer to connect

Transportation and our Quality of Life

Today I read some inspiring talk from the powers that be about transportation and I had to smile because that new urbanism philosophy of travel less and travel smartly is becoming more firmly entrenched in our modern thinking. Hallelujah. Cutting down the amount of transportation we do by living and working in closer proximity to

Pedestrian Day

Today as we were in town looking for a new dining room table, my husband reminded me that May 30 is “Pedestrian Day” in our community. Now we have all kinds of “special days” but I was unfamiliar with that one. After all we live in a community that celebrates walkable spaces all year round.

Celebrating Aging

I was really feeling a little strange about my Dad’s birthday this year. Normally I don’t think much about birthdays but this time I did. He’s turning 70. We celebrated his birthday last weekend but he’ll actually be turning 70 tomorrow. I guess what I’m feeling is that he’s actually getting old. I’ve never really

It’s About Time for 32 Million People

—I have wonderful, comprehensive health care, as does my family and most of my friends. I know what it feels like to be sick and to receive the best care in the world without having to worry if I’ll be able to feed my family at the same time. That’s why as a thinking, feeling

3-Minute Video about New Urbanism

New urbanism is one of those concepts that can be difficult to grasp. It’s a term that’s not part of our daily conversation, yet its meaning is very much a part of what most people engage in every day. If you go to work or are looking for work that you can afford to get

Morning Walk to the Farmers’ Market

This morning I arose to all sorts of work to do for clients. Speech to write, newsletter to edit and a few reports to complete. As I had just returned from a 1 1/2 day Seminar that was great but included lots of eating and sitting, I felt I was overdue for a good walk.

50-year Experiment with Sprawl is Ending

Well I’m excited. Co-founder of the Congress of New Urbanism, Peter Calthorpe, has been hired by my town to design something he described to the Toronto Star (May 25, 2009) as being “the highest manifestation of transit-oriented development” that he has been involved in. Wow. “We’ve had a 50-year experiment with sprawl. Now it’s over.