New Urbanism | New Urban Mom

Archive for New Urbanism – Page 3

How New Urbanism Benefits You

The term “new urbanism” isn’t a term widely used in our daily conversations and that’s probably because it’s not widely understood…but it should be. New urbanism is a movement that can get urban designers all excited, but few others and that’s unfortunate. New urbanism has a direct impact on the quality of our lives and

The Older I get…

…the more I appreciate just how much we need our family, friends and community to make us feel whole and aware that we’re where we need to be. As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up always wanting to live somewhere else. Home was the suburbs and I was a teen without car (or a license

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

Planning to Appreciate All We Have in 2010

Like many people, every so often I think about moving. Moving to a bigger house or a house with more bells and whistles. That line of thinking takes me down a number of paths. To match my budget and preferences we’d have to either leave the community we love or take on a bigger mortgage