Monday, April 02, 2007

Back from the weekend Open Thread

I was visiting a friend in Bloomington, and to my surprise the house he purchased last month is in a New Urban/Neo-traditional neighborhood. Despite being an "older" New Urbanism development (2001) the neighborhood is still too new for the mature trees that will really make it seem like a traditional neighborhood. It does have alleys, rear-loaded garages, sidewalks, front porches, narrow streets (parking only on one side) and a central park square within walking distance. Similarly to the pending Prairie Heights development, the retail element isn't mixed into the residential like it would be in what I understand as true New Urbanism. Still, you can definitely see the difference between the image above and a typical new subdivision with wide streets, big yards, and houses dominated by 2 and 3 car, front-loaded garages.

What'd I miss out on around the QCA this weekend? I see both newspapers have printed articles basically saying no one knows what's happening with the Rhythm City casino move. Also, on the way back from Bloomington I swung through downtown Peoria, so expect some images of a few of their downtown developments in the next week. How did the LeClaire Park expansion meeting go Saturday? Anyone who missed it, don't forget the other meeting tomorrow night.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your friends neighborhood needs some STREET TREES! They need a Greenway Habitat Group.

Anonymous said...

What's going on with "The Colonel's View"? There is nothing there. Did the city shut him down?

QuadCityImages said...

No idea about the Colonel's blog, and it doesn't even make sense that his new one would be shut down. I thought the info that caused all the trouble was on his old blog.