February 19th, 2009
“If we can develop and design streets so that they are wonderful, fulfilling places to be – community-building places, attractive for all people – then we will have successfully designed about one-third of the city directly and will have had an immense impact on the rest.“
Posted in Quotes on February 19th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Tagged with planning, quote, street, streets, urban design
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February 19th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Blair, this “attractive for all people” post made me think about an issue that seems to come up repeatedly — so far in OKC, without a good solution. I thought maybe you’ve come across some good responses to this problem: On some streets — especially in “transitional areas” — there are one or more establishments that are painted with “jarring” colors. I suppose the business owner feels that the more noticeable the paint-job, the more noticeable the business. Do you know of any zoning codes that deal with color pallet issues in an intelligent and workable manner? The problem here in OKC is that because it can be hard to define/enforce an acceptable color pallet, we remain stymied on how to deal with the issue. Any thoughts?
February 20th, 2009 at 12:03 am
George –
I have heard of neighborhoods having design covenants included as part of the development. And I have heard of some historic areas that have color guidelines, though I am not really certain of the process for implementing such restrictions. Interestingly, I was just recently reading that similar guidelines were included in the Laws of the Indies, which dictated the form and style of Spanish towns all over the world in the 16th century.
Most of the guidelines I found were in .pdf, but to get a feel for what is out there, try googling: “paint color design guidelines“
February 20th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Thanks!