urban design

James Howard Kunstler joins host Duncan Crary for the Victorian Stroll in downtown Troy, NY. During this annual event, the city evicts the automobile from the streets and 21st century people discover how pleasurable it is to explore this 19th century urban fabric on foot. Kunstler believes events like this are rehearsal for the times ahead when Americans will be forced to re-inhabit their small cities and classic main-street towns.

For this program James Howard Kunstler visits Colonie Center, a 1.3 million square-foot enclosed two-level regional shopping center located in suburban Albany, N.Y. After more than $12 million in renovations to this shopping center's exterior and interior, Jim remains as unimpressed with this place as he was in the 1970s when it was first built. Before entering the mall, Jim describes the heroic suburban 6-lane boulevard of commerce upon which Colonie Center is located. Inside, Jim relaxes in one of the lounge areas provided for shoppers and provides a brief history of enclosed shopping areas. Episode 30.

In this episode of the KunstlerCast, James Howard Kunstler continues his walking tour of one city block in downtown Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a classic Main-street American town. Along the way, he visits a major urban infill project and the results of the urban renewal schemes of the 1960s. Episode 24.

Chinese cities are experiencing explosive growth - much in the form of "superblocks" -- roughly 1km² residential developments that can have anything from 2,000 to 10,000 units of housing in them --which are being built at a rate of 10-15 per day. This film is a case study of a proposed "ecoblock", which would be self-sufficient in water and energy.

In this episode of Kunstlercast, a listener from Columbus, Ohio shares the bad news about two proposed downtown parking garages. Even though James Howard Kunstler thinks the happy motoring scene in America is on the way out, he explains how to design a better parking garage with first-floor retail, a central lightwell and taller ceilings. The Europeans have a better solution, though: the car club. With transcript.