Planning Quote of the Day

the subtle qualities of architecture

"Why is it, do you imagine, that so many people want to live in the lovely old conservation areas of our towns and cities -- the bits that weren’t knocked down in the orgies of destruction in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s -- or to visit them while abroad on their holidays? Because their essential characteristics of harmonious proportions, of human scale and hierarchy, strike a common chord within our hearts. These are the subtle qualities of architecture that so many people find instinctively beautiful. But their origins lie in shared human psychology; which -- as new research is confirming -- is intimately connected to human well-being."

-- excerpted from Remarks of HRH Prince of Wales (pdf file) on Accepting the Vincent Scully Prize (Nov. 7, 2005)

Note: Having offered three quotes from Vincent Scully this past week, I thought it might be appropriate to follow-up with brief excerpts from remarks of Prince Charles on receiving the Vincent Scully Prize in Washington, D.C. in 2005.

be eternally vigilant

Q. How do you see the developer?

A. Clearly he is the one through whom the money is flowing to build our environment. The kind of thing the developers won't pay for, like low-cost housing, is not being built. I don't mean that developers are sinister, but they do have the power to shape the environment. That's why towns, cities and preservation societies have to be eternally vigilant. ...

-- from interview of noted architectural historian Vincent Scully by New York Times reporter Eleanor Charles (February 7, 1988)

looking so candified

Q. What do you think of the practice of restoring run-down urban neighborhoods as condominiums and shops?

A. Considering the agony of the neighborhoods, I find the brick sidewalks, the cafes, the boutiques and the whole gentrification process a bit ridiculous. Yet I can understand it as a desire to pull people downtown. I just think most of those areas come out looking so candified. They used to be for loading and manufacturing and drinking and fighting and a real tough life. ...

-- from interview of noted architectural historian Vincent Scully by New York Times reporter Eleanor Charles (February 7, 1988)

society will build what it believes in

Q. Is the current wave of preservation too intense?

A. I don't think so. Twenty-five years ago we tore down indiscriminately and cruelly. And I think that the forces that work to destroy buildings will always be strong. Sometimes it's simple greed, but there's usually some kind of social force behind it. Society will build what it believes in. Right now it believes in luxury condominiums.

-- from interview of noted architectural historian Vincent Scully by New York Times reporter Eleanor Charles (February 7, 1988)

Note: this week's three quotes will all be from this insightful 1988 interview. While the interview focused on issues facing Connecticut, Scully's responses were often broader in scope.

the most important asset of a city

"Cities are the world champions of walkability. It is the most important asset of a city and it must be protected."

-- Andres Duany, speaking in Newburgh, New York, as reported in The Upstate Planner (March 2007)

the wisdom of crowds

"... the wisdom of crowds is often exceptionally good. And collective intelligence is especially valuable when it comes to subjects like town and city planning and managing development, subjects where important information is not concentrated in the hands of a few people, but is diffused among myriad members of the community. If the job is ... to produce a far-sighted plan for balancing environmental, aesthetic, economic, and social concerns, you’re far more likely to end up with a good answer if you solicit and aggregate the judgments of those who live in the community, rather than rely on a more traditional, top-down planning process. ... Is there a catch to the wisdom of crowds? ...  it’s essential to make sure that the crowd is a diverse one, made up of people with different perspectives and different problem-solving tools."

-- James Surowiecki, from "Speaking of Place: The Wisdom of Communities," posted on the Orton Family Foundation web site (you can also access a video clip of Surowiecki's talk at last October's CommunityMatters Conference).

for planning to be meaningful

"For planning to be meaningful, citizens must be involved in the process. Planners, regardless of their personal talents and capabilities, working in isolation and apart from the clients of planning, will not be able to craft plans communities will embrace."

-- Michael Chandler, from "The 21st Century Plan" (Planning Commissioners Journal Issue #31)

note: Chandler's article is also available as part of our Basic Planning Tools reprint set.

cities are machines

"Cities are machines for making collaboration easier."

-- Edward Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard and director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government (from "How Should We Be Thinking About Urbanization?," NY Times Freakonomics Blog, Dec. 11, 2007)

high density housing

"High density housing offers an inferior lifestyle only if it is without a community as its setting."

-- Andres Duany (from his firm's web site; Duany is an architect and planner and one of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism

time stays, we go

"Time goes, you say? Ah no, Alas, time stays, we go."

-- poet Henry Austin Dobson (see the related post on our PCJ +plus blog, The Fountain of Time)

a practical vision of the future

The comprehensive plan ... is a practical vision of the future capable of shifts in detail and arrangement over time as available resources and public preferences change. ... The comprehensive plan is practical in that it lays out a series of objectives that the community realistically intends to accomplish over the coming years. The plan also reflects vision in that it encapsulates the community's goals and aspirations for its future.

-- Larry Gerckens, FAICP, "C is for Comprehensive Plan," in his Planning ABCs

nobody goes there anymore ...

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

-- Yogi Berra (in explaining why he no longer went to a trendy St. Louis restaurant)

[thanks to Mike O'Leary, Town Planner for Hebron, Connecticut, for alerting us to this quote]

go after the mice

"Let's go after the mice, not the elephant."

-- Ralph Thompson, Dearborn County (Indiana) Commissioner (in explaining to PCJ Editor Wayne Senville that the County needs to seek out small businesses, not one major employer, as an economic development strategy; see related blog post on transportation issues facing the County)

punks & drunks

"We want to avoid becoming a 'punks and drunks' downtown."

-- Placerville, California, Community Development Director Steve Calfee (remarks to PCJ Editor Wayne Senville about future of main street during tour of Placerville on July 7, 2007)

let's pack the suitcase

"Let's pack the suitcase."

-- Jim Munch, former Pueblo, Colorado, Planning Director, describing the city's strategy of concentrating new development in the core area of downtown, instead of spreading out projects over a wider geographic area (during a conversation with PCJ Editor Wayne Senville on June 25, 2007)

responsible planning is a creative art

"Responsible planning is a creative art using data from the past and knowledge of interrelationships to create new and better communities for the future."

-- Larry Gerckens, FAICP, from his K is for Knowledge in his Planning ABCs

chase brainpower

"It's more important to chase brainpower than smoke stacks."

-- Tim Brennan, Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley (MA) Planning Commission (quoted in "Hidden Tech" in PCJ #61, discussing importance of "virtual workers" to the regional economy).

a lot about nothing

"We don't specialize in anything, but we know a lot about nothing."

-- Steve Calfee, Community Development Director for Placerville, California (comment to Wayne Senville about planners in Placerville, July 7, 2007)