Comments on Design New Haven: National Train Day to hit New Haven Union Station

A form-based code places the primary emphasis on b...

2008-05-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

A form-based code places the primary emphasis on building form (not style) and placement and secondary emphasis on use. Current zoning (called Euclidean) places primary emphasis on use, not form.

Buildings in the different areas of the city (downtown, main streets, neighborhood residential) should complement each other in terms of scale and mass. In other words a large building should not be placed next to a small one: like goes with like. Buildings should line the streets and form the public space (streets), and should be designed to accommodate many different uses throughout their life: office, retail, residential. I would suggest going to CNU.org to learn about this new method of zoning.

What does "rewriting the Zoning Ordinance as a For...

2008-05-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

What does "rewriting the Zoning Ordinance as a Form-Based code" mean?

Now that Peak Oil seems to have arrived, the time ...

2008-05-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Now that Peak Oil seems to have arrived, the time for a state and national push for all kinds of multi-modal transportation has come.

New Haven is well literally well-placed to take advantage of its transportation links. We are between New York and Boston, have a major rail station, and a working port. Our city is pedestrian-friendly with small neighborhood business zones sprinkled about.

What would greatly aid us would be to reinstall the trams we had in early 20th century, completely re-write the Zoning Ordinance as a Form-Based code, and create an office of sustainability. Lastly, the Board of Aldermen should declare New Haven a Post-Carbon City as other cities around the country have done and prepare to re-localize the economy for the 21st century.