Canalscape Exhibit Opens in November

The Canalscape design competition is complete and the results will be on display in November at ASU (and at Greenbuild?):

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2009/09/07/20090907mon1-07.html

http://canalscape.asu.edu

As I was riding my bike past a canal on Sunday and saw people parking cars in adjacent neighborhoods so that they could jog in the pre-blistering early morning air, I was reminded again how nice and subversive (to the auto-dominated infrastructure) it would be to have a well-developed cultural and transportation sub-system based on the canals and the Greenbelt and other dedicated bicycle and pedestrian paths. What if the canal shores were shaded by solar canopies that generated power while keeping the bike and running paths underneath cool for a longer season? What if there were cafes and cultural activities that you could only get to reasonably by way of this transportation sub-system because there was limited parking around them? What if it was just culturally expected that you arrive by foot or bike? We have a light rail zoning overlay. Why not one for the canals?

I haven’t seen the exhibit yet but I have high expectations for the possibilities.

~ by Mick Dalrymple on September 14, 2009.