Checking in with the CNU: short Q&A with Steven Bodzin

Steven Bodzin, activist, journalist, and Communications Director for the Congress for the New Urbanism, answered some of my questions via email recently. I’m appreciative of his time. As you’ll read, his opinions and guidance are sought by many.

I’ve discussed New Urbanism ad nauseum but it may not be clear what the Congress for the New Urbanism is. CNU is a non-profit based in San Francisco and was founded in 1993. Its mission is to “work with architects, developers, planners, and others involved in the creation of cities and towns, teaching them how to implement the principles of the New Urbanism.” NU principles include “coherent regional planning, walkable neighborhoods, and attractive, accommodating civic spaces.” Some well-known New Urbanists are Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo and the governor of Maryland, Parris Glendening.

Steven’s bio (from CNU site): “Steven Bodzin is an experienced journalist and activist with a particular interest in bicycle transportation and enhancing traditional cities. As an activist, he has worked with Bikes Not Bombs, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and the San Francisco’s Bicycle Advisory Committee. As a journalist, he has worked as managing editor of Home Energy, a magazine covering residential energy conservation and as a freelance environmental writer. After an eclectic education that included studying liberal arts, linguistics, and emergency medicine at various schools, Steven received a BA in Geography from San Francisco State University in 1999.”

Steven is currently swamped with coordinating the [url=http://www.cnu.org/news/index.cfm?formAction=press_release_item&press_release_id=18&CFID=1809379&CFTOKEN=1756194]tenth congress[/url] (June 13-16, South Beach).

What is your role with CNU? What is a typical day like for you?

I write and/or edit almost everything that goes out of here, including books, reports, web pages, some correspondence, presentations, letters to the editor — anything the public will see. I talk to reporters and send them to the members who have the expertise they are looking for. I reply to e-mails for a couple hours. Hectically work at my desk. Take lunch. Write, talk on the phone, deal with printers and editors and writers and members and
reporters, and eventually settle in for the evening to catch up on bigger tasks like books, catalogs, or press releases.

How has Sept. 11th effected the NU movement? Are Americans more resistant to
NU ideas and initiatives now?

No effect that I’ve seen. The economic slowdown/depression (depending if you’ve got a job or not) seems to be having some effect on home sales and a big effect on availability of capital, but that’s about it.

Young people are passionate about many causes and issues: globalization, death penalty, environmentalism, etc. Why is that college students and twenty-somethings don’t seem that interested in anti-sprawl efforts and in particular, New Urbanism? How can we get them fired up?

You’re right and wrong. Some young people are passionate against suburban homogeneity and sprawl — just look at the skaters, punks, and other suburban countercultures. However, they are generally against suburbia without being for anything. It’s tough to line up with New Urbanism, since this movement is mostly middle-class and reformist. We work with capital, government, and the other Powers That Be. So it’s not so attractive to wild-eyed youth.

But there are aspects that are quite radical — creating mixed-income neighborhoods, democratic planning, preservation of farmland and wilderness, reduction of driving, making policing a partnership rather than a control system — these all require an active wild-eyed wing. I think someone like Kunstler does a good job of firing people up, and there are plenty of other opportunities to get young people excited in favor of NU as well as being opposed to sprawl.

A frequent gripe I hear regarding NU projects is that they are too retro or try to mimic an era long past. And I understand where these critics are coming from. My neighborhood in South Austin has a lot of new houses that “blend in” but look cheesy. Almost like dollhouses. Is New Urbanism promoting this architectural style?

No, read the [url=http://www.cnu.org/aboutcnu/index.cfm?formAction=charter&CFID=1809379&CFTOKEN=1756194]Charter[/url]

What is the most exciting thing happening with New Urbanism right now?

[url=http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/03/14/text/p15s1.html]Greyfield mall redevelopment [/url]

What most prevents NU projects from getting off the ground? Developers?
Zoning? Environmentalists? Cars?

Zoning & planning law is probably the worst of these, but the biggest problem is internal inertia within human brains. Most people have never experienced an alternative to disinvested cities and sprawling burbs. So they have a hard time imagining something better. It is this lack of vision that really slows us down.

May 17th, 2002