[StBernard] Duany plans

[Westley Annis]

Having read a lot of your comments and impressions on the Duany
presentation, it calls to mind those high fashion (haute couture) European
shows were models come down the runaway with outfits that make the audience
react (good and bad reactions). And then six month later you see some of
those design features (maybe it's the ruffles, maybe it's length of the
skirts), but a toned down version that appeals to the public and practical
to wear and affordable is what hits the stores. And that is what the public
actually buys and wears.
 
Creative and artistic people go for the WOW factor. So when you see the
Duany rendering of the parish and it looks like Eden Isles with blue water
lagoons and canals all over and plots of open green space, and you try to
figure out how would that work, what would that cost, how does it look when
it's brown stormwater runoff,not blue lake water, etc. keep in mind that the
concept has to have WOW and is intended to spark discussion and debate.
Implementation tends to tone things down. I have yet to see an architect's
or planner's conceptual rendering built that way in the end. Guess that's
why I'm an engineer. I start asking about practicality, feasibility, costs,
etc.before my creative juices can start spewing. 
 
So realize that the creative renderings are to get our minds to think
outside the box, but in the end the practicality, feasibility, costs,
timeframe, legalities, and politics will flesh out what the citizens will
buy which is what private developers and the government will fund. It's
market driven, just like fashion.
 
Deborah Keller