Maggie says:
Once again, I've just gotta say it:
That's my councilor!!!
Councilor Debbie O'Malley is proposing a series of site design standards for new big box development in Albuquerque. As the Journal article explains, the proposal would set standards for street connectivity, pedestrian access, size restrictions, more humane parking lots, landscaping, facades, outdoor storage, and more.
This proposal is loooooong overdue, as anyone driving around 95% of Albuquerque can attest. What's so frustrating about planning in the city and county is that we have tiny pockets where good planning and design is happening, and the rest is left up to (let's hear it, Marjorie!) "the market" to decide. We all know how that turns out... And don't get me started on the missed opportunities to add critical design and building standards that were left on the table in certain local planning efforts... by the planners themselves. Ugh. This proposal would set a standard for citywide development and not just leave every decision up to the consultant or community group working on their own plan. Additional tweaking could always be added into smaller sector plans, but what Albuquerque desperately needs is a better standard to raise the bar for every neighborhood.
This weekend with my out-of-town best gal in my car, we found ourselves up in the Heights on an errand, an area I'd never take guests wanting to see what Albuquerque has to offer. Sure enough, sitting in endless traffic at endless strip mall stoplights, I felt compelled to apologize for how ugly everything was. In my view, we weren't even in Albuquerque, we were in Anyplace. But as those of us who love Albuquerque for its funky charm know, this City deserves much, much better. We all do. Thanks to this proposal, we might be finally inching toward some progress.
Stay tuned for updates on this one.
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