What is Wrong with Suburbia?
When the topic of energy efficiency comes up, everyone points the finger at the American suburbs. “The suburbs are menacing,” they say. “Suburban living is selfish," they say. But when you ask the question, “Why?” the answer normally has something to do with the fact that many suburbs waste too much energy. People suggest solutions such as movement from suburban living to urban living, explaining that it is more energy-efficient and that density is better for the environment--but before we start suggesting “solutions” we should ask ourselves: "What is the real problem?”
When you look at the answer to why suburbs are deemed “bad," the problem revolves around its lack of energy efficiency, not the fact that each person has an individual plot of land. Architects have the responsibility to make smart, energy efficient designs with which everyone can be happy. The easy way out for many architects is to simply say, “Everyone should move to the city because it has a higher energy efficiency than suburbs and it’s a great place to live." However, this is a lazy statement that architects make without taking into consideration the possibility of making suburbs more energy efficient. Rick Harrison, an architect who designs for energy efficient suburbs, however, is an example of an architect who has taken the initiative to create one of these smart, energy-efficient designs that allows for people who want a private house away from the city to live comfortably as well as responsibly.
Taking into consideration the topography and how it can be most efficiently utilized, Harrison creates suburban towns to be efficient--not through the use of windmills and solar panels, but through clever design. For example, with fewer roads and intersections, the action of stopping and re-starting cars is minimized: "coving," an ingenious strategy which Harrison discovered and currently utilizes, is based on the topography and streetscape, using designs of different setbacks for each residential space.
More information about Rick Harrison and his design can be found at http://www.rhsdplanning.com/