Here are some eyebrow-lifting stats from the AIA:
In 1973 60% of American kids walked to school. Remember that? Today it’s 13%.
Married couples with children comprised 61% of households.
The two largest groups of our population live in cities: baby boomers and millennials.
These are some stats Susan Szenasy., editor in chief of Metropolis mag, wrote in her letter from the editor last summer. She also wrote that one in six children has attended at least three schools. One speaker at the May AIA conference in Boston blamed this “instability” on “unhealthy… housing that forces people to move too often for their own good.”
That’s silly, almost preposterous. People don’t move (at least not a majority of people) bc their housing is poorly built. They move bc this is the 21st century, a transient era. They move bc the American public has been convinced by realtors, builders, developers, the Joneses, etc that only one housing type will function properly for each step in life. There is one style for post-college, one for newlyweds, one for young families, one for growing families, one for empty nesters, another for your golden years. C’mon now. Pay attention to the verbiage your peers are using; stop blaming it on shoddy housing. Point the finger of truth at materialism, socio-economic competition, and the lack of ability to think for oneself.
Go for universal design! It’s not just for wheelchair bound denizens.
Filed under: AIA, community, universal design, urbanization
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