Land + Living offers a critique of mixed use districts and/or "lifestyle centers"

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Written By H. Pike Oliver

Several years ago (November 2004) James Lippincot posted at the land + living network website -- www.landliving.com --a review of what he refers to as " . . . this idea of private development masquerading as public space."  See the article at www.landliving.com/articles/0000000495.aspx My own view of such places is somewhat more positive. Kudos ought to go out to anyone offering an alternative to the "boxes in a parking lot" format of retail that is so predominant these days. Nonetheless, Lippincot offers some interesting commentary and photos.

Lippincott likes several aspects of Victoria Gardens (in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, about forty miles east of downtown Los Angeles.) Overall, he has fewer compliments for Crocker Park (in Westlake, OH, about 15 miles west of downtown Cleveland.)  However, after decrying the fact that it is yet another mall Lippincot says that Crocker Park " . . . does embrace New Urbansim a bit more than some of the other projects we have looked at like Victoria Gardens, and much more than the Grove, with the placement of office and residential units in the upper two storys of the buildings. In this respect, Crocker Park would appear to us to be a more successful model."

H. Pike Oliver

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, H. Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He resided in the City of Irvine for five years in the 1980s and nine years in the 1990s.

As the founder and sole proprietor of URBANEXUS, Oliver works on advancing equitable and sustainable real estate development and natural lands management. He is also an affiliate instructor at the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.

Early in his career, Oliver worked for public agencies, including the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. Prior to relocating to Seattle in 2013, Oliver taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in urban and regional studies. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

Oliver is a graduate of the urban studies and planning program at San Francisco State University and earned a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA.

https://urbanexus.com
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