The two-day Eco El Paso 2014 Symposium on New Urbanism began this afternoon at the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown El Paso. It is co-sponsored by Eco El Paso and the City Planning and Development. Architect Laura Kissack with City Development worked tirelessly to line-up a team of expert speakers.
This conference will help promote learning about New Urbanism principles, which can potentially add value to our community. Through the use of high-performance, value-creating, mixed-use neighborhoods we can reduce sprawl and bring energy to public spaces and our local businesses.
New Urbanism supports design that promotes compact neighborhoods that bring people, goods, and services together with welcoming sidewalks and public spaces. This makes places more pleasant and adds value to these homes and businesses.
By promoting complete streets and thoughtful street design, we can create a well-connect transportation network that encourages biking, walking, and other outdoor activities. This leads to healthier, high-performing communities.
Supporting local food production has been proven to add value to communities. A new report from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture shows that institutional purchases of local food added nearly $9 million to the Iowa economy in 2012 . We will have Aaron from La Semilla, a food co-op based in New Mexico, speaking about sustainable food systems on Thursday.
Another study in Indiana showed that homes within a half-mile of Indiana’s Monon Trail sell for an average of 11% more than similar homes farther away . New Urbanism design supports walking and biking trails near homes and businesses because they add value to local areas. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, another study showed that for every quarter mile nearer to an off-street bicycle trail, the median home value increases by $510 . Lastly, in New York City, after the construction of a protected bike lane and other improvements on 9th Avenue, local businesses saw up to a 49% increase in retail sales, compared to 3% increases in the rest of Manhattan .
New Urbanism changes the way we think about our community—promoting design that connects people to their neighborhoods and environment.
New Urbanism design uses less energy, saves money, and reduces infrastructure costs and promotes a greener lifestyle, increases public safety.
Learn more about New Urbanism HERE.
Eco El Paso (EEP) was created in 2008 by a group of volunteers from different professional organizations including the AIA, USGBC, ASID, ASHRAE, UTEP, TTU, EPBA, and APA. It became a 501c3 in 2009. Founding members include architects, engineers, interior designers, planners, educators, landscape designers, material and systems consultants, manufacturers and general contractors. Mission Statement: Eco El Paso’s mission is to promote eco-‐sensitive and energy efficient community planning, building design, construction and facility maintenance in the Hot-Arid Climate. We provide educational training seminars and presentations for professionals in the design, construction and building maintenance industry, from experts in the various trades for sustainable residential, commercial and institutional projects. EEP has organized and co-organized various conferences with over 30 speakers and over 40 Continuing Education Units on subjects matters for attendees from beginner to advance level of knowledge about planning, building and sustainability issues. Eco El Paso is a community work group dedicated to fostering a learning environment for sustainable systems and life styles while integrating workforce and economic development concepts.
