New Urbanism Welcome to Twixtland, enjoy the county-subsidized bird songs.     By Katie Atherton I'm sitting at my desk in my office downtown writing a letter. Below the fountain barely drowns out the children's laughter and the sweet smell of lavender from the window box makes me sneeze. Suddenly a gust of breeze blows the letter onto the floor. "Damnit! Not again! I have to walk over to Staples for a paperweight. I'll be right back." What's wrong with this scenario? I'll tell you. No one just walks to Staples for a paperweight. New Urbanism is a movement begun in the 1980's to examine how cities and towns are planning their urban centers, making work places and neighborhoods more livable, preserving historical structures, and working responsibly with the environment. I do not have to worry about the breeze in my office unless the air-conditioning is on too high. New Urbanism is a movement to promote the paperweight. I am by no means an expert in New Urbanism, but it was an architectural drawing class that changed my views about how humans live. Where I live here in Sacramento, there is a teensy bit of urban sprawl. Just a bit. In the newer sections of Roseville, a growing suburb located 20 minutes north of Sacramento, there are seemingly no trees. You can stand on a hill in a field of rocks and see rooftops, the gigantic mall and parking lot, and power lines. What a sight. One shudders to think that this might be the future for affordable housing in the United States. In Sacramento, the city is working to revitalize the central business district. Part of this effort is the reworking of several urban areas. Taking a run-down older area next to a successful metropolitan area into a more useable condition improves the economy of the city and redefines the way people live downtown. This seems to be just the beginning of the effort to reign in the urban sprawl, but the next ten to fifteen years will be critical. Will all the new development appeal to someone in the Twixter age range of 24 to 34 who might be just starting out? An abundance of loft spaces have been sold in the last few years in downtown Sacramento. Expensive and hip, they are too few and far between to solve the need for housing in this area. Besides the rarity of the loft spaces, not all Twixters want to eat P.F. Changs every night, rent a $5K a month trendy loft, and be labeled as an "urban professional." When all that is offered in the big cities in California right now is a room with no windows, why not move out into the suburbs? San Francisco, for instance, is a world-class city that struggles with keeping families in its downtown. No matter how many parks they add, there does not seem to be a solution to the housing price issue. Decision makers including architects, planners, and developers involved in the Sacramento revitalization argue that we can have the best of both worlds and thrive. New Urbanism can be the solution to the problems of urban sprawl while providing a support for culture, art, and family living. In the next 15 years Sacramento hopes to see long range plans that are happening now become reality. If the Twixters (and by Twixters, I mean me) were in charge of the universe, I would propose the following: 1. A Walkable World In the suburbs, it is not as easy to stumble home after a pintÖor two, or ten. This can be the basis for a whole new "walkable world." It's a place where we walk home at 3am from the neighborhood watering hole while enjoying the company of someone you may care enough about to let them "accidently" brush their forearm against yours. 2. Old Theaters Everywhere Remember the old theater that used to be where the Safeway now sits downtown? Didn't think so. All that is left of the theater is the chipped blue and green tile fountain tucked away on the side of the parking lot. No one really pays much attention to it. Wouldn't it be nice if the old theater still existed? We could stare up at the ceiling and get lost in the painted swirls before the film. 3. Swing Sets for Adults We definitely need to think about adult swing sets (can't help yourself with that "swinger" joke, can you?). Our parks within every neighborhood will have hors devours, flower labyrinths, newsstands, etc. After dropping off the dry cleaning we can go get a glass of wine in the park and listen to the band. Sound good? 4. Beautiful Buildings Every building in Twixtland will be unique, meaningful, and will last until the robots take over. Robots, or at least the robots I know, can't tell the difference between Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batllo and the Home Depot. Maybe this is a good thing for them. Regardless, humans usually prefer looking at something other than city blocks of warehouses disguised in orange and yellow paint. Twixters have more of a say than we think about how our world is constructed. Start attending city counsel meetings and tell them that you want an office with paperweights and flowerboxes outside of every window. Did you ever make a Lego city as a child? What did it look like and how did it work to please all the Lego people? Did you consider that your little Lego people might end up spending all their time in their cars? Your poor Lego people don't even get to make eye contact or exchange the friendly hello at the coffee counter. So lame. Start over.