Piazza
City centre is vibrant mixed use in West Houston. It is beautiful but it is homogenous. It is an urban development built amongst the rich of Houston’s suburban Memorial VIllages. It is an urban development filled with a faux view of reality. City Center feels like the urbanist equivalent of a sub-division. It is too cookie cutter. It lacks individuality and organic culture. Mixed Use Developments need to stop being so homogenous. It’s not just for yuppies.
Today I saw the solution. I had the pleasure of seeing the best example of new urbanist development I have seen ever. It is a place called the Piazza at Schmidt’s This modern development that complimented the old urban fabric of the city of brotherly love. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is known for its old timey small and picturesque streets, along the glistening contrast of every era of urban America.
The north Philly development integrates well with the surrounding area. The mixed use buildings filled with apartments atop shops and restaurants surround a wide open square that was full of vibrant culture. At the moment I was there, a flea market occupied the space where visitors became intertwined with the unique collection of local artisans and antique collectors.
The space felt organic and the place felt real. It spoke me. It was not homogenous. It mixed in the very diverse area surrounding it with trendy pool clubs and cafes along with the old neighborhood community restaurants and barber shops. It was truly,very mixed. Some places were ran down and others were new and clean. Old buildings around the development being repurposed proving the piazza was not just a single development but a piece of the ever changing urban fabric.
Just imagine this kind of development in Houston. We could learn a thing or two.Developments need to be part of the urban fabric not separate. Come on, Tex we can figure this out.
hirschit 