Thursday, October 30, 2008

Urban Oasis


The City of Chicago’s motto is "Urbs in horto,” which translates as "city in a garden.” You understand exactly what it means the minute you see the untouched green spaces along the lake front; the enormous, colorful containers of plants along the downtown streets; and the rooftop garden on City Hall. These details never fail to amaze out-of-town visitors from more suburban and rural areas who think that they have the market on greenery while cities are all steel and concrete. For the most part they’re right – Chicago is pretty unique in its quest for green spaces, but more cities are following the lead. You can see the renewed importance of green reflected in the way developers are designing their communities. It’s true that few urbanites have a yard to call their own – and that’s traditionally because land is at a premium, so parking spaces often take precedence over park spaces. But I don’t think it should be that way, and many other developers are starting to change their minds too. Landscaping provides an aesthetic and environmental value that can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It’s the reason we designed Sienna in Evanston with one acre of landscaping so residents will have a secluded sanctuary that’s a peaceful and quiet diversion from city life. And it’s also the reason we paid careful attention to adding environmentally friendly landscaping to aquaterra in Mesa. A little green space goes along way to balance the stress in our daily lives and the stresses on the environment.