New Urbanists flock to Providence, touring, talking and appreciating.

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 4, 2006

BY BILL VAN SICLEN
Journal Arts Writer

PROVIDENCE -- They came, they saw, they strolled (at least until the rain chased them indoors). And when they weren't touring artists' lofts in Pawtucket, window-shopping in Downcity or visiting community gardens in South Providence, they were hunkered down in the Rhode Island Convention Center discussing everything from building codes to global population trends.

Welcome to CNU XIV, a four-day urban planning conference that brought more than 1,500 architects, developers and government officials to the Rhode Island capital. (Think Woodstock for city planning wonks.)

The conference, which ends today, was organized by the Congress for the New Urbanism, or CNU. Founded in 1993, CNU preaches the virtues of traditional town planning -- small neighborhoods, walkable streets, lively mixed-use city centers -- as an antidote to suburban sprawl.

While that may sound like a no-brainer, it actually flies in the face of nearly 50 years of government policy, which has often encouraged suburban development at the expense of cities and towns. The result has been ever-increasing acres of sprawl and ever-longer commutes for American workers.

The best way to fight sprawl, say the New Urbanists, is by creating urban environments in which people actually want to live.

As CNU co-founder Andres Duany put it during a Thursday seminar titled "New Urbanism 101," New Urbanism is about "making places that are so great -- so much more diverse, lively, interesting and exciting -- that they put suburbia to shame."

Certainly, the conference has been a lively affair.

Thursday's opening-day activities included a walking tour of Providence's newly revitalized Downcity-Westminster Street area, a visit to the Southside Community Land Trust gardens in South Providence, and bus trips to Newport, Pawtucket and Boston's Big Dig.

In the afternoon, teams of planners and architects held a number of "charrettes" -- brainstorming sessions aimed at exploring and improving different parts of the city. In the Armory District, for example, charrette participants proposed turning the landmark Cranston Street Armory into a community center that could host fairs, farmers markets and other activities.

Another charrette looked at ways to increase traffic and pedestrian links between downtown and the city's rapidly growing Armory-West Broadway area. One proposal was to bulldoze Bishop McVinney Auditorium and reconnect the now-blocked east and west sides of Westminster Street.

Planners also suggested building a major parking garage under Cathedral Square, noting that its proximity to both the highway and downtown made it an ideal place to park. Robert Leaver, a local planner who led the charrette, said that such a garage "would certainly solve a lot of problems."

"I might even get a parking spot," he added.

True, some events were of the eye-glazing sort that only hardcore city-planning fans might enjoy. One Friday morning session, for example, beckoned conferees with the title "Sustainability and the New Infrastructure: Where Do the Pipes Go?" Another offered advice on "Pattern Books as Tools for Designing High-Density, Mixed-Use Development."

Yet most events were anything but dull. On Friday night, the head of the Urban Land Institute, Marilyn Jordan Taylor, gave a rousing talk in which she challenged New Urbanism -- and by extension, the entire planning profession -- to deal with the consequences of global population growth.

On a more personal note, Taylor recalled how, as a young designer working for architectural giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, she helped draw up plans for what eventually became Capital Center. "Back then, who could have imagined this beautifully restored and revitalized city?" she asked.

Taylor was followed by Duany, who argued that New Urbanism had reached "the tipping point" in terms of public support and political and financial clout. In particular, Duany pointed to the Gulf Coast, where New Urbanist planners and architects have been leading many of the post-Katrina rebuilding efforts.

At the same time, Duany took a swipe at those who have criticized the CNU for imposing a one-size-fits-all solution on the Gulf Coast, one of the country's most culturally and economically diverse regions.

"If there's one thing New Urbanism stands for, it's complexity," he said. "We understand and appreciate the complexity that makes any place a vibrant place to live. That's what makes us strong."

Duany, a ubiquitous presence any time New Urbanists gather, also turned up at a Friday afternoon session chronicling Providence's own revitalization efforts. Titled "The Providence Story," the session featured two local stars: Providence architect (and Providence Place designer) Friedrich St. Florian and riverwalk designer William D. Warner.

Despite the busy schedule, conferees also found time to unwind. Among the after-hours events: an opening-night cocktail party at Waterplace park on Thursday and a special edition of WaterFire on Friday.

Still, it was the city itself that grabbed most of the attention.

"Gorgeous, a very beautiful place," said Emmanuel Gonzalez, a 26-year-old Mexican architect who was making his first trip to New England. "To think that all these old buildings survived in such good condition is amazing."

Lucy Thompson, a city planner from St. Paul, Minn., agreed.

"It really is wonderful," she said.