{"id":750,"date":"2019-06-15T09:41:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T13:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/larrykooper.com\/?p=750"},"modified":"2019-06-15T09:41:31","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T13:41:31","slug":"day-24-a-new-urbanist-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/15\/day-24-a-new-urbanist-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 24: A New Urbanist vision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pueblo, CO to Buena Vista, CO<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Left my hotel in Pueblo a little later than normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thought about what Blake said about kissing the joy as it flies. I am feeling joy, but I know it&#8217;s not going to last forever. I can&#8217;t hold onto it, so I kiss it as it flies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I listened to the Gram Parsons song &#8220;Return of the Grievous Angel.&#8221; Emmylou Harris and Gram\u2019s voices sound sublime in harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Out with the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels<br>And a good saloon in every single town<br><br>&#8216;Cause I headed West to grow up with the country<br> Across those prairies with those waves of grain<br> And I saw my devil, and I saw my deep blue sea<br> And I thought about a calico bonnet from Cheyenne to Tennessee<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gram Parsons - Return Of The Grievous Angel\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1PytxPaU6k4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Went to Royal Gorge Bridge. I didn&#8217;t know before that the bridge was a tourist attraction not used for actual transportation. I quickly realized as much when I got there and found out you couldn&#8217;t even see the bridge without paying $28. I used the men\u2019s room for $0 and left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going west on US 50, the road is right alongside the upper Arkansas River. The river has white water, and I saw some people rafting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8944-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-752\"\/><figcaption>Upper Arkansas River, near US 50<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Stopped at the Cotopaxi general store. I love the cowboy West. It\u2019s so relaxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8952-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-753\"\/><figcaption>Cotopaxi Store, Cotopaxi, CO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8955-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-754\"\/><figcaption>Mountains near Salida, CO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Got to my hotel, the Surf Hotel in Buena Vista (alt. 7,965).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn&#8217;t know any of this when I booked, but the hotel is in a new part of town called South Main that was designed according to New Urbanist principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The site is a one-time garbage dump that had sat vacant for years. It came up for sale about a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The developers, Jed Selby (a world-class kayaker) and his sister Katie, called in a team of architects and planners and invited the community to be involved in the planning process.  They established key principles including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Maintaining public access to the river; creating a high-quality riverfront space; establishing visual and physical connections with Main Street and downtown Buena Vista including a dramatic view of a historic cupola with background mountains; and creating a walkable neighborhood through a mixture of uses, network of pedestrian connections, and human-scale streets.<\/p><cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnu.org\/what-we-do\/build-great-places\/south-main\">Congress for the New Urbanism web site<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As I arrived I noticed that the neighborhood was unusual. My first thought was &#8220;Disney World.&#8221; And indeed, it has elements of a stage set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8977-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-758\"\/><figcaption>South Main, Buena Vista, CO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Surf Hotel building is one year old, but it&#8217;s very skillfully made to look like an old building that&#8217;s been renovated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8966-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-757\"\/><figcaption>Distressed boards on the floor of the elevator, Surf Hotel, Buena Vista, CO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I later found out that the neighborhood consciously takes inspiration from Buena Vista&#8217;s historic downtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The developers gave three riverfront acres to the city for a park, in accordance with their principle of free public access to the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/southmainco.com\/index.php\/story\">The origin story<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were people playing frisbee and throwing footballs on the green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8979-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-759\"\/><figcaption>The green and some outdoor living-room furniture, South Main, Buena Vista, CO <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The streets are woonerfs &#8211; spaces shared between slow-moving cars, bikes, and pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is really beautiful,  I am privileged to be here. And it\u2019s by chance. So it isn\u2019t Disney World, it\u2019s more like\u2026 Celebration, without Celebration&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thedisneyblog.com\/2016\/12\/22\/celebration-growing-problems-town-disney-built\/\">problems<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hotel is right next to the Arkansas River, and you can hear the loud sound of the rushing water. Its fa\u00e7ade is made out of different size rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8962-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-755\"\/><figcaption>Surf Hotel, Buena Vista, CO. My room fronted on one of those continuous balconies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a super-hipster boutique hotel. I like it. I wonder if Mary Beth would like it or if she would see it as too precious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8964-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-756\"\/><figcaption>Lobby bar, Surf Hotel, Buena Vista, CO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In my room, the bathroom is gorgeous &#8211; marble sink and a stall shower. Instead of plastic or coated paper cups in the guest rooms, they have enamelware cups. And a metal ice bucket.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I went to the real downtown of Buena Vista and it\u2019s adorable. I see what they mean when they said they were inspired by downtown to build South Main.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thinking back, like to Virginia and North Carolina, I&#8217;m already feeling nostalgic for the early part of this trip. It has truly been an epic journey, a voyage of discovery. And it&#8217;s not over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pueblo, CO to Buena Vista, CO Left my hotel in Pueblo a little later than normal. Thought about what Blake said about kissing the joy as it flies. I am feeling joy, but I know it&#8217;s not going to last forever. I can&#8217;t hold onto it, so I kiss it as it flies. I listened [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":765,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}