This post is specifically for planners, architects, landscape architects, engineers, developers and government types who know the rules and standards that force development to look the way it does. And (obviously) for any other interested readers, too.
My architect pal Tom Low, of Duany Plater-Zyberk’s Charlotte office, shares this lovely photo of a street in Paris and asks – Can you do this at home?
I’m no expert, but here are a just few things I spotted that I don’t think would be allowed in Charlotte or most other places nearby:
- Cafe tables too close to (or possibly even in) the street.
- Tables without any awning or umbrella to cover them. (I think that’s an overly zealous health regulation.)
- Awnings encroaching over the public sidewalk.
- A blackboard sitting in the street.
- And I’m not sure, but I suspect those signs somehow run afoul of the city’s sign ordinances, which are, in my opinion, too strict on benign signs and too lenient on billboards.
So let’s hear it: Can you do this at home?