Stefani Ford Heads South and West to Find Her Garden Urb.
I am proud to say I am a Garden Urbanite. I love foliage and need it to be happy in the place that I live. I take pride in parks and think they are necessary in every neighborhood. On a nice day, one of my favorite hobbies is walking through a nice state park. A patch of land in order to garden is a necessity in my ideal urban area. A front porch with potted flowers is also necessary. All the aspects that would consider me a garden urbanite are things that I definitely am interested in. It has never been a passion of mine to live in a city. I would rather live in a rural area or suburb, but if I were to live in an urban area it must have closeness to the natural outdoors or else I might not be interested.
My urban area is the one and only Quawpaw Quarter in Little Rock, Arkansas. The historic buildings and architecture, and charming parks are my idea of a perfect surrounding. The idea of restoring an old building or apartment to live in with the surroundings of nature is something I would love to accomplish. The satellite image over Little Rock shows is a picture of all green, which is what I want from the urban city I would live in.
Mike Swanson asks, How's your toleration for Country Music. If you're Arkansas bound, you should learn the fiddle and play Arkansas Traveler. I do like the skyline on the Street Finder....wander down to the skyscraper sometime and see what you see on the way.
Kerry Rusich is in a postindustrial frame of mind.
Kerry writes: After taking the survey, I consider myself to be a Postindustrial Urbanite. I'd like to live in an area like SoHo because of the shops and markets that are in the area. This image shows an area where there's a lot going on in a small area. Within the area are stores, restaurants, museams, entertainment, and night life. While it may not be the most glamorous part of the city, it's a place where you can never get bored. I like the thought of living as close to downtown as possible. Everything is close by and driving isn't necessary. I wouldn't live there necessarily for the type of house or apartment, but for the location. I think it is more important where you live than what you live in. However I do like the idea of a postindustrail urbanite having the best views possible out of as many windows as possible. I think I would enjoy living in a Postindustrial city like New York for a long time. I could see myself enjoying the lifestyle that goes along with being a Postindustrial Urbanite. While I would enjoy living in almost any type of city, I like the atmosphere of New York and what it has to offer.
Mike Swanson Notes: Don't be surprised to hear the click, click, click of magnets against metal on weekends. Your link is smack dab in the middle of the Cast Iron District. All those classical columns you see aren't stone. They're cast iron molded to look as if they came fresh from a Greek or Roman Quarry. Architect fans and New Yorkers generally like to search these building fronts out and test them with pocket magnets. You might enjoy buying a magnet yourself and joining them.
Meanwhile, Molly Reynolds heads way out West to Seattle Washington
If I were an urb I would be definitely be eclectic. I love to be surrounded by people who are original and not like everyone else. To express oneself is such a great thing and people do not do it enough. I want to live in a place where everyone is open to expression and being who you are. I could not think of a more "weird" person than myself or my family and friends and I would not have it any other way. To be normal is boring and I would never want to be that. I like having my own style and being unique, it is more fun that way. I see myself living in a place that fits my personality and that is why I chose Seattle Washington. It fits my eclectic urb and describes me. Seattle is full of people who are their own and it has a great energy all around. Art and music play a huge part to the city, it is everywhere. When I was 17 years old I went to Seattle for a four day music festival called Bumbershoot. All day for four days straight music played all around the Seattle Space Needle and people danced and were free. There were four different stages with artists performing at all times. Not only were there headliners playing but local bands and tons of reggae. There was art everywhere the city including stores but also on the streets tables were set up with local residents selling their art and handmade jewelry. I remembered then thinking how this atmosphere was where I belong. The people were friendly and no two people walking down the street looked the same. The city is full of diversity and I think that is so important to surround yourself with every type of culture and person because in my opinion that makes a well rounded individual. I always look to surround myself around new environments because you can learn so much about yourself through who you meet. I am a person who gets bored easily and a diverse and energetic place like Seattle will always keep me busy with new activities and events. I like the brightness of Seattle and vibe it gives off, it is the perfect place for me.
Mike Swanson remarks: Bumbershoot still operates, Molly, and if you practice real hard you can enter it next year. I've put a link to the website above. Bumbershoot is an old fashioned term for an umbrella, which tells you a little about Seattle's rainy reputation. Nice neighborhood you've chosen with the water so close. On the other side of the peninsula is Pioneer Square, which is sort of Seattle's answer to Quincy Market. Back when Seattle was a lumbering town, the original Skid Row wasn't far from here. It didn't mean hobo heaven back then: it was the place where lumberjacks skidded timbers down to load them on ships. Take a look at Quest Stadium, too, home of the Seattle Mariners.
Bring your Sun Block #50 when you visit Paige Cunningham in her "Urb?"
While going through the Urb questionnaire I found myself really trying to think of where I would want to live some day, and I really have no idea where I’d like to end up, there are so many interesting places that I have traveled to, and I’m having troubling picking just one. I would love to go to grad school in Boston because I think it would be a great place to live for a little while, get to know the city better, and actually live in a city for a few years has also been a goal of mine. But at the same time there are places throughout California that I have traveled to that I fell in love with. SO after going through this questionnaire I guess you could say that I am a Garden urb as well as an eclectic, I love the beauty in nature and the simplicity of areas that are not over populated and have zero city feel to them. But at the same time I do get bored pretty easily and would need to live in an environment where I would be able to keep myself entertained a majority of the time. The location that I finally chose to actually look more in depth at was San Clemente, California, which is a place I have actually been to and spent some time in back in high school. I do not think I could ever live in a place that was not close to the water, I have grown up always within a short drive to some sort of water, so I know that I could never live in an area that was land locked. While going through Google maps I actually stumbled upon my dream house. 314 Esplanade, San Clemente, CA, United States, that is going to be my address some day. Although it may be in several years because I don’t think ocean front property is to cheap these days.
Also San Clemente is equidistant between both Los Angeles and San Diego, so if I wanted to go to the city it would just be a trip on the train or a few hours in the car. This to me is just close enough to a major city, but at the same time just far enough away. Such places as Huntington Beach, Long Beach, and Anaheim are all very close by also. I feel that after actually traveling to San Clemente and spending time there I really could see myself living there for a portion of my life.
So after going through this Urb study even though I do not fully connect to just one Urb, I personally think it’s more fun and interesting to associate with a few different types because that way you could live almost anywhere in the US and still make your living environment work for you and be happy. J
Mike scratches his head: Lovely spot, but can we really call it an urb? Aside from a dip in the pacific, is there any place you can get to without hopping in a car? While you''re waiting for your ship to come in you might try something a little more urb like and still close to the waterfront. How about a low-rise apartment in Long Beach, CA? Or even a High-Rise. You have to move a couple more blocks inland to get really eclecting, but from here you can walk to all sorts of places--theatres, restaurants and bars, the convention center, and even the aquarium.
Elise Guay chooses Vermont for her mini-city Urb: Montpelier.
So, I just took the Urbanite survey. What I did to determine which Urbanite I am, I made a tally system, and the reults are very interesting. I only go 2 tallies for post-industrial, which doesn't surprise me because I really dislike modern architecture and so on. The one that came out on top was Garden with 9, second was Blank Canvas with 7, and last was Eclectic with 6. I think I'm a comination of these because I would love to live in a place that I could rennovate and be surrounded by history. I'm a sucker for American history and Victorian style architecture. I am also a big fan of simple living which seems to be in states like Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Therefore, I decided my perfect city would be the capital of Vermont, Montpellier. With only a couple blocks making up the downtown area, it's the perfect size and way of life I am looking for in a place to live. It is such a cool, eclectic little town but it also has business and artistic elements that I also like.
Mike Swanson guesses that if Burlington counts, so does Montpelier, especially when there are lots of politicians wandering around. This might be more an "urb in a garden" than a garden urb, but the elements of urbanism are there. What will make it most eclectic is the presence of Vermont College. Streetfinder didn't spent a lot of time wandering around Montpelier. You'll have to send us all postcards.
