Don’t miss “8 Livable Lessons From Down Under"at the end of this article.
Indeed, filmmakers were startled at how easy it was to replicate a downtown devoid of human activity.
Melbourne has been namedthe best city to live in the worldfor seven years running byThe Economistmagazines data-crunching Intelligence Unit.
(In 2018, Vienna, Austria, bumped the city to second place).
Melbourne is not unlike many U.S. cities.
Melbournes commitment to creating a more livable community continues.
The square was built in 2002, replacing a widely hated 1960s office building.
But Melbournes motive is not nostalgia.
Moonee Valley resident Wazila Khan, who is in her 60s, is an American expat.
While the center of Melbourne feels like cozy Copenhagen, the surrounding landscape looks like sprawling Houston.
Striking low-story apartment buildings stand within walking distance of the Williams Landing commuter rail station.
Housing tracts under construction feature traffic-calmed streets, convenient alleyways, public plazas and parkland.
Called Soho Village, the development has attracted both Millennials and boomers, says project architect Dean Landy ofClarkeHopkinsClarke.
They’re both drawn to having shops and services at their doorstep.
The boomers like the idea of an urban village rather than a retirement village.
This approach to home-building also addresses one of the Melbourne regions biggest problems housing affordability.
Prices are soaring, in part because the size of an average suburban home has doubled in recent years.
“I used to get laughed out of boardrooms when I talked about walkable communities,” Day shares.
“Now we can show clients there is an economic advantage.
8 Livable Lessons From Down Under
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Didnt that spark a backlash from motorists?
No, he says, because it was done incrementally over 35 years.
Today, two-thirds of all trips in central Melbourne are made on foot.
By 2002, the population surged to 10,000 and now stands around 135,000.
Continuing livability improvements entice more folks to move in.
Instill a Spirited Public Life
Only two sidewalk cafes could be found downtown in 1985.
By 2019 there were more than 500 sidewalk cafes animating the citys street life.
Some resemble outdoor art galleries, food courts or artisan quarters.
(An alley near Federation Square celebrates local rock legends AC/DC.)
Many new buildings now incorporate “laneways,” as alleys are called in Australia, into their designs.
Blank walls on buildings or barren blocks of parking lots suck the life out of a street.
The benefits of efficient transit reach throughout the metropolitan region.
Trains and buses run all night on weekends.
Green the City
Parks function as backyards for downtown dwellers.
Think Beyond Big
Make no little plans.
Any city can do that.
What really counts are the slow, incremental transformations over the long term.
He writes, speaks and consults about livable communities.
