Letter from the Editor

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PAST

In a world that feels like it is stuck on fast-forward and, for a lot of people, feels like a daily struggle, I appreciate the Arkansas Times and all the contributing writers to Block, Street & Building for taking the time to provide us with articles that share knowledge, inspire, break convention and teach valuable lessons. As we started reaching out to the design and development community about articles for this issue, we noticed some common themes emerging — including the overarching idea that we need to learn from the mistakes of the past to better inform the decisions we make in the future.

Building equitable and inclusive spaces where everyone feels welcome is one of the lessons learned; we can no longer afford to alienate each other and distance ourselves from one another. We’ve spent too much time interacting through computer screens or behind masks; we need to get back into the habit of connecting with others. With any purchase only a click away, we’ve learned the value of experiences and how to provide people with high- quality interactions as an incentive to leave their homes and engage with cities again. We’ve learned all roads and streets shouldn’t be built with the sole design intention being to move vehicles as quickly as possible; roads need to be multimodal and feel uncomfortable when vehicles drive too fast. We’ve learned we cannot have parking spaces at every front door to the detriment of outdoor seating areas and the overall public experience. We’ve learned renovating existing buildings can make for wonderful projects — not only as a sustainable practice, but also in relationship to density and links to urban context. We have learned that streets aren’t the only drivers for developments, as bike trails and pedestrian paths start to spur development strategies. We have learned that not all outdoor amenity spaces are created equal; the really successful ones address stormwater, provide shade, buffer between parking and traffic, funnel breezes and mitigate noise. We’ve learned that people aren’t necessarily going to live in the same house for 20 years like their parents did, and a more nomadic lifestyle is probably more professionally attainable and acceptable than it has ever been before. And we have learned that affordable housing is a national problem as concentric rings of cost around desirable areas dictate the distance that people have to be removed based on what they can afford.

As you read this issue, I hope it helps you see the potential in your own communities. I hope it serves as inspiration to solve the issues you are facing and to look at your challenges with creative solutions that are informed by the lessons we’ve learned from the past. To quote George Santayana, “Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”