Most of the elements of this plan seems to be comm...

2008-10-07T11:41:18.600-04:00

Most of the elements of this plan seems to be commonsensical enough; though a lot of the ideas seem to fly in the face of many of the commonplaces of Urban Design thought.

In particular, the "obvious solution" -- of moving shop parking to the rear of the stores and removing vehicular obstructions between the existing store lots -- flies in the face of law-enforcement policy.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design -- at least as promoted by the Montgomery County Department of Police -- requires that almost all parking be visible from the streets. It further requires obstructions between unit lots in order to prevent "cruisers". The main exception to these two rules is at major malls, where parking garages and "common roof" shopping allow mall security to help maintain order and public safety by having one big box full of cars and one big box full of people and retailers.

For years, the County and the Department of Police have been promoting exactly the opposite of the solutions proposed to Save Burtonsville.

Comments on just up the pike: new parking, landscaping proposed for b'ville in l...

Most of the elements of this plan seems to be comm...