FORECLOSED: REHOUSING
THE AMERICAN DREAM

THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY

Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample, MOS

Although the Oranges—located near New York City—are, like many older East Coast commuting suburbs, well served by regional rail, they still have high rates of foreclosure and unemployment. For the last several years, the township of the Oranges (which includes East, South, and West Orange, as well as the City of Orange) has been seeking to create three "Transit Villages," consisting of mixed-use development within a walkable, half-mile radius from existing rail stations. The team, led by Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample of MOS, undertook an in-depth analysis of one of these projects, in the City of Orange, considering municipal budgeting and infrastructure, public health, and models of ownership that could promote flexibility and diversity. More

The Orange rail station lies at the center of the team's site. Around 15% of the land within a half-mile radius of the station is composed of municipal buildings and vacant land. Public streets and sidewalks in a traditional gridded plan make up 22%, costing the city an estimated $642,958 annually in maintenance. The team's proposal eliminates many of these streets and replaces them with three-story structures with a mixture of commercial, office, and residential spaces, including a variety of live-work spaces. These new ribbons of buildings, which rewrite both the physical and social space of Orange, are in part developed as public housing.

This radical urbanism is made possible by a system of portable mortgages, where ownership is not tied to a particular space. The team leaders describe it as "a kind of micro-governmental cooperative structure, where the local residents participate directly in determining the qualities of their neighborhood." Unlike earlier urban renewal models, which proposed the wholesale reworking of a site, here new and old structures coexist: streets of traditional single-family houses are juxtaposed with the new ribbon development. A rich variety of spaces and relationships is created, including ground-floor shops and services that are accessible to all residents. Pedestrian experience is primary in the overall development of this once vibrant suburb.

MOS: Katy Barkan, Jason Bond, David Delgado, Leigha Dennis, Ian Donnelly, Justin Fowler, Griffin Frazen, Steve Gertner, Fabiana Godoy, Marti Gottsch, Jeremy Keagy, Kate Lisi, Meredith Mcdaniel, Magdalena Naydekova, Zach Seibold, Mat Staudt, George Valdes. Motion Graphics: Philip DiBello. Filmmaker and Photographer: Christopher Woebken.

Eric Belsky, housing specialist
Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University

Kelly Brownell, public health specialist
Rudd Center of Public Health, Yale University

Ed Glaeser, economist
Department of Economics, Harvard University

Emilie Hagen, architect
Atelier Ten

Chris Reed, landscape architect
Stoss